Minister of Foreign Affairs Đorđe Radulović says that the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, continues to obstruct the appointment of individual ambassadors, but he hopes that the final solutions will be found in the dialogue, after the summer holidays.
In an interview with TV Vijesti, Radulović also said that Montenegro will send a new ambassador to Belgrade very soon, although there is no indication that Serbia will do the opposite.
It also reveals the first steps in the attempt to finally solve the issue of Prevlaka.
Since the Government has so far recalled 14 and adopted proposals for the appointment of 12 ambassadors, Television News asked the head of diplomacy how many of them are waiting for President Đukanović's approval and what will happen if it does not arrive.
"There are well-founded assumptions and facts that the president obstructs the appointment of certain ambassadors. After the repeatedly repeated criterion that no one who voted for No will be able to represent the country, which in my opinion is a very problematic position both politically and ethically, some other criteria appeared , which cannot be argued. I believe that the final solution is in the continuation of the dialogue, I believe that after the summer holidays we could find a common solution. Of course, there are other extremes - sending a special envoy, a chargé d'affaires, to try to overcome some things, but I don't think that would be good for Montenegro, nor for our international reputation," said Radulović.
Are there diplomatic relations with Serbia at all, since they do not have an ambassador in Montenegro? Have you discussed this and will they send a new ambassador and when?
Radulović: Diplomatic relations between Serbia and Montenegro exist, while the level of diplomatic representation, unfortunately, is currently at the level of chargé d'affaires. We got that somewhat blackmailing and ultimatum attitude - if you want to have anything to do with us, first revoke the decision that Mr. Božović is persona non grata. If you have such an attitude, it is not a measure of genuine relationships. What would be a way out of the situation is for Serbia to nominate a new ambassador, and on the other hand, I expect that Montenegro will appoint its ambassador in Belgrade very soon. So far we have no announcements that they could send a new ambassador and I think that is very wrong.
What are you currently doing when it comes to demarcation on Prevlaca, with Croatia? Will this issue be resolved in bilateral relations or by arbitration and what is the ultimate goal of Montenegro in these negotiations?
Radulović: The issue of Prevlaka was also one of the topics while the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia was visiting Montenegro. Therefore, we want to form a new interdepartmental commission that will be comprehensive - from several departments from both the Montenegrin and Croatian sides, in order to see where we are at the moment. The last time these commissions met was in 2015, 2016, and we think it is high time to continue this process. We will try to find a bilateral solution through the work of those interstate commissions, and if that is not possible, we will go to arbitration. I don't have any indication that the issue of Prevlaka, bearing in mind that the temporary protocol is functioning flawlessly, could be an obstacle on the path of Montenegro on its way to the European Union, but it is certainly good to have that issue defined as well. What is a different approach is that the Croatian side believes that only the demarcation at sea should be discussed, while our side believes that the subject of negotiations should be both land and sea.
When asked when the commission will be formed, Radulović said that he expects it to be right after the summer holidays.
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