Kosovo–Montenegro relations are foreign relations between Kosovo and Montenegro. Montenegro has a 78.6 km (48.8 mi)-long border with Kosovo. It was the 49th state to recognise Kosovo's independence.
Before the recognition, on 24 June, Prime Minister Milo Đukanović said:
"Many important member states of the EU and the international community as a whole have already recognised Kosovo so I do not believe that any serious person would like the wheel of history to go back. We are acting rather cautiously for two reasons. The first is that we are a neighbour of both Kosovo and Serbia, so we should help rather than feed fuel to the fire by making rush moves. The second is that we have been independent for only two years now and we have achieved this independence by leaving the Union with Serbia. Our independence has left some traumas on the Serbia-Montenegro relationship."[2]
Three days later an official with the governing DPS party said that recognising Kosovo "is not currently on the agenda of national priorities."[3] On 7 July 2008 Montenegrin Minister of Foreign Affairs told Podgorica media that his government will recognise Kosovo's independence. He did not, however, say when the government would make such an announcement. When he asked whether it will be sooner or later he responded with "Neither I nor anyone else can say at this moment. It shall happen as soon as we conclude that it is politically best for Montenegro."[4] However, on 15 July, in an interview with a Russian radio station, Prime Minister Đukanović said that his nation has not yet taken a position on recognition, adding that this "restraint" was caused by the need to contribute, as a neighbor, to stability in the region and improve relations with Serbia.[5]
Current relations
On 2 December 2009, Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Svetozar Marovic said that there are no obstacles for Montenegro to establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo. He also said that Montenegro has about 10,000 displaced people from Kosovo, a thousand of whom would like to return to their hometowns and it is up to the governments of Kosovo and Montenegro to resolve it.[6]
On 15 January 2010, Montenegro and Kosovo officially established diplomatic relations.[7][8]
Numerous motions have come from Kosovo and elsewhere for an exchange of embassies to formally show the mutual declarative establishment of diplomatic links, however PresidentFilip Vujanović has continually rejected that possibility, stating the status of the Montenegrin minority in Kosovo and the return of expelled non-Albanian refugees as a precondition, ever since the recognition in 2008.[9]
On 31 May 2012, Montenegro declared that it was to open an embassy in Kosovo stating that "good relations with neighbours and development of regional cooperation represent a lasting goal, stimulating progress in the countries of the region when it comes to EU and Euroatlantic integration and boosting stability in the region as a whole."[10]
On 30 July 2013, Montenegro officially opened an embassy in Pristina, with Radovan Miljanić appointed its chargé d'affaires.[11]
Currently Kosovo and Montenegro share friendly and cooperative diplomatic relations. Being young nations in their modern political state, Kosovo and Montenegro has learned to respect the sovereignty and strength of the other with both nations engaging in diplomatic relations in areas of trade, tourism, and cultural exchange. This partnership expresses broader dreams of coherence and development of the Western Balkans. The heirs of this cooperation have enhanced their agreements through the years with numerous projects promoting cooperation under the EU financed IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Program.[12] They have supported social integration, economic as well as ecological interaction on the border areas so that the standards of living of people on either side of the border are enhanced. They are closely bound by the policy of economic cooperation. The goal is shared between the two countries to increase trade and improve infrastructure. The relations with tourism are inseparable and tourism is an important part of the economy in both countries. Several Montenegrin coastal places especially Budva and Kotor are favorite destinations for Kosovo Albanians in summer. It stabilizes tourism in Montenegro that in its turn fosters its economy, at the same time creating a convenient and numerous leisure option for Kosovar citizens. As for Montenegro alongside it is Kosovo, which greatly contributes to the fact that the time spent on the trip is minimum when planning a holiday. Certainly, in relations between Kosovo and Montenegro there are no significant negative tendencies, but sometimes political incidents, for example, regarding border delimitation occur. However, both governments use such actions only when they claim the rights for the resources that, in turn, are ready to solve all these questions diplomatically taking into consideration the benefits of two states and regional security.
