Serbia stops Montenegrins at three border crossings
According to Vijesti, from about 7.30pm no Montenegrin citizen entered Serbia via Gostun, Jabuka or Dracenovac. Belgrade has not officially confirmed the measure.
- According to the daily Vijesti, from about 7.30pm no Montenegrin citizen entered Serbia via the Gostun, Jabuka and Dracenovac crossings.
- Montenegrin police unofficially confirmed disrupted traffic, while a source for the paper said it was a temporary measure of short duration.
- Serbian officials have neither confirmed nor explained the measure, and Belgrade has issued no statement.
- The measure came on the same day that more than 80 Serbian citizens were turned back from Tivat airport.
At three border crossings towards Montenegro, according to the Podgorica daily Vijesti, the entry of that country’s citizens into Serbia was halted from about 7.30pm. As the paper reports, with its account carried by the Croatian portals Index and Novi List, from that time no Montenegrin citizen crossed into Serbia via the Gostun, Jabuka and Dracenovac crossings.
The report appeared on the same day that more than 80 Serbian citizens were turned back from Tivat airport, which has led several outlets to read the halt on the Serbian side as a possible reciprocal move by Belgrade. It must be stressed that this assessment has no official confirmation for now. No Serbian body has issued a statement either confirming or explaining the measure.
What is officially confirmed, and what remains unclear?
Based on the available accounts, the circle of confirmed facts is narrow. Vijesti reported that traffic towards Serbia at the three crossings was effectively at a standstill from about 7.30pm. Montenegrin police, according to the same paper, unofficially confirmed the disrupted traffic. A source for the paper said it was a temporary measure that, as assessed, would be short-lived.
What remains unconfirmed concerns the nature of the measure itself. According to unofficial accounts, it is not clear whether this is a formal decision by the Serbian authorities or a de facto slowing of procedures at the crossings. The assessment that it will be brief rests on a single unnamed source and has not been confirmed by any institution. Distinguishing between these two scenarios is not possible while official communication from the competent bodies is absent.
Montenegro’s interior ministry, according to media reports, advised citizens to follow the situation at the crossings in real time. Such advice suggests the situation is fluid and that the official framework of the measure could not be precisely established at the time of publication.
Context of the events in Tivat
The halt at the Serbian crossings coincides in time with an earlier event on the Montenegrin side. On the same day, more than 80 Serbian citizens who had arrived on a charter flight were turned back from Tivat airport. The passengers were, according to media reports, returned to Belgrade on the same flight.
The Montenegrin side linked this to heightened security measures ahead of the European Union and Western Balkans summit. It was precisely this overlap in timing that led some outlets to connect the two events into a single narrative of mutual moves by the two states. Still, such a link remains at the level of media interpretation as long as it is not officially confirmed by Belgrade or Podgorica.
Some regional outlets covered the halt at the crossings with strikingly harsh headlines. Such characterisations are not part of the official communication of the competent bodies and cannot be treated as confirmed facts. For now, the only certainty is that traffic at the three crossings was disrupted and that there is no official explanation from Belgrade.
How will relations between Belgrade and Podgorica develop if no official statement on the reasons for the halt at the crossings is forthcoming?
