Montenegro Defends Knin Trip as Diplomatic Practice

Montenegro’s charge d’affaires in Zagreb represented the country at the 31st anniversary of Croatia’s military Operation Storm in Knin, while a day earlier no one from Podgorica showed up at the central commemoration in Mrkonjic Grad for the Serbs killed and expelled during the operation. For Belgrade this is not a matter of protocol. Montenegro is a neighboring state with a sizable Serb community, a NATO ally of Croatia, and a candidate in the final stage of negotiations with the European Union, so the decision was immediately read as a political signal rather than embassy routine.

What Montenegro’s Ministry Said

Montenegro’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained on August 4 that having a representative at the celebration of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day reflects respect for the host country and its institutions, as well as a commitment to good neighborly relations, open dialogue and regional cooperation.

“The invitation to attend is regularly sent by Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to all diplomatic and consular missions accredited in the Republic of Croatia, including the Embassy of Montenegro in Zagreb. Over the past decade, Montenegro has continuously attended this event through a representative of its diplomatic and consular mission in Zagreb”

The ministry said that, depending on circumstances and how the mission organized its work, this role had been filled over the years by charges d’affaires, embassy diplomats, special advisers and military attaches. “This year, in keeping with that practice, Montenegro will be represented by the charge d’affaires of the Embassy of Montenegro in Zagreb,” Podgorica announced. The diplomat’s name was not released.

Media in Podgorica frame the government’s move as diplomatic practice and as solidarity with NATO ally Croatia, while the absence in Mrkonjic Grad went unexplained.

Eight Years of a Falling Rank, Without a Single Absence

Montenegro’s explanation about “continuity” holds up in the numbers, but those same numbers show something the statement leaves out: the rank of the representative has dropped year after year, even as attendance itself has never been in question.

• 2018: military attache Colonel Ivan Masulovic represents the country. Photographs of the Montenegrin officer in front of the Croatian flag drew condemnation in Serbia.
• 2019: Ambassador Boro Vucinic attends in Knin.
• 2020 to 2025: diplomats from the Zagreb embassy attend.
• 2025: charge d’affaires Jelena Raznatovic represents the country.
• 2026: a charge d’affaires whose name was not disclosed.

The turning point came in August 2025, when Defense Minister Dragan Krapovic made the official decision that Montenegro’s Ministry of Defense and armed forces would take part neither in the military parade in Zagreb nor in the Knin celebration. The military side of the representation was withdrawn then, the diplomatic side was not. Podgorica has kept to that formula ever since: the uniform stays away, the embassy stays.

Who Made the Decision, and at What Level?

Vladislav Dajkovic, president of the Free Montenegro party, called the decision a political act that is deeply wrong and shameful, and demanded that the Montenegrin government tell the public who made the decision to send a representative to Knin, at what level and in whose name. He said it was devastating that such a decision comes from an administration that includes political figures who call themselves Serbs.

“We are not asking Montenegro to quarrel with anyone or to jeopardize relations with neighboring states. We are asking only for basic respect toward people who lost their loved ones and toward families who left their homes in columns of refugees”

Dajkovic added that reconciliation among the region’s peoples cannot be built by honoring some victims while passing over others in silence. The Foreign Ministry statement, the only official document Podgorica issued about the trip to Knin, does not answer that question: it speaks of the invitation from the Croatian ministry and of embassy practice, not of who made the decision.

Reactions from Belgrade and Mrkonjic Grad

The central commemoration was held on the evening of August 4 at King Petar I Karadjordjevic Square in Mrkonjic Grad, where Serbia and Republika Srpska jointly marked the Day of Remembrance for the killed and expelled. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended; there was no representative from Montenegro.

“Official Montenegro is taking part in the celebration of ‘Storm,’ yet it sent no one to the commemorative remembrance of the Serbs killed in Mrkonjic Grad. Thank you, Government of Montenegro. This is not the end, only the beginning of such decisions”

Vucic said expectations in parts of the public after Montenegro’s political changes in 2020 had been too high, and that Serbia must keep supporting Republika Srpska and the Serb people in Montenegro. “It’s good that we can add up all these facts, because it will make us better prepared for the political events ahead,” the Serbian president said while in Republika Srpska.

Milan Knezevic, leader of the Democratic People’s Party, also spoke at the same gathering, accusing the Montenegrin authorities of stabbing Serbs in the back.

“I would be happiest if, alongside these sacred coats of arms of the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska, our Montenegrin banner stood too, the Montenegrin cross banner with which, since time immemorial, we stood together with our Serb brothers from Serbia and Republika Srpska in every victory and every defeat. Unfortunately. Official and denationalized Montenegro has decided to carry its flag and its banner to Zagreb tomorrow and place it next to the checkerboard emblem, thereby once again driving a knife into the fraternal heart and back, into the Serb people, the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska”

Bogdan Bozovic of the Socialist People’s Party said the decision ignores the feelings of a large share of Montenegro’s citizens who see Storm as a symbol of expulsion.

How Diplomats Read the Move

Career diplomat Zoran Milivojevic believes the rank of the envoy is not what matters, and that the mere fact of attendance already speaks clearly enough.

“Montenegro will be in Knin, and that speaks to that country’s official position”

In his assessment, the absence in Mrkonjic Grad is as much a statement of position as the presence in Knin, and this kind of policy runs counter to the standing and status of the Serb people in Montenegro. Milivojevic also links it to the final stage of Montenegro’s EU accession talks, in which, he argues, Podgorica is giving up part of its sovereignty.

What the eight year record shows is that the Knin decision is not an isolated case: the rank of the envoy has changed and governments in Podgorica have changed, yet the Montenegrin flag has not missed Knin a single year since 2018, just as this year it did not reach Mrkonjic Grad either. Vucic’s statement that this is only the beginning of such decisions will be tested at every anniversary to come.