After four years, Montenegro sends ambassador to Kosovo

At the February 12 session, the Committee on International Relations of the Parliament of Montenegro supported the Government's proposal to appoint Bernard Çobaj as ambassador to Kosovo.

In addition to him, Nebojsa Djokovic has also been appointed ambassador to Serbia,  REL reports .

This will fill the ambassadorial positions in Pristina and Belgrade and after four years. In 2020, the mandate of Montenegro's ambassador to Kosovo, Ferhat Dinosha, expired due to reaching retirement age.

That same year, the ambassador in Belgrade, Tarzan Milosevic, was dismissed after the change of government in Montenegro.

He was a member of the then ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of former President Milo Djukanovic.

Unlike Djokovic, who was voted in unanimously, Çobaj was not voted in by MPs from pro-Serbian parties that do not recognize Kosovo's independence.

The future ambassador of Montenegro to Kosovo was until recently assigned to work at the embassy in Pristina.

"The Embassy of Montenegro is known as one of the most visible embassies in Kosovo. We owe this mostly to cultural diplomacy," said Çobaj.

He described the relations between the two countries as good neighborly relations oriented towards a European future.

Before entering Montenegrin diplomacy, Çobaj worked for years at the United States Embassy in Podgorica.

He is not a member of any party.

Ambassador selection procedure

The Law on Foreign Affairs provides that the proposal for the appointment of the ambassador is made by the Government, upon the proposal of the head of Montenegrin diplomacy.

After reaching the agreement of the host state and the opinion of the Committee on International Relations of the Parliament of Montenegro, the President of the State appoints the ambassador by decree.

In the case of Djokovic and Cobaj, all that remains is for the Montenegrin president, Jakov Milatovic, to issue a decree appointing them.