The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia today informed Montenegro, through a note sent to the Embassy of Montenegro in Zagreb, that the Republic of Croatia has declared Andrija Mandić, Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, Milan Knežević, MP, and Aleksa Bečić, Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro, as personae non gratae in Croatia due to their systematic actions aimed at undermining good neighbourly relations with and continuously misusing Croatia for internal political purposes.
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs regrets that the majority in the Montenegrin Parliament decided to ignore the continuous calls from the Republic of Croatia to refrain from actions that could negatively affect our bilateral relations and Montenegro's European path. In this context, the actions of the aforementioned political officials are particularly notable, and their behaviour cannot be considered well-intentioned and neighbourly towards the Republic of Croatia, nor is it in line with the declared goal of Montenegro's membership in the EU.
Good neighbourly relations are one of the key elements of the enlargement process as well as the stabilization and association process, and one of the key criteria for assessing progress in Montenegro's accession process, according to the EU’s Negotiating Framework for Montenegro. Croatia supports a European Montenegro, supports the process of accession to the EU, and has advocated for progress on Montenegro's European path. The Republic of Croatia expects Montenegro to act in accordance with European values and in the European spirit, and to direct its efforts towards further fulfilling the conditions and benchmarks in the accession process.
