Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Montenegro
Newsline: Montenegro expels six Russian diplomats and 28 foreigners
A day after it expelled six Russian diplomats, NATO member Montenegro on Friday revoked residence permits and banned entry to 28 foreign citizens it accused of spreading “malign influence” in the interest of unidentified foreign services. The move was part of “continued and coordinated” activities, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, offering no further detail. Media and officials said the group included a former ambassador to Montenegro of neighboring Serbia. The six Russian diplomats were asked to leave the country over “breaches of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement on Twitter on Thursday. Russia in response closed down its consular services in Montenegro. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/montenegro-bans-entry-to-28-foreigners-for-malign-activity/2022/09/30/199cd1b2-40e6-11ed-8c6e-9386bd7cd826_story.html) Also on Thursday police raided multiple locations as part of a spy ring investigation that the government said was prepared and coordinated with Montenegro’s international partners and aimed at protecting national security.
Newsline: Montenegro expels Russian diplomat
The small former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro on Friday ordered a Russian diplomat to leave over what it called violations of norms, prompting Moscow to promise a response. Montenegro’s foreign ministry announced the move on Twitter but gave no details. “Russia will give an appropriate answer,” the Tass news agency cited a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson as saying when asked about possible retaliation. (https://news.yahoo.com/montenegro-expel-russian-diplomat-moscow-175644305.html) In March and April, Montenegro’s foreign ministry ordered a total of five Russian diplomats to leave over violations of diplomatic norms. Tass said that in late May, Moscow had ordered a diplomat from Montenegro to leave Russia.
Newsline: Azerbaijani Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia Detained on Embezzlement Charges
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, Eldar Hasanov, has been detained on embezzlement charges. Azerbaijan’s State Security Service said in a statement on August 13 that Hasanov is suspected of embezzling from the Foreign Ministry’s consulate directorate. “The complex financial investigations revealed that the country’s ambassador to Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro, Eldar Hasanov, had committed significant financial and other mishandling,” the statement said. (https://www.rferl.org/a/azerbaijani-ambassador-in-balkans-detained-on-embezzlement-charges/30783943.html) The statement added that further information would be provided at a later time.
Newsline: Montenegro Denounces Attack on Embassy in Serbia
Montenegro strongly denounced aggression against its embassy in Serbia during a protest by thousands of ultra-nationalists, saying the actions of soccer hooligans who threw flares and chanted “Set it on fire” represented an attack on the country’s independence. The crowd targeted the unguarded embassy in Belgrade and tried to burn the Montenegrin flag during the Thursday night protest of a religion rights law adopted by Montenegro’s parliament last month. Serbs say the law discriminates against the Serbian Orthodox Church. Montenegro Prime Minister Dusko Markovic tweeted that the embassy attack was an “uncivilized” act and another challenge to his small country’s independence and freedom. He said it was “stunning” Serbian police did not protect the embassy on Thursday or during other recent protests. (https://www.voanews.com/europe/montenegro-denounces-protest-attack-embassy-serbia) Montenegro split from much larger Serbia following a 2006 referendum. About one-third of the small Balkan country’s 620,000 citizens declare themselves as Serbs and want close ties with Belgrade.
Newsline: US Embassy in Montenegro Is Attacked, but Only Attacker Is Killed
An unidentified man threw an explosive device, probably a hand grenade, at the U.S. embassy building in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, around midnight before blowing himself up, the government said on Thursday. No casualties were reported from the embassy which confirmed a small explosion near its compound. The U.S. State Department said checks were being carried out to ensure all staff were safe. Policemen with submachine guns and police vehicles were out on the streets near the embassy building on Thursday morning after the incident. The government, in a tweet, said that about half an hour after midnight “an unknown person” had committed suicide with an explosive device.
Newsline: Montenegro opens an embassy in Romania
Montenegro opened an embassy in Bucharest officially, in the presence of the minister of foreign affairs and European Integration of Montenegro, Igor Luksic and the Romanian minister of foreign affairs Titus Corlatean. Titus Corlatean and Igor Luksic had a meeting at the end of which the Romanian minister said that he was “very glad”that officially there will be an embassy of the Republic of Montenegro in Bucharest.
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