Zagreb sharply criticized the resolution at the time, warning it would damage relations between the two countries and impede Montenegro’s hopes of joining the European Union, and vowing consequences. European Council President Charles Michel canceled a trip to Podgorica in solidarity with Croatia.
Mandić introduced the resolution, and Bečić and Knežević’s parties supported it, after the U.N. General Assembly passed a separate resolution condemning the Srebrenica genocide committed against Bosniaks by Serbia. Croatia supported that resolution.
The trio’s “behavior cannot be considered benevolent … nor is it in accordance with the declared goal of Montenegro’s membership in the European Union,” Croatia’s Foreign Ministry added Thursday.
Bečić slammed the ban as unfair, claiming “there are other presidents of parties who voted and are members of the Government” who weren’t the subject of Zagreb’s reprisals. “So there’s obviously no criteria,” he said.
Knežević said that he would have to cancel a planned vacation in Rovinj, a popular Croatian coastal city. “My wife will kill me,” he joked.
Mandić and Knežević’s parties joined the Montenegrin government earlier this week in a Cabinet restructure.
