A diplomatic scandal over a statement in social networks flares up between Russia and Montenegro. It all started with a statement on Twitter by the Montenegrin side about “the need to break diplomatic relations with Russia”, to which the Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, reacted. The statement from the social network was hastily removed, but the scandal continues to flare up. To complete the picture, it must be added that the Montenegrin budget – at least in the pre-Covid years – was seriously replenished by Russian tourists and property owners, as the country maintained a visa-free regime for Russians.
Note that the statement was made at the highest level: a statement was published on Twitter by Montenegrin Foreign Minister George Radulovic about the need to break diplomatic relations with Russia. The tweet, however, lasted only a few hours.
The details came to light as follows: the report stated that Mr. Radulovic, during a meeting on the application of sanctions against Russia, stated the need for “State institutions of Montenegro to implement restrictive measures imposed by the government against Russia.” In their capacity, the head of the Foreign Ministry presented a list of measures allegedly introduced by the government, including “severance of diplomatic relations”, as well as “complete or partial severance of economic relations, complete or partial restriction of imports, exports, transit, transport and the provision of services and logistics, postal and other communications. By the way, the measures also included “restricting entry into Montenegro, limiting the placement of funds, receiving funds and/or other property.”
As a result, the social network was flooded with comments from users who asked a question, diplomatic relations with Russia were broken off like that or not. The Russian Embassy in Podgorica, according to TASS, also sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, asking for clarification “in connection with the publication on Twitter of the Montenegrin diplomatic mission of a message about the need to break diplomatic relations with Russia.”
As a result, the press service The Ministry of Foreign Affairs deleted this message. The explanation was as follows: it turns out that the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro only “reported the types of restrictive measures.”
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