Miloš Đuričković, a prominent Podgorica Assembly member representing the pro-Western European Alliance (Evropski savez), has demanded that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić be officially declared persona non grata and barred from entering Montenegro.
The political demand comes just days before Montenegro is scheduled to host the high-profile European Union–Western Balkans Summit on June 5 in the coastal town of Tivat.
The escalating diplomatic friction stems from the release of a controversial promotional video titled “Referendum: The Story of a Fictional Freedom” (Referendum: Priča o izmišljenoj slobodi). The video, which heavily criticizes and delegitimizes the landmark 2006 referendum that restored Montenegro’s state independence from Serbia, has been widely condemned by Montenegrin sovereignist and civic parties as historical revisionism and a direct assault on the country’s sovereignty.
“Manufacturing an External Enemy” to Deflect Internal Pressures
According to Đuričković, the immediate defense of the video by the Serbian presidency leaves no room for doubt regarding who commissioned the project. He argues that Vučić is deliberately attempting to destabilize Montenegro to create a geopolitical distraction from mounting domestic political crises and scandals involving his own administration in Belgrade.
“His own citizens are tightening the noose around him and his criminal organization day by day, which is why he desperately needs an external enemy,” Đuričković stated. “He fundamentally needs a destabilized Montenegro so he can look at his electorate and say, ‘Look, we aren’t the worst off—at least we are doing better than them.'”
The Upcoming June 5 Summit as a Diplomatic Flashpoint
The call to block Vučić’s entry places significant pressure on the current Montenegrin government, which has attempted a delicate balancing act between pursuing its accelerated EU accession path and maintaining fragile political relations with Belgrade.
[June 5 Diplomatic Matrix]
├── Event: EU - Western Balkans Summit (Tivat, Montenegro)
├── Local Demand: Declare Aleksandar Vučić 'Persona Non Grata'
└── Regional Stakes: Testing Montenegro's institutional independence vs. regional alignment
Đuričković insists that the upcoming EU-Western Balkans Summit provides a critical test of whether Podgorica’s state institutions possess the political will to protect the nation’s dignity:
- Protecting State Integrity: Barring the Serbian head of state would serve as a definitive baseline rejection of Belgrade’s ongoing “Serbian World” (Srpski svet) cultural and political hegemony.
- A Signal to Serbia’s Opposition: The European Alliance claims that taking a hard institutional stance against Vučić would offer strong symbolic support to progressive, democratic movements inside Serbia that feel isolated by Western pragmatism toward Belgrade.
- Exposing Local Compliance: The initiative also targets pro-Serbian ruling coalition members within Montenegro, whom Đuričković labeled as “domestic accomplices” in the distribution of anti-Montenegrin propaganda, urging them to maintain “at least a shred of personal dignity.”
| Political Actor | Stance on the 2006 Referendum Legacy | Strategic Objective for June 5 Summit |
| European Alliance (Đuričković) | Sacred baseline of statehood; revisionism is labeled as neo-fascist. | Deny entry to Vučić; assert complete institutional decoupling from Belgrade. |
| Serbian Presidency (Vučić) | Frames the 2006 split as historical trickery or an artificial division. | Attend the Tivat Summit to reinforce regional leverage and project geopolitical dominance. |
The Government of Montenegro has not yet issued a formal response to the European Alliance’s request. However, security and diplomatic protocol analysts note that denying entry to a neighboring head of state invited to an EU-sponsored regional summit would trigger an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between Podgorica and Belgrade, just as the tourism season begins.
