MFA Montenegro stresses sovereign equality in relations with Serbia - EXCLUSIVE
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that Montenegro views its political relations with Serbia through the principle of sovereign equality and a strategic commitment to good-neighborly cooperation. This approach has shaped our foreign policy since the democratic restoration of independence in 2006.
This was said by the source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro in an exclusive interview with CE Report.
Recent statements have nevertheless shown that an outdated political vocabulary that interprets neighboring states through the lens of alleged historical entitlement and as unresolved national questions is still alive in the region. As the most advanced candidate for EU membership, Montenegro has a particular responsibility to promote a different political culture, one that is grounded in European values and respectful of historical facts, the Ministry noted.
"Montenegro is a centuries-old European state. We are especially proud that the 2006 referendum remains one of the rare examples in the post-Yugoslav region where a fundamental state issue, restoration of independence, was restored peacefully and democratically. Montenegro and Serbia were two members of a State Union, and neither belonged to the other. In Montenegro, a civic, multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state, sovereignty resides with the citizen. Questions of language, identity, minority rights, or political landscape in Montenegro cannot and should not be shaped by political expectations or narratives coming from outside the country. Without respect for historical facts, sovereignty and constitutional order, what is presented as cooperation can easily slide into dependency, and neighborliness becomes little more than a courteous mask for external meddling," the source added.
The Ministry highlighted that the response to the reflexes of the past is not to replicate them, but to move beyond them.
"The most serious way to do so is to accelerate our European path. For Montenegro, European integration is far more than a technical negotiating process. It is a profound political and civilizational rupture with the patterns that kept the region captive to the logic of paternalization and historical grievance, and for which the region has already paid a high price in the turbulent 90s.
We believe that our dignified celebration of 20 years since the restoration of independence, in the same year that we entered the final stage of the EU accession process, should be seen as an opening for a more mature regional political culture," the Ministry noted.
According to the Ministry, Montenegro remains fully committed to cooperation with neighboring states on the basis of genuine sovereign equality and guided by the European values we uphold.
"Relations between Montenegro and Serbia, both bilateral and within regional formats, should be focused on a forward-looking agenda, such as European integration, where Montenegro is ready to offer its expertise, economic cooperation, infrastructure development. That is the agenda our citizens need, and the standard expected from countries that aspire to a European future. The same level of responsibility and restraint should guide all regional actors, especially when speaking about sensitive historical, identity and constitutional issues," the Ministry concluded.
Photo: AI
This interview was prepared by Julian Müller
