Pro-Russian Parties Initiated Revocation of Montenegro’s Recognition of Kosovo

The pro-Russian Democratic Front, which holds absolute power in Zeta, Montenegro’s newest municipality, has decided to adopt a declaration by which, they said, the recognition of Kosovo’s independence will not be valid in the area.

The municipality of Zeta, which is located in the uninhabited suburb of the Montenegrin capital Podgorica, will take a position on this document in the last session in May.

Kosovo’s independence was recognized by the Montenegrin government in 2008, when Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) was in power, losing elections in August 2020 to the pro-Serb and pro-Russian Democratic Front, the Democrats and the URA Movement .

Recently, Djukanović suffered a defeat in the presidential elections and must officially hand over this post on May 24 to newly elected President Jakov Milatović, who stated that there would be no withdrawal of recognition of Kosovo.

What does the government say?

The declaration to cancel the decision to recognize Kosovo’s independence will have no legal effect and cannot be a legally binding act, the government of Montenegro told Radio Free Europe.

The Prime Minister’s legal advisor, Ivo Šoć, sees the adoption of such a declaration as a political act for which the government should not declare itself.

“The approval of such a law is probably meant to send a political message rather than to have a legal effect on the territory of the municipality that would approve such a law. I see this as a kind of possible revolt against recent events regarding Kosovo’s admission to the Council of Europe,” he says for RFE/RL.

Šoć also stresses the legal dimension of the declared approval of the declaration.

“From a legal point of view, even with such declarations, municipalities would be outside their jurisdiction, and it remains unclear how they could be implemented. We do not yet know what the content of such a law would be and whether, depending on it, it could be the subject of proceedings before the Administrative or Constitutional Court,” he explains.

But the Democratic Front is also aware that a municipality’s declaration cannot have legal effect, but it wants to send a political message, as it says.

The Democratic Front calls on other municipalities to make a “symbolic gesture”

The representative of this political group, Milun Zogović, said that the adoption of the declaration to cancel the recognition of Kosovo’s independence in the municipality of Zeta is logical, as it is a reaction to the support of Montenegrin diplomacy for Kosovo a member of the Council of Europe.

“Even though it is a symbolic decision, it is justified because it will show what the majority of Montenegro thinks about this issue. It is an expression of two-thirds of the will of the people,” Zogović said.

Democratic Front officials urged other municipalities where the government consists of members of the current parliamentary majority to adopt such declarations:

“And so begins the process of returning Montenegro to its historical, spiritual and state-building sources,” one of the FSH communication reads.

How did it get here?

On April 24, Montenegro voted to admit Kosovo to the Council of Europe, to which part of the pro-Serbian ruling parties reacted strongly, calling such a policy “shameful for official Belgrade.”

On this occasion, on Wednesday, May 3, the Assembly held the control meeting of Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, who is also the coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On this occasion, Abazović said that Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe is in the interest of regional stability.

“Nothing has changed in Montenegro’s foreign policy, we have followed a responsible and consistent policy and behaved like all other countries that have recognized Kosovo,” Abazović said during the meeting.

Can the recognition be revoked?

“Of course, a responsible government should react to this, because it is not impossible that other municipalities will adopt a similar position,” says international law professor Nebojsha Vučinić in an opinion piece for RFE/RL.

He stresses that the decision to recognize Kosovo’s independence is irrevocable and that no subsequent decision on the same issue can contradict it.

“Neither Zeta nor any government in the world, if it revokes the decision on the recognition of Kosovo, it has no effect, because the recognition of the state is irrevocable and retroactive. The revocation has no legal meaning, it can only have a populist meaning,” explains Vučinić.

Professor Vučinić says that in the case of “revoking recognition of Kosovo” by Zeta and possibly by other municipalities, an instrument is used to achieve a clear political goal:

“The whole legal and political system has the task of realizing what is pejoratively called ‘Serbian world’. Everything is subjected to it. All means are allowed to achieve the goal. One of the means is the withdrawal of recognition of Kosovo,” he says.

What are the opposition’s reactions?

Spokesman for the opposition SPD (Social Democratic Party), Mirko Stanic, believes that with this initiative the DF is trying to regain its weakened position before the June 11 parliamentary elections.

“This is the message that the signing of a series of agreements by the Democratic Front before the formation of the government, declaring that the international obligations and commitment of Montenegro’s foreign policy will not change, is just a fraud “, says Stanic.

Accordingly, after the 2020 victory, the parliamentary majority, including the Democratic Front, pledged not to change the country’s foreign policy course, which includes recognition of Kosovo.

Stanic says there is a possibility that Zeta will soon revoke the decision to withdraw recognition of Kosovo.

“What will the Democratic Front do if Serbia recognizes Kosovo in a few months? Will this decision also be revoked ‘in the territory of the municipality of Zeta’?” says Stanic.

What should you know about Zeta?

Zeta is the youngest municipality in Montenegro, established less than a year ago. In the first elections last October, the Democratic Front parties won more than half of the majority.

The Democratic Front leadership called on other municipalities where they are in the majority to make the same declaration. The Democratic Front, with its partners the Democrats and the URA Movement, controls local government in 13 of the 25 municipalities in Montenegro.

What should you know about the Democratic Front?

The Democratic Front, which makes up most of the parliamentary majority, is a political alliance whose main foreign policy goals are the lifting of sanctions against Russia, the withdrawal of Montenegro from the NATO alliance, and the withdrawal of recognition of Kosovo’s independence. They claim that Kosovo is occupied Serbian territory and call it a quasi-state.

Although it had previously warned against raising its foreign policy sights, the Democratic Front reactivated these claims with an initiative to withdraw recognition of Kosovo’s independence.

At the same time, the Montenegrin government did not question Kosovo’s independence.

Otherwise, the Democratic Front is close to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party.

After Montenegro supported Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe, the Democratic Front, together with the Zeta Declaration, proposed to launch a campaign in Kosovo’s churches and monasteries to collect signatures for the withdrawal of the decision to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

The Serbian Church did not respond to this proposal./REL/