Vucic denies accusations he is behind anti-Turkish incidents in Montenegro

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied on Wednesday that he was behind incidents targeting Turkish migrants in Montenegro and added that he "had no idea this was happening."

Responding to accusations from Podgorica that Montenegro is retaliating against Turkey because Ankara supplied Kosovo with drones, Vučić said that "such a thing had never crossed his mind."

"They need to come up with a new agenda, because they don't know what to offer except hatred of everything Serbian," Vucic said.

The incidents in Montenegro began on October 26, following a fight in which a Podgorica resident was injured, and in which two foreign nationals are suspected.

The clash sparked protests in the streets of Podgorica with the message that “Turks must be expelled from Montenegro.” What followed were attacks on Turkish citizens and their property.

As a result, the Montenegrin government, which also includes parties close to Vucic, reacted by imposing a visa regime for Turkish citizens.

The leader of the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro, Ivan Vujović, claimed on social media that Vučić was taking action against Turkey through Montenegro because Ankara sent drones to Kosovo.

Vučić declared that Vujović is “a guy who runs errands for (former Montenegrin President) Milo Đukanović,” and that the same applies to writer Andrej Nikolaidis, who said that the riots in Podgorica “bear the clear authorial signature” of the Serbian president.

Vujovic and Nikolaidis were not the only ones who accused the authorities in Belgrade.

Reacting to the decision of the Government of Montenegro to lift the visa-free regime for Turkish citizens, the opposition European League assessed that this was a "xenophobic act" and dangerous on the part of the Government, and that all this was "happening on the orders of the boss he serves in Belgrade."

"Immediately after the news that Turkey had sent drones to Kosovo. This was reason enough for the Spajic government and its extremist partners to start a new wave of hysteria against the entire Turkish people," the party said on October 28.

On October 27, when the anti-Turkish rallies began, the head of the Islamic Community in Montenegro, Rifat Fejziq, commented on the event in the context of the cooling of relations between Belgrade and Ankara.

"After less than 20 days, is Belgrade punishing Turkey through Montenegro?" Fejzic wrote on the X network, posting a photo of the text with the caption "Vucic attacked Turkey: We know what you are planning...".

Part of the ruling coalition in Montenegro, mainly the Democratic Front parties, have close ties to Belgrade and Serbian Vucic.