Bizarre exchange between the pope and prime minister of Montenegro caught on camera: "But Djokovic is Serbian"
Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic found himself in a somewhat embarrassing situation during his official visit to the Vatican, after he presented Pope Leo XIV with a specially made tennis racket featuring motifs of Montenegrin state symbols.
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The racket was not a random choice: the pope is known as a tennis fan, and the Montenegrin president's office explained before the visit that the gift was intended as one of the symbols of modern Montenegro.
Along with it, Milatovic presented the pope with a reproduction of the first page of the Concordat between the Principality of Montenegro and the Holy See from 1886, as well as traditional filigree work inspired by the Dobrota lace.
It was during the conversation about tennis that the interesting exchange took place. Milatovic at one point mentioned Novak Djokovic in the context of tennis and Montenegro, which the pope interrupted with the remark, "But (Djokovic) is Serbian."
Milatovic then continued by saying that Djokovic is, "You know, also very keen on Montenegro."
The video of the brief exchange soon spread across social sites and regional media. Some of these posts erroneously state that Milatovic was corrected by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Official sources confirm that Milatovic did indeed meet with Parolin during the visit, but after the reception with the pope.
During the visit, Milatovic invited the pope to visit Montenegro, and if the visit takes place, it would be the first visit of a head of the Roman Catholic Church to that country.
(Telegraf.rs/Jutarnji.hr)