From November 1, citizens of Montenegro will need visas to travel to Russia?

Photo: Shutterstock./Creative Cairo

From November 1, citizens of Montenegro will need visas to enter Russia, spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova has said.

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She told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that on September 28, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro informed the Russian side that the agreement between the two countries on the conditions for mutual travel of citizens, signed in 2008, was no longer in force.

She clarified that this means that from November 1, Russian citizens will be able to enter Montenegro and stay on its territory based on visas.

"Consequently, citizens of Montenegro will also have to obtain visas for traveling to Russia," said Zakharova, assessing that such a decision by Podgorica causes obvious damage to Montenegrin interests.

She said that for the sake of EU aspirations, long-term relations between Russia and Montenegro are being systematically destroyed, without paying due attention to the economic consequences of such moves, Vijesti writes.

According to Zakharova, the introduction of the visa regime will reduce the flow of tourists from Russia, negatively affect the Montenegrin economy and worsen the investment climate.

"At the same time, it makes no sense for the Montenegrin authorities to expect compensation from Brussels for their unavoidable losses," she added.

Speaking about EU integration of Montenegro and other countries in the Western Balkans, Zakharova stated that those countries have the right to independently decide on relations with the European Union.

She assessed that changes in the security and foreign policy of the EU affect the conditions of future membership and that moving closer to the bloc implies alignment with the policy towards Russia, including sanctions against it, and support for Ukraine.

Zakharova believes that the process of EU integration no longer implies the possibility for new members to maintain a neutral status.

"We hope that the countries in the Western Balkans will see these changes in the European Union, analyze them and clearly understand the consequences of EU integration for their own national interests and the well-being of their citizens," Zakharova concluded.

(Telegraf.rs)