Montenegro is not obligated to attend commemorations marking the anniversary of Croatia’s 1995 military-police operation known as Operation Storm, according to the office of President Jakov Milatović.
The statement came as Montenegro’s Foreign Ministry emphasized that the country has regularly sent representatives to the Croatian state ceremony for more than a decade as part of standard diplomatic practice.
Milatović’s office said Operation Storm represents a wartime victory for many Croatian citizens, while many Serbs associate it with suffering, displacement and the loss of their homes.
“Montenegro maintains good relations with Croatia as a neighboring country and a partner on the path toward European integration,” the president’s office said. “Those relations are based on mutual respect and cooperation, but not on mandatory attendance at events that evoke painful memories for many citizens of Montenegro.”
The office said Montenegro’s policies as a civic and European state should be guided by restraint and respect for all victims of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, without applying selective standards.
It added that Montenegro should continue building good relations with its neighbors and supporting regional stability while recognizing the historical complexity of the conflict and the feelings of all its citizens.
The Foreign Ministry, however, said Montenegro’s participation in Croatia’s Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Croatian Veterans Day and the Operation Storm anniversary has been an established practice for more than 10 years.
According to the ministry, Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs regularly invites all accredited diplomatic missions, including Montenegro’s embassy in Zagreb. Montenegro has consistently attended through members of its diplomatic mission.
In previous years, the country has been represented by chargés d’affaires, embassy diplomats, special advisers and military attachés, depending on the embassy’s staffing arrangements.
The ministry confirmed that Montenegro would also be represented at this year’s ceremony in Knin by the embassy’s acting chargé d’affaires.
It described diplomatic participation in official ceremonies organized by a host country as standard practice, particularly between neighboring nations and NATO allies.
The ministry said such attendance reflects respect for Croatia and its institutions, as well as Montenegro’s commitment to good-neighborly relations, open dialogue and regional cooperation.
