Budimir Aleksic Blocked as Envoy to Sarajevo

The ambassador’s post for Montenegro in Sarajevo has been vacant for five years, and the reason directly involves Belgrade too: the most seriously considered candidate for the job came from party structures that openly invoke their closeness to Aleksandar Vucic and the concept of the so called “Serbian world,” making his blocked appointment a clear example of how deep Podgorica’s internal divisions reach into foreign policy toward the entire region.

The problem dates back to the change of government in Montenegro in 2020, when parties close to Serbia and Russia came to power. One of them, Andrija Mandic’s New Serb Democracy, proposed Budimir Aleksic, now Montenegro’s deputy prime minister in charge of education, science and relations with religious communities, as ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina. His appointment was blocked at the time by then President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic, over Aleksic’s contested record on how he interprets events from World War Two.

Who Is Pavle Djurisic, and Why Is He Controversial

Documents from the Montenegrin parliament state that Aleksic had previously asked the president of the Berane municipality to erect a monument to Pavle Djurisic, a commander of Chetnik detachments whom historians and part of the Montenegrin public describe as a war criminal responsible for the ethnic cleansing of the Bosniak population in Montenegro and Bosnia. According to the same documents, Aleksic described him as a member of Draza Mihailovic’s anti-fascist formations. Aleksic himself has also publicly pointed to his own ties to the Ravna Gora movement.

Aleksandra Vukovic Kuc, a member of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants in the Montenegrin parliament, did not mince words in her assessment of the candidate:

“Deputy Prime Minister Budimir Aleksic, from Andrija Mandic’s New Serb Democracy, is precisely in the business of celebrating war criminals, those known in Montenegro, for instance, during World War Two for the ethnic cleansing of Bosniak Muslims on Montenegrin and Bosnian territory. He is one of those who proposed raising a monument in Montenegro to the criminal and butcher Pavle Djurisic.”

Political Calculations in Podgorica

Daliborka Uljarevic, executive director of the Centre for Civic Education, believes that behind the years-long absence of an ambassador lies a clash of political ambitions inside Montenegro’s own government, not just Aleksic’s biography:

“In our political circles there has also been talk of certain parties’ ambitions for the ambassador’s post in Sarajevo to go to their own people, including structures whose views are close to Aleksandar Vucic and the concept of the so called ‘Serbian world.’ I think part of the reason for the lack of agreement should be sought there too. Perhaps it was assessed that it is less damaging not to have an ambassador in Sarajevo than to send someone whose political profile could further burden relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Her assessment, in other words, is that an empty post in Sarajevo has become a less politically costly solution for Podgorica than a filled post with a controversial name attached.

Sarajevo Sees No Diplomatic Dispute

Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, is sending different signals. Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic says the absence of an ambassador should not be read as a message directed at his country, and that bilateral relations at the government level are working without problems:

“At the level of governments, ministries, prime ministers, presidents, things function fantastically. They know why, within their own system, they have not yet appointed an ambassador. It’s important for me to say, I am convinced and I know, that this is not some protest against Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor is it some negative message to us.”

Empty Posts Across the Network

Montenegro’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the appointment of an ambassador goes through a multi-stage procedure, and that an unfilled post does not mean the country’s foreign policy is blocked. It also points out that the problem is not limited to Sarajevo:

“The question of accrediting an ambassador in Sarajevo is not an isolated case within Montenegro’s diplomatic network. At this time, Montenegro’s ambassadors are not accredited in some allied countries either, including Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom,” the ministry said in its statement, naming Albania as another gap in the network.

This is where the two sources on this story diverge on detail: Bosnia’s Avaz reports that Montenegro currently has no ambassadors in Serbia and Croatia either, while Montenegro’s Foreign Ministry, quoted by Klix, limits that list to Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Albania, without mentioning Belgrade or Zagreb. Which version is accurate for these two key neighbors cannot be established from the publicly available statements for now.

For Serbia, this dispute is a useful reminder that political turmoil in Podgorica spills over even onto neighbors that formally have no dispute with Montenegro at all, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. A candidacy tied to the “Serbian world” shows that internal factions within Montenegro’s government still view foreign policy toward the region through the lens of their relationship with Belgrade, not only with Sarajevo.

The paradox of the whole story is that the diplomatic vacuum is not slowing Montenegro’s path toward the European Union: the country is still considered the most advanced Western Balkan candidate in accession talks with the European Union, even though its ambassadorial network remains burdened by years of internal political and personnel disputes. Podgorica has not announced a new candidate for Sarajevo for now, and the vacant post remains part of a wider puzzle in which Montenegro is also still waiting on ambassadors in Berlin, Rome and London.