Thursday, February 05, 2009

Montenegro's Djukanovic says relations with Serbia have soured


02/02/2009, PODGORICA, Montenegro -- Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said on Sunday (February 1st) that relations between Podgorica and Belgrade are at an "unacceptably" low level and that Serbia appears unwilling to accept a new ambassador from Montenegro. Podgorica's ambassador was expelled last year after Montenegro recognised Kosova's independence.

Djukanovic said on Sunday that the procedure to appoint a new ambassador will not begin until Belgrade makes clear the diplomat is welcome. Djukanovic also announced that Montenegro will soon establish diplomatic relations with Pristina and will choose "the model of representation" shortly after that.

(Tanjug, B92 - 01/02/09)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it certainly was necessary for Montenegro to recognize Kosovo's independence in order to establish itself as an independent state. Sounds weird, but it makes perfect sense. Montenegro doesn't want to be considered a Serbian satellite, and it's great that they're sticking to their guns.

Serbia really should accept the fact that Kosovo is lost forever, and the two regions should try and form diplomatic relations if nothing else than to protect Serbian churches and ancient artifacts, etc.

Kosovo, on the other hand, should recognize that Serbia does indeed have considerable cultural and historical ties to the land, and continue to do what they can to ensure the protection of historic sites. Otherwise you may end up with an Israeli/Palestinian type crisis in the Balkans.

Anonymous said...

...yes, but with a lot of pressure form the U.S. In efforts to get what they want, i.e., membership alliances and such, they had to make this very big compromise, knowing very well that their 33% Serbian population would resent vehemently.