Montenegro refuses Russian request to use port of Bar for military purposes

Montenegro has refused a request by the Russian Federation for permission to install a military base in its Adriatic port of Bar to provide logistical support to the Russian naval fleet in the Mediterranean, the Podgorica-based independent newspaper Vijesti said on Thursday.

Citing several unnamed Montenegrin government sources, the newspaper said that the decision was made at the highest level in Podgorica. The Russian Federation made the request several months ago, uncertain whether it would be able to keep its military base in the Syrian port of Tartus.

Montenegrin Defence Minister Milica Pejanovic Djurisic declined to comment on the newspaper report, and her ministry said in a press release that in regular contacts as part of its bilateral and multilateral activities the ministry had never discussed the possibility of foreign military or naval bases being opened in Montenegro.

The press release said that the Montenegrin government was unequivocally committed to the country's strategic priorities concerning Euro-Atlantic integration.

Any agreement by Montenegro to the Russian naval fleet being stationed at Bar would mean an end to the country's NATO membership bid, the newspaper concluded.