TIRANA, August 25 – Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of European Affairs in the Government of Montenegro Jovana Marović was banned from entering Serbia on Wednesday evening (August 23).
Marović, who is currently a member of the Balkan Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG), tweeted on X (formerly Twitter) that she was denied entry “for the sake of protecting the security of the Republic of Serbia and its citizens.”
“I was refused entry to Serbia due to ‘protection of the security of the Republic of Serbia and its citizens’. Thank you (Serbian President) Aleksandar Vučič for making me a heroine,” the former minister mocked on the X social network, formerly Twitter.
Jovana Marović, a former senior official in URA Civic Movement, was Minister of European Affairs of Montenegro and vice-president in the Government of Dritan Abazović. But she resigned from all positions at the end of November last year. She is currently a member of the Balkan Policy Advisory Group in Europe (BiEPAG).
BiEPAG has also condemned the decision.
Our BiEPAG member and former Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Jovana Marović was detained at Belgrade airport on August 23, denied entry to Serbia and then deported.
The claim that she poses a security risk to Serbia is false and brutal. Jovana Marović has a long history as a civil society activist in Montenegro. As a long-standing member of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group, she has contributed to regional debates on how to promote democracy and European integration in the region and by authoring or co-authoring policy documents such as our recent BiEPAG policy brief on “Keeping the promise of Thessaloniki”.
We strongly condemn the decision of the Serbian authorities as an attack on free speech and call on the EU and the United States, as well as the Montenegrin authorities, to protest against this decision, says the BiEPAG statement.
The reaction of Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic was immediate.
In his post on X on Wednesday evening, Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic said he had spoken with Marović, who has returned safely to Montenegro.
“I am surprised that she has been banned from entering Serbia, especially considering her many years of engagement in the civil sector in Montenegro and the region. I am sure that Jovana is not a security threat for Serbia,” the president stressed.
He added that banning entry for another political opinion is something that must be left behind if we want to build good neighborly relations.
In the meantime the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro issued a statement on Thursday (August 24), confirming that it has requested justification for the decision from Serbian institutions.
“The Ministry expresses the belief that this practice will not continue, because it violates democratic values and hinders the further development of good neighborly relations and regional cooperation, which are the main prerequisites for building a common European future, as a political and key foreign priority of both countries,” the statement said.
Jovana Marović, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of European Affairs in the Government of Montenegro, is very familiar with the Western Balkans. Her entire professional and academic career has been dedicated to the European integration process of Montenegro and the Western Balkans.
In her analyzes and opinions, she has often been critical of the recent Initiative in the Balkans, such as the “Open Balkans”, expressing her skepticism as to whether this initiative would work.
If this constitutes a “threat” to Belgrade, then unfortunately we find that freedom of speech and thought are still a utopia for the Serbian leadership. /Argumentum.al
