Montenegrin Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Irena Radovic, met in Pristina with her Kosovo’s counterpart, Mrs. Vlora Çitaku

Today, this Thursday January 21, 2010 in the morning, the Montenegrin Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in charge of bilateral relations, Dr. Irena Radović, held talks on the second day of a two-day official visit to Priština, with her Kosovo’s counterpart, Mrs. Vlora Çitaku.

One week after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Podgorica and Priština, both sides discussed ways of strengthening bilateral relations in the spheres of economy, education and cultural heritage, as part of the general framework for accelerating both countries’ European integration process. The subject of the involvement of the Montenegrin national community living in Kosovo [1] within the country’s institutions, has also been in the center of the discussions between the two Senior Officials; on that point, Deputy Minister Radović received the assurance from her counterpart that the Kosovar Government will seek the right ways to address this issue — made as a precondition by the State President of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Filip Vujanović, for appointing a Montenegrin ambassador to Priština and accepting the letters of credence of a Kosovar ambassador to Podgorica (Art. 95 of the Constitution on the Presidential prerogatives), although Kosovo’s authorities have repeatably stated since January 15 that the intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries did not stipulate prerequisites for the exchange of ambassadors, from none of the parties — as reiterated once again today by Deputy Minister Çitaku in her communication to the press after the meeting with her Montenegrin counterpart.

Yesterday, Deputy Minister Radović talked with members of the Montenegrin community in Kosovo, which is represented by two political entities, the Montenegrin People’s Party of Kosovo (NCPK) led by Mr. Lazar Radulović, and the Montenegrin Democratic Party of Kosovo (CDSK), of which President, Mr. Slobodan Vujičić, was re-elected in last December’s end. The day before Mrs. Radović’s arrival, on the occasion of a conference-debate at the Media Centre in Čaglavici (Tues. Jan. 19), the political trend within the CDSK represented by Mr. Radoman Doderović, Mrs. Snežana Karadžić and Mr. Boban Filipović, distanced itself from the position of their leader who, as the voice in Kosovo of State President Filip Vujanović, always opposed the establishment of diplomatic relations between Podgorica and Priština for as long as the Kosovar Government does not include the Montenegrin community in the Constitution and equalize it with other ethnic minorities in the country.
The three representatives of the dissident CDSK group, together with the two members of the NCPK — Mr. Lazar Radulović and his colleague from Deçani Mrs. Vesna Spalević, demanded both the community to be recognised as a national minority and better diplomatic ties between Montenegro and Kosovo, calling during the debate for enhanced and more effective reciprocal dialogue and understanding at all levels of the two States. Together, they concluded by welcoming the decision of the Montenegrin Government to establish diplomatic relations with Priština, as “the best way to change positively the difficult position of the community.”
Previously, in mid-2009, Mr. Radulović stated that CDSK leader dramatically compromised by his attitude the status of Montenegrins in Kosovo, failing to secure support from the international community.