Luis Ayllón
The Spanish government will open a diplomatic antenna in Montenegro in early 2022, The Diplomat has learned from Spanish diplomatic sources.
Diplomatic relations with Montenegro are currently maintained from the Spanish Embassy in Belgrade, headed by Raúl Bartolomé, although Spain has had an honorary consulate in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, since 2018.
According to the sources consulted, the Spanish government has taken the decision to open an antenna in Montenegro, among other reasons, because it is the only NATO member country -which it joined in 2017- in which Spain has no diplomatic representation, with little more than half a year to go before the Atlantic Alliance Summit is held in Madrid.
Moreover, Montenegro, which gained independence from Serbia in June 2006, has had EU candidate country status since December 2010.
The Spanish government’s intention is to create the diplomatic antenna in Podgorica at the beginning of next year and include it in the general call for applications for posts abroad, which will be published in mid-February and will be resolved in April. The successful candidate will have the rank of Chargé d’Affaires.
Spain has already had this model of diplomatic antenna for some time in countries such as Georgia and Azerbaijan, and does not rule out extending it to other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, such as Armenia, Uzbekistan and Belarus, according to the Foreign Ministry’s budget for 2022, although no decision has been taken for the moment.
Spain established diplomatic relations with Montenegro in December 2006, but contacts at the political level have been scarce. The Balkan country opened an embassy in Madrid in 2017, and sent its first resident ambassador, Aleksander Erakovic.
