Montenegro

Movement for Changes leader Nebojsa Medojevic in parliament in Podgorica. Photo: Parliament of Montenegro.

"There are public indications that the Montenegrin authorities supported Bosnian Serb forces, despite the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's embargo on the Bosnian Serb authorities," Medojevic said.

Projections suggest Montenegro might have enough oil and gas out at sea to cover its own needs. It signed a concession contract in 2016 and officials say the first exploratory drilling might take up to six months.

But local residents and environmental activists are worried.

"There is no vision," said Natasa Kovacevic of the NGO Green Home.

According to the findings of an investigation by the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro, CIN-CG, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and the weekly news magazine Monitor, authorities in Montenegro are allowing dangerous waste from a number of companies to pollute the Zeta, to the alarm of residents who say their health is being affected.

Montenegrin Minister of Justice, Human and Minority Rights Vladimir Leposavic. Photo: Government of Montenegro.

Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic proposed the sacking of Leposavic on Monday after the minister expressed doubt about the international court's ruling classifying the 1995 Srebrenica massacres of Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb forces as genocide.

Protesters from self-proclaimed patriotic organisations in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo: BIRN/Samir Kajosevic

The proposed law would give people with permanent residence permits the right to vote and apply for citizenship. But protesters waving Montenegrin flags and chanting slogans against the new government accused the government of betraying national interests.

Locals in Montenegro's coastal resort towns fear another bad tourist season lies ahead, as most of the resorts on the Adriatic are still almost empty. The country is recording a high number of COVID-19 cases, restrictive health measures remain in force and curfew is enforced from 10 pm to 5 am. Intercity traffic is also prohibited.

Montenegro's chief negotiator in EU accession talks say the country aims to be ready to join by 2025. The rest will depend on the "political will" of the bloc's 27 members

The Serbian and Montenegrin Prime Ministers, Ana Brnabic and Zdravko Krivokapic, at Podgorica airport, Montenegro. Photo: Government of Montenegro

The minister will be visiting Serbia almost a month after Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic donated a consignment of Russian Sputnik V COVID vaccines to Podgorica on February 17.

Bulgarian citizens travelling to Montenegro will have to present a negative result of a PCR test carried out no earlier than 48 hours before departure, a positive result of an antigenic IgG test not older than 30 days, or submit a vaccination certificate about a second dose given at least 7 days before the date of entry into Montenegro, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

Branka Milic. Photo courtesy of IN4S,

On February 5, Montenegro's Appeal Court annulled the first-instance verdicts in the trial, asking the Higher Court to stage a retrial in the case that the opposition had claimed was politically motivated. The court said it revoked the first-instance verdict because of procedural errors.