Following the return from Tivat of an aircraft carrying individuals close to Serbian President Vučić, Montenegrin citizens were subjected to detailed checks at the border, and some were even denied entry into Serbia. Official Podgorica remained silent.
The decision to send back from Tivat Airport a plane carrying 87 men, whom the Serbian opposition and certain media outlets describe as a special operations team linked to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has led to a new dispute between Serbia and Montenegro. The greatest burden was borne by Montenegrin citizens, who were subjected to thorough checks for a full 24 hours when entering Serbia.
The situation at the border crossings was normalised only after officers of Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) withdrew from them – and only after Vučić, speaking from Tivat, called on his country’s authorities to allow Montenegrin citizens to enter Serbia without obstruction.
They planned rallies in support of Vučić
At Serbia’s border crossings with Montenegro – Gostun, Špiljani, and Jabuka – queues stretching for kilometres formed during Thursday (4 June). Many travellers turned back to Montenegro because they were unable to wait.
Serbia introduced the so-called reciprocal measures after the Montenegrin police and National Security Agency sent back to Belgrade a plane carrying 87 security-sensitive individuals. According to some Serbian media reports, they had planned to organise rallies in support of Vučić during his attendance at the EU–Western Balkans summit in Tivat, with the aim of creating the impression that the Serbian President enjoys strong support among Montenegrin citizens. Authorities also confiscated a banner reading “Serbia Wins”, the slogan under which Vučić has been conducting his campaign against students in Serbia, who have been protesting against him for a year and a half and demanding snap elections.
As a result, a coach carrying around twenty residents of a retirement home from Bijelo Polje was unable to proceed on a trip to Serbia. They were turned back at the Gostun crossing. A bus carrying children from a cultural and artistic society in Kotor was held at the Serbian border for more than five hours, while another 30 Montenegrin citizens – exclusively men – were detained at Belgrade Airport. They were released only after detailed checks.
Entry into Serbia was also denied to Blažo Rađenović, Vice-President of Montenegro’s opposition Civic Movement URA, as well as to former Montenegrin Police Director Nikola Terzić, who lectures at a faculty in Belgrade. In both cases, the stated reason was the protection of Serbia’s security and that of its citizens.
The loud silence of Montenegro’s top officials
Throughout the entire episode, Montenegro’s highest-ranking officials – President Jakov Milatović, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, and Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić – did not say a word either about the apparent attempt at a “landing operation” in Tivat or about the mistreatment of Montenegrin citizens at Serbia’s border crossings.
Only the opposition reacted. URA condemned what it described as “obvious attempts at destabilising” Montenegro ahead of the EU–Western Balkans summit in Tivat.
“Montenegro must not remain silent when its citizens are discriminated against or subjected to politically motivated harassment. We therefore call on the competent institutions to protect the rights of all our citizens,” URA stated.
The largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), said that the entire incident merely confirmed Vučić’s need to be at the centre of attention at all costs and to divert attention through cheap manipulation from the fact that, thanks to him, Serbia is on the periphery of Europe. The party also accused Montenegro’s authorities of being afraid to say anything to Vučić.
“Such behaviour creates the impression that state interests and the need to explain important security decisions to the public are being subordinated to fear of reactions from official Belgrade and Vučić. This is a devastating picture of the political independence of those who promised citizens they would pursue an independent and responsible state policy,” DPS said in a statement to DW.
Vučić: It wasn’t my fault, but the people around me
Serbian President Vučić, who attended the EU-Western Balkans summit in Tivat, explained that the charter flight carrying SNS supporters had been organised by someone from his circle who wanted to make his stay in Tivat more pleasant. Vučić declined to reveal who had organised the flight, claiming it was “an internal party matter”, but admitted that it had been “a major political mistake” for which he would, he said, “pay the political price”.
“Stories about the destabilisation of Montenegro are nonsense. This is my affair and our affair, because they committed no crime. And do not add things that did not happen, because they did not arrive armed. They had no weapons, nothing offensive or inappropriate. To me, the banner ‘Serbia Wins’ is a positive message,” he said.
(Deutsche Welle, 05.06.2026)
https://www.dw.com/sr/odmazda-na-granici-ponovo-tenzije-izme%C4%91u-srbije-i-crne-gore/a-77427421