Croatia has declared persona non grata Andrija Mandic, speaker of the Montenegrin parliament, MP Milan Knezevic, and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Becic.
The three were declared "undesirable" in Croatia "due to systematic actions to undermine good neighbourly relations and continuous abuse of Croatia for domestic political purposes", the foreign ministry in Zagreb said.
"The ministry regrets that the majority in the Parliament of Montenegro has decided to ignore continuous calls from the Republic of Croatia not to take actions that could negatively affect our bilateral relations and Montenegro's European path. In this context, the actions of the aforementioned politicians stand out, whose behaviour cannot be considered as goodwill and good neighbourly towards the Republic of Croatia, nor is it in line with the declared goal of Montenegro's membership in the European Union," the communication reads.
Zagreb also points out that good neighbourly relations are one of the key elements of the enlargement, stabilisation and association process, as well as one of the key criteria for assessing progress in Montenegro's accession process, in line with the European Union's Negotiating Framework.
Croatia expects Podgorica to behave in line with European values and to focus its efforts on further fulfilling the conditions and criteria in the accession process.
BGNES recalls that Andrija Mandic is the leader of the far-right New Serbian Democracy, and Milan Knezevic, the chairman of the Democratic People's Party - both pro-Serb and pro-Russian parties are close to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Mandic and Knezevic oppose recognition of Kosovo and deny international sanctions for Russian aggression against Ukraine.
In 2016, an attempted coup d'état was staged in the country on election day in October to divert Podgorica from the path to NATO and the European Union.
Two Russian citizens, Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov, eight Serbian citizens, and leaders Milan Knezevic and Andrija Mandic prepared a violent change of government with the active assistance of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SCO), according to the Special Prosecutor's Office. The aim was to remove Prime Minister Milo Đukanović from power and assassinate him. | BGNES
