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Montenegro summons Russian envoy over official arrest

Monday, 29 May 2017 4:05 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 29 May 2017 5:45 PM ]

Miodrag Vukovic, a prominent deputy from the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS)

Montenegro's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador in Podgorica to protest over the brief detention of one of its parliamentary deputies at Moscow airport overnight.

The move could further sour relations between Podgorica and Moscow, which strongly opposed Montenegro becoming a member of NATO.

Miodrag Vukovic, a prominent deputy from the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), was held overnight at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, the ministry said in a statement. Vukovic, who had been traveling to Minsk via Moscow, returned to Montenegro on Monday morning.

"(The protest note) singled out inappropriate behavior by Russian officials ... during the unwarranted detention of Mr. Vukovic," the statement said.

In 2014, Montenegro imposed sanctions against Russia over the crisis in eastern Ukraine. Moscow retaliated by adding Montenegro to the list of countries from which it was banning food imports.

Later on Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Vukovic was banned from entering the country as a response to Montenegrin sanctions.

A video grab made from handout footage taken in Moscow on April 7, 2017 shows Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. (Photo by AFP)

"We have always said that we reserve the right to take retaliatory measures on the basis of reciprocity as is common in diplomatic practice," Zakharova said in remarks posted on ministry's website.

The Montenegrin protest note said Russian authorities took Vukovic's passport and he was not initially allowed to contact the Montenegrin embassy. Russian authorities also failed to allow a Montenegrin diplomat to make immediate contact with him at the airport, it said.

Ties between Montenegro, a candidate to join the EU, and Russia worsened after the tiny Adriatic republic sought to join NATO.

Last year, Montenegrin authorities claimed Russian spy agencies and local pro-Russian parties concocted a plot during October elections to halt Montenegro's NATO bid, assassinate the then prime minister Milo Djukanovic and bring an opposition figure to power. The Kremlin dismissed that as absurd.

(Source: Reuters)

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