During his official visit to Belgrade, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović, met today with Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, President Aleksandar Vučić and President of the Assembly Ivica Dačić. Many topics were discussed, and all interlocutors emphasized that this is the reset of old disagreements and the beginning of improving relations between Podgorica and Belgrade. For Abazović, this is the first regional visit since he took office as the head of the Montenegrin government.
Abazović is the fifth President of the Montenegrin Government to officially visit Belgrade. His predecessor, Zdravko Krivokapić, was also in the Serbian capital last year, but he was nowhere near as wholeheartedly welcomed as Abazović is today - his welcoming committee consisted of the Minister of Agriculture Branislav Nedimović in jeans.
The basic messages from all meetings were that this is a new beginning of relations between the two countries, and Abazović explained that they are ready to approach open issues in a responsible manner and to "close" them.
The meeting with Vučić took place in the context of political and economic bilateral issues. Abazović asked to resolve the issue of Montenegrin MPs, who face certain restrictions when entering Serbia. Ana Brnabić got a little confused, explaining that she did not know about this problem, so Vučić asked the Minister of Police, Aleksandar Vulin, that this should not happen again. At the end, Abazović announced that as of July 1, there will be no more such problems.
At the first meeting held with Ana Brnabić, they mainly discussed issues of payment transactions, food, energy and infrastructure, but also the Open Balkans initiative and Serbia's refusal to extradite Svetozar Marović. Brnabić, in response to a journalist's question, said that Montenegro will soon receive an official answer on the issue of extradition. She also invited Abazović again to join the open Balkans.
Payment transactions between Serbia and Montenegro have not existed for twelve years, and foreign banks are used as correspondents, so Brnabić pointed out that she will talk to the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the National Bank today about solving this problem.
As for food, the words of President Aleksandar Vučić are being heard earlier, who said that if there is enough in Serbia, there will be enough in the region, so Montenegro does not have to worry. For energy companies, they pointed out that there is a huge potential for cooperation, while the construction of sections on the Bar Boljare highway was also discussed.
It was also agreed that soon the ambassadors in Belgrade and Podgorica will be exchanged again, who have been absent since the Serbian ambassador Vladimir Božović was declared persona non grata and expelled from Montenegro.
Ivica Dačić announced after the meeting with Dritan Abazović that "Serbia attaches special importance to the further development of the overall relations between the two countries, in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect", and added that he hopes that the assemblies of the two countries will cooperate more closely in the future.
Dritan Abazović is meeting with Patriarch Porfiri tomorrow, and they will also discuss the Basic Agreement between the State of Montenegro and the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral.
After Abazović's visit to Serbia, the ratio is 5 to 0. Not a single Serbian official from the highest level has visited Montenegro since the declaration of its independence. Ana Brnabić received an invitation, she says she would be glad, but she doesn't know if she can do it in the technical mandate.
FM/ News/Today
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