Montenegrin director Danilo Marunovic expelled from Serbia after controversial column

In a Facebook post made just before midnight on Friday, Marunovic said he was formally expelled from Serbia.

“I was served with a decision on urgent expulsion from the country and a one-year ban on entering Serbia, at the border with Macedonia. Allegedly, the reason is my column published yesterday,” he wrote.

His article, titled "Against Vucic with Vidovdan", was published on June 26 by the Montenegrin outlet Analitika.

Marunovic was in Belgrade along with members of the Montenegrin National Theatre for a scheduled performance of “The Glembays” at the National Theatre.

On Friday evening, Montenegro’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong condemnation of Serbia’s actions and called on Serbian authorities to provide an “urgent and detailed” explanation.

“This kind of treatment of a Montenegrin artist, especially on the eve of a scheduled public cultural event, is a blatant violation of fundamental principles of international cooperation and cultural exchange,” the ministry said in a statement carried by RTCG.

“This act is unacceptable and undermines the spirit of good neighbourly relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs demands an immediate and thorough clarification of the incident by the institutions of the Republic of Serbia and expects all circumstances to be clarified swiftly, with appropriate steps taken to prevent similar incidents in the future,” the statement concluded.