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Image posted, AFP
Citizens hoist the Montenegrin flag in the capital Podgorica in 2006 after declaring independence from Serbia
The republics of Serbia and Montenegro exchanged the expulsion of ambassadors due to a decision more than a hundred years ago.
Montenegro declared the Serbian ambassador, Vladimir Bozovic, “persona non grata for his interference in the internal affairs of the country.”
The Serbian ambassador described a decision made by the Montenegrin authorities in 1918, in conjunction with Serbia, as “liberation”.
The Montenegrin government accused Bozovic of underestimating the state, before subsequently expelling him.
Serbia, in turn, responded, giving the Montenegrin ambassador 72 hours to leave the country.
Observers hope that these developments will generate more tension in relations between the two countries, which were affiliated with the Yugoslav Federation.
Tensions rose between the two countries after an opposition coalition affiliated with the pro-Serb camp in Montenegro won a majority in elections last August.
After the result was announced, thousands of supporters of the pro-Serbian coalition gathered for several days to celebrate, waving the Serbian flag and singing their national anthems.
The vote came in a year, which began with mass demonstrations against a law that would grant Montenegro ownership of monasteries run by the Orthodox Church, which is based in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia in 2006 and became a sovereign country for the first time since the First World War.
Ethnic Serbs make up 29 percent of Montenegro’s population, according to official statistics. There are historical ties between the two peoples, as well as common social and religious customs.
The Republic of Montenegro was the smallest of the republics of the Yugoslav federation and lost its independence in 1918.
In 2018, the Legislative Council of Montenegro witnessed a symbolic vote among its members to repeal a 1918 decision that stipulated that Montenegro should renounce its independence and join Serbia and become part of the kingdom that includes Serbs, Croats and Slavs. .
