Montenegro joins EU imposing sanctions on those responsible for aggression against Ukraine
Montenegrin authorities have banned 149 citizens of Russia and Ukraine from entering the country and possessing property because of their involvement in the annexation of the Crimea and the war in the Donbas, B92 news outlet reports.
The list of citizens who are banned from entering Montenegro was formulated on the basis of the European Council’s ruling.
“Montenegro is restricting the entry and management of property and assets of the people who bear responsibility for actively supporting the policy which is undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the message of Montenegrin government reads.
Among those featuring on the sanctioned list are Russian Deputy Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov and Deputy Secretary of the General Council Sergey Zheleznyak.
These steps by Montenegro followed the appearance of information in the media that Russia had banned Montenegrin Prime Minister Duško Marković and Brajović from entering Russia.
After the October parliamentary elections last year, relations between Russia and Montenegro have deteriorated sharply. The Montenegrin Prosecutor General’s Office is investigating a case regarding an attempted coup which a Russian is suspected of being involved in.
The conspirators, according to the Montenegrin authorities’ theory, intended to create chaos, capture parliament, kill Prime Minister Milo Đukanović and, as special prosecutor Milivoje Katnić put it, “stop Montenegro on its Euro-Atlantic path, and first and foremost, on its path to NATO”.
Prosecutor Katnić said last year that the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović was planned by “Russian nationalists” in order to prevent Montenegro from joining NATO.