BELGRADE / PODGORICA – Following the return of a flight with 87 passengers from Tivat to Belgrade on Wednesday, the Serbian Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA) issued a statement, announcing that it had warned President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić not to travel to Montenegro for the European Union-Western Balkans Summit, because it was determined that there is a “high security risk”.
“According to our operational intelligence, Radoje Zvicer, the leader of the Kavač clan, is currently in Montenegro”, BIA stated.
The agency added that “contrary to all professional standards and principles of responsible conduct, the security assessment that was repeatedly requested from the host country’s service in Montenegro has not been provided to us”.
Members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the journalists of the pro-SNS television channel Informer also urged Vučić not to travel to Montenegro last night.
Speaker of the Assembly Ana Brnabić said last night for Informer that she had tried to talk to Vučić about him not going, but that “he does not want to hear about it” and that he would travel “due to his duty to Serbia”.
In a reaction to these developments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro posted on X that, in anticipation of the Summit in Tivat, Montenegro will do everything to “receive our friends, allies, and partners at the highest level and ensure the successful and dignified holding of this important international event for us”.
“As a responsible and credible NATO member, Montenegro guarantees all its guests a safe, secure, and pleasant stay. Our priority remains that no extraneous circumstance overshadows the success of the Summit and the common goals we promote through it”, the Ministry posted on X.
The EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat, Montenegro, is scheduled to take place on 5 June, with the participation of heads of state and government.
The warnings about Vučić’s safety in Montenegro followed an event earlier on Wednesday, when a charter flight from Belgrade carrying 87 passengers was returned from Tivat to Serbia after being assessed as a security risk by the Montenegrin police and the National Security Agency.
Montenegrin portal Vijesti reported that citizens of Serbia who were returned “largely have criminal records” and have been mentioned for years in the Serbian media as persons tasked with “special assignments by the SNS regime”.
According to the published photos, the individuals were carrying telecommunication equipment and banners with a slogan “Serbia is winning”, which has, for the past several months, been the slogan of the counter-campaign of the SNS to the campaign of the student movement in Serbia, the slogan of which is “Students are winning”.
What was the purpose of the travel of these persons to Montenegro remains unknown.
N1 reported last night that a group of passengers from Montenegro were prevented from crossing the border with Serbia and that a flight from Podgorica was subjected to an unexpected security check, in what might be a retaliatory measure by Belgrade.
