Podgorica, Montenegro. In the exchange of sanctions and banned officials from each others nations, one would think Russia and Montenegro have a problem, and they certainly do; a failure to communicate.
Russians and Ukrainians placed on the Montenegrin blacklist were selected because of their alleged role in Russia’s integration of Crimea in 2014, ” in violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorital integrity,” Podgorica media said, citing government officials who are trying to strike back at Russia over their sanctions that block entry of Montenegrin officials into Russia, for any reason.
Montenegro’s sanctions list includes; Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, head of intelligence services Nikolai Patrushev, President of the Republic of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, tycoon and owner of Tsargrad TV Konstantin Malofeev, and deputy secretary general of the ruling United Russia party Sergei Zheleznyak.
Montenegro joined EU’s sanctions against Russia after the USA overthrew the Ukrainian Yanukovich government in 2014, a factor cited by Russian authorities in barring entry of a lawmaker from Montenegro’s ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, Miodrag Vukovic, on May 28.
The international media reported that Montenegro has barred 149 Russians and Ukrainians from entering the country in response to recent bans Moscow placed on Montenegrins traveling to Russia.
The hostility has a history in Montenegro’s relations with NATO and the EU who have been grooming them as a member for some time now. Experts see the situation between the two states only getting worse. Behind the latest measures, Russia sees NATO and EU aggression, not the Montenegrin people.