Following a week of mounting diplomatic friction in the Western Balkans, Aleksandar Popov, Director of the Center for Regionalism and Co-Chairman of the Igman Initiative, delivered a stinging critique of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Thursday.
Popov accused Vučić of resorting to “street-level vocabulary” in an attempt to humiliate Montenegro as the country celebrates 20 years since reclaiming its independence.
The controversy erupted after Vučić publicly rejected an official invitation to attend Podgorica’s anniversary celebrations. Speaking from the EXPO 2027 construction site on May 14, Vučić told reporters:
“I will not participate in a glamorous celebration of secession from my Serbia. I would be ashamed, and I would spit in my own face and the face of my people, but let them celebrate whatever they want.”
“He Wanted to Humiliate Montenegro, but He Humiliated Himself”
Popov rejected Vučić’s historical characterization of the 2006 referendum, correcting the assertion that Montenegro “seceded from Serbia.” He reminded the public that the two republics were equal members of a voluntary State Union (Serbia and Montenegro) established following the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
[THE BALKAN REACTION METAPHOR]
Vučić's Framing: "Unilateral secession from my Serbia" ──> Direct insult to national pride.
Constitutional Fact: Dissolution of a co-equal State Union.
Popov's Assessment: "Like a possessive ex-boyfriend lashing out when a girl leaves him."
In an interview with N1 Belgrade, Popov characterized the official response from Belgrade as a display of bitter, geopolitical possessiveness.
“The tone of that response is awful,” Popov stated. “It resembles the possessiveness you see when a girl leaves a boy, and when he sees her later, he says, ‘I loved you much more, you didn’t love me, so you left…’ Montenegro did nothing to provoke Serbia or trigger this reaction. He wanted to humiliate Montenegro, but he humiliated himself and all of us whom he represents.”
Montenegro in the “Antechamber of the EU” Panics Belgrade
According to regional political analysts, the sudden chilling of relations is fueled by a deeper systemic reality: Montenegro is rapidly outpacing Serbia on its path toward full European Union membership.
Public opinion polls conducted this month indicate that support for an independent Montenegro has surged to approximately 70% among its citizens. Furthermore, Podgorica has already closed 14 chapters and has formally begun drafting its EU Accession Treaty.
[WESTERN BALKAN PROGRESS COMPARISON - MAY 2026]
• Montenegro: Closed 14 chapters; actively drafting EU Accession Treaty; NATO member.
• Albania: Opened all fundamental chapters; accelerating alignment.
• Serbia: Faking reforms; facing continuous reprimands from Brussels over rule of law.
• BiH: Deeply fractured; paralyzed by internal ethno-nationalist roadblocks.
Popov argued that Montenegro’s imminent entry into the EU destroys a core propaganda narrative maintained by the ruling elite in Belgrade.
The Reality Check for Serbia’s Elite
“Montenegro has progressed the furthest of all the Western Balkan nations in EU negotiations. It has mastered its NATO obligations and pushed through the necessary structural reforms to qualify as the regional frontrunner,” Popov explained.
“Montenegro is currently sitting in the antechamber of the EU, and this government in Serbia cannot handle that. If Montenegro enters the EU before Serbia, it will hit this administration hard. It will definitively prove that it is false that the EU simply ‘does not want’ Serbia. The reality is that Serbia, under its current leadership—with a ruined judiciary, political thugs, and an aggressive stance toward independent media—has zero chance of joining the European family.”
