BELGRADE / PODGORICA – The latest diplomatic spat between Belgrade and Podgorica centered around several issues, including the treatment of ethnic Serbs in Montenegro, compliance with anti-Russian sanctions, and alleged geopolitical double standards of Serbia.
On 11 August, during his visit to the town of Lučani, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić was asked by a journalist to comment on an analysis published in Montenegrin outlet “Vijesti”, which states that “Montenegro should be patient with Croats, and keep a distance with Serbia”.
According to Vučić, “Montenegro is in trouble, they are pursuing such a policy – they want to re-educate those 33 percent of Serbs living there so that they will not be Serbs again in the next censuses, and as far as Serbia is concerned, they want as much worse relations with Serbia as possible”.
He also claimed that Serbia is “the target of the most brutal media campaigns in Montenegro”.
“You do not have to look at their institutional moves towards Serbia that are disturbing, it is enough to look at their media scene and make it clear that Serbia is the target of the most brutal campaign, lasting about six or seven days…. In our country, Montenegro is occasionally mentioned, while in Montenegro, 90 percent of time they talk badly about Serbia”, Vučić remarked.
He stressed that he is “just waiting for Montenegro to pay some more patriotic criticism regarding who is officially meeting with whom, but I’d rather ask them if they have adopted the 21st package of sanctions against Russia”.
“They’re always the first, when Brussels just announces a decision, Montenegro is the first. They haven’t even seen the decision, but it doesn’t matter, they support each decision against the Russian Federation, and all of that in advance”, Vučić said.
On the same day, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić responded to Serbian President by stating that Montenegro wants good neighborly relations but is committed to a clear European policy. In addition, he criticized Vučić for acting as “Russia’s PR”, and questioned Serbia’s double standards regarding arms exports to Ukraine versus messages sent to Moscow.
“Montenegro does not want a conflict with Serbia. We want good neighborly relations, but also a clear European policy, which, obviously, Mr. Vučić does not want to understand. And it is not very appropriate for him to assume the role of PR of Russia from his position and teach others about principalities”, Spajić wrote on X.
Montenegrin Prime Minister also asked President Vučić “how is it that Serbia, according to available data, is one of the more significant sources of weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, while it sends one message to Moscow and another to Europe?”.
“We in Montenegro have no problem with a clear position. We only have a problem with double standards” Spajić, concluded.
Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia Ana Brnabić published a sharp response on the X targeting Montenegrin Prime Minister. Among other things, she claimed that Spajić had frequently called Vučić to ask for help, advice, and support while he was trying to come to power.
“Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was good for you when he was supposed to help you to come to power, but now you are claiming that he is a PR of Russia. When someone doesn’t have a spine or a face, like you don’t have a spine or a face, that’s what it looks like. Finally, Serbia has a principled position – we respect international law always and without exception, while you behave as you are instructed – sometimes the boundaries are inviolable and sometimes they are irrelevant. Do not talk to Vučić about principalities you, Milojko Spajić, as you have no principle except blind obedience”, Brnabić conluded.
Similarly, Nemanja Starović, Serbian Minister of European Integration, stated that “it is interesting how the double standards are taught by someone who fights so zealously for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and at the same time peacefully accepts the dismemberment of Serbia”.
Montenegrin Prime Minister has also become a frequent target of the smear campaings in the Serbian pro-government media outlets. Tabloids, such as “Informer”, routinely label him as as “anti-Serb”.
