The Montenegrin Foreign Ministry warned on Wednesday that “worrying statements and media reports directed against Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic and his cabinet have been coming from the Serbian authorities.

A statement said that top Serbian state officials and lower-ranking Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) officials were making statements daily which are not in the spirit of good neighbor relations.

“Zdravko Krivokapic is the prime minister of an independent state and a prominent university professor… and failure to respect his social status and almost impolite communication speak more about the people attacking him let alone interference into the internal affairs of another state – Montenegro – a UN and NATO member which has gone far in negotiations with the European Union,” it said.

The Serbian Foreign Ministry responded saying that Serbia has a legitimate right to defend Serbs wherever they live and the right to express dissatisfaction when Serb rights are jeopardized. According to the foreign ministry, that does not mean interference in internal affairs. The Serbs and Serbia want nothing more than cooperation and harmony with the brotherly Montenegrin people based on our traditional friendship, it said.