Montenegro shares its border with the neighboring country Serbia, in which Montenegro gained independence in 2006. As a country it shares a large population with Serbian ethnic group, such as according to Balkan Insight[13] in 2011 32.9 percent were declared as Serbs. From these results it’s hard for Montenegro sustain a stability in their country, as it is know that the other minority is very opposing when it comes to laws that are passed in parliament that would be beneficial for the country that they live in or the region as a whole. Of course, it is understandable that this comes from direct influence from Serbia, because even today it has a big influence in the Montenegro as a sovereign country. Now the analyzed information clearly shows that Serbia possesses great influence over Montenegro both historically, culturally and politically. This situation has become even stronger in recent years as Montenegrin political parties with a pro-Serbian tilt emerged as electoral winners most notably after the 2020 election. These forces support the enhancement of cooperation with Serbia and have shown doubts about the European integration process.
Serbia on the other hand continues to play a significant role in Montenegro’s future regional stance because Belgrade employs relations with Podgorica to challenge Pristina’s statehood. For example, Serbian-backed factions some of Montenegro has at times been against the recognition of Kosovo and tried to frustrate its membership in regional bodies. This dynamic compromises Montenegro potential of being an impartial player in the promotion of stability in the region.
On analyzing the impact of the Serbia- Kosovo conflict as a major source of conflict and insecurity in the Balkans affecting neighboring countries, Montenegro is also included. Things are tensing recently by violent actions in northern Kosovo that involves Serb-dominated neighborhoods or municipalities and recently NATO boost its peacekeepers there. Serbia has not accepted and continues not to accept Kosovo as an independent state, and also supports Serbian communities in Kosovo, which hinders attempts to achieve interaction and join this region to the community of European states. Serbia’s input for Montenegro is to drag it into these conflicts that will affect its relation with both Kosovo and the West. This also has a negative impact on the stability of the whole region because of the existing open issues between Serbia and Kosovo, which do not allow the countries from the Western Balkans to address economic and political integration efforts.[14]
The border demarcation deal with Montenegro was one of the explicit requirements by the European Parliament for the visa liberalization process for Kosovo.[15] In 2015, Ramush Haradinaj insisted that the 1974 Yugoslav borders were necessary in order to continue the good relations with Montenegro.[16] The agreement was ratified by both governments in 2015 and was enforced March 2018[17] leading to Čakor being handed over to Montenegro.[18] Kosovos prime minister Hashim Thaqi and Montenegros prime minister signed the agreement on February 17, 2018. The agreement has been criticized for being hypocritical as the prohibition to travel within the Schengen area had been lifted for more severe border issues amongst Georgia and Ukraine but not for Kosovo with its less severe border issues.[19]
Villagers in the Rugova valley vowed to take up arms if the government continued to ignore them. In 2016, The Lëvizja Vetëvendosje accused PDK party of for the agreement of the Border Demarcation with Montenegro.[20] Prime minister Isa Mustafa met the Rugova locals opposing the demarcation in 2016. A local stated that the prime minister did not say anything about the matter. Levizja Vetendesojes party leader Albin Kurti held a protest speech with 2000 activists[21] leading to the postponing of the demarcation in the Kosovo parliament.[22] In August 2015, prime minister Ramush Haradinaj criticized the demarcation. Four years later, in 2019, he met Mujë Rugova, to discuss the finalization of the demarcation.[23] Ibrahim Rugova warned of the demarcation already in 2002.[24]
On August 28, 2015, a RTK employee suffered a second attack in his home by a group that opposed the demarcation.[25] An unknown individual tossed an explosive device inside resulting in no one being hurt. A group called Rugovasit claimed both attacks warning of more victims if the government continued to ignore the opposition. On August 30, six opposition supporters were detained by the police on suspicion of involvement in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on parliament.[26] The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) condemned the attacks.[27] Violent protests occurred in Pristina with riot police being attacked with molotovs.[28] An article by Kosovapress writes that the Rugova locals attacked RTK because it supported the demarcation.[29]
Independent Balkan News Agency published an article explaining that international experts, appointed by Atifete Jahjaga, stated that the demarcation did not breach any laws.[30] The opposition criticized the commission of being too similar to previous commissions. Both Albanian and Montenegrin locals around the borders stated that the politicians should take into consideration the opinions of the public.[31] A report from Saferworld titled Drawing boundaries in the Western Balkans: A people’s perspective published in 2011 states that failure to resolve demarcation issues and raise border-control standards likewise ensures that parts of the region maintain a reputation for being vulnerable to transnational organised crime, smuggling and people trafficking.[32]
^Gashi, Krenar (2017). Kosovo's early elections are reviving its 'war' and 'peace' camps(PDF) (Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics ed.). Krenar Gashi is Basileus Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for EU Studies, Ghent University, Belgium. @krenarium. p. 2/4. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
