Montenegro

Storms and bad weather in January have caused serious damage to the famous Montenegrin coastal town of Ulcinj, bringing down part of the ancient town walls. Following heavy rain, part of Pinjes hill in Ulcinj also collapsed on to the local road on January 12, burying two vehicles.

The coming year could prove the biggest test of Montenegro's new government, the first in 30 years without the Democratic Party of Socialists.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in a decision that was made public on Tuesday that 11 current, former or retired officers of the Yugoslav Army and the Army of Serbia and Montenegro were not denied a fair hearing by the courts in their legal battle over allegedly underpaid salaries.

Serbia's Justice and Internal Affairs ministries have not publicly responded to fresh requests from Montenegro to extradite the former president of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic.

As part of Yugoslavia, Montenegro took part directly in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic.

The Montenegrin ruling coalition MPs adopted the changes to the Law on Religious freedom, while the opposition boycotted the session.

Supporters of so-called patriotic organisations in Montenegro protested on Monday in the capital Podgorica against the new government's proposals to change the hotly disputed Freedom of Religion law, erasing all elements opposed by the powerful Serbian Orthodox Church.

Montenegro airlines transport students during the pandemic. Photo: Government of Montenegro

Capital Investments Minister Mladen Bojanic said it would cost 50 million euros to close the flag carrier and take up to nine months to create a new one.

Landmark Election

People of the catholic western part of Mostar vote in the first post-war elections in Mostar, Bosnia And Herzegovina, 30 June 1996. Photo: EPA/ANTONIO BAT

Speaking from Belgrade, where he found safe haven despite repeated demands from Montenegro for his extradition, 65-year-old Marovic, once a key ally of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, said that his family had been "brought to the brink" of financial collapse by the scandal that enveloped him in 2015 when he was arrested on corruption charges.