Announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia

02. Jun 2021.
Serbia has shown for years that it is a true pillar of stability in the region, consistently insisting on a policy of non-interference in the affairs of other countries, but it does not intend to give up concern for the position of the Serbian people in neighboring countries.

Serbia has such an attitude towards Montenegro too, where the Serbian people make up a significant percentage of the population.

Concern for the position of one's own people, especially in the countries in which it is domiciled, is completely in line with the democratic heritage on which modern Europe rests.

Other states also, with equal rights, care about the position of their people, and they naturally expect their members to enjoy the highest possible rights in neighboring countries.

If we compare the percentage of the Albanian population in Northern Macedonia and the Serbs in Montenegro, and then the political rights enjoyed by one or another nation, every objective observer will see a noticeable discrepancy. Namely, Serbs enjoy incomparably smaller rights.

If all the countries in the region want to become part of the EU, and they do, they must respect approximately the same, universal standards in guaranteeing rights to national communities, and Serbia does not expect anything more than that.

Serbs and Serbia with the fraternal Montenegrin people do not want anything other than cooperation and harmony, based on advanced democratic traditions, but also our traditional friendship.

Serbia is, therefore, not only a good neighbor, but also a brotherly country, on which both Montenegro and the Montenegrin people will always be able to rely, and we are convinced that we will resolve all open issues, including the position and rights of Serbs, in a friendly, civilized and democratic manner.

Serbia has a legitimate and indisputable right to take care of the position of the Serbian people wherever they live, as well as the right to express dissatisfaction when the rights of the Serbian people are endangered or when they are discriminated against.

Thus, Serbia does not interfere in anyone's internal affairs, but instead strives that the democratic standards in respecting individual and collective rights become a universal value in our region.

Despite the fact that Montenegro interfered in the internal affairs of Serbia by recognizing the illegal secession of part of its territory, despite the opposition of most of its citizens, Serbia consistently offers a hand of support and friendship to the citizens and authorities of Montenegro, hoping that, after years of political and historical turmoil in which everything was done to spoil what can’t be spoiled, the relations of our states and people will be at the highest level again.