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Authorities in Montenegro launch investigation into road sign showing Peja as part of Serbia
2025-04-07 18:50:16 / KOSOVA
The Ministry of Transport of Montenegro ordered the Road Inspectorate on April 7 to investigate the case of the placement of a road sign in Plav, where the city of Peja, located in Kosovo, was marked as part of Serbia, the ministry confirmed to Radio Free Europe.
The sign was removed on April 6, but it is not known exactly when it was installed.
The ministry has not provided an answer as to who and when ordered the placement and subsequent removal of the disputed sign in the settlement of Murinë, which belongs to the Municipality of Plav, in northern Montenegro, near the Montenegrin-Kosovo border.
"The Directorate of Transport is responsible for installing road signs along main and regional roads. The Ministry is aware of the case in question and we have ordered the Inspectorate to go to the field and act in accordance with the factual situation and the law."
The photo of this road sign was shared on social media on Sunday. The same was shared by the artist from Plava, Kaltrina Hoti.
In a video in front of the sign, Hoti is seen talking to the company workers who, as heard, had placed the sign.
"It was ordered from Podgorica, from the Directorate of Transport. I am just a worker and I put up the signs according to the documentation I receive," said one of the workers, pointing to a letter that is not clearly visible in the video.
When Hoti reiterated that the instructions for placing the sign had come from the Montenegrin Ministry, the worker confirmed this.
The truck seen in the video had the company name "Signal" written on it.
This company, headquartered in Sombor, Serbia, according to its official website, specializes in the production and installation of road signage.
They did not answer REL's question about who had hired them.
The neighboring municipality of Rozhaja told REL that, contrary to some claims on social media, there have been no attempts to place similar signs in that city.
According to the Law on Traffic Safety, the Directorate of Transport is responsible for the installation of road signage with the consent of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).
REL has asked the Ministry of Interior about who ordered the production and placement of the sign, the content of which contradicts Montenegro's recognition of the state of Kosovo, but has not received a response.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence and considers it part of its territory. The head of Montenegro's Ministry of Transport is a representative of the Democratic Front (DF), a party that also does not recognize Kosovo's independence.
After harsh reactions, the sign was removed
. The mayor of Plav, Nihad Canovic, confirmed that the disputed sign has been removed by the Directorate of Transport.
He distanced himself from the entire case, saying that the local government had no role in setting up the sign.
"After I was informed about this, I contacted representatives of the Transport Directorate, to whom I told about the omission and the problem that its placement has caused. The residents of Plav have always been people of peace, respect and good neighborly relations – this does not change," Canovic wrote.
The removal of the sign was also confirmed by the Minister of Public Administration, Marash Dukaj, reacting to many posts on the X network, mainly from Kosovo.
He did not respond to REL's calls.
Meanwhile, MP and leader of the Albanian party Forca, Genci Nimanbegu, called on Prime Minister Milojko Spajic to intervene.
He condemned the placement of the sign as a clear political provocation, urging the Prime Minister to take urgent measures to ensure that the road sign matches the facts.
Nimanbeg's party, like Dukaj's, are part of the governing majority in Montenegro.
Who is in charge of the Ministry of Transport?
Among those “trying to change internationally recognized facts” is the People's Democratic Party, a member of the former Democratic Front, whose vice-president, Maja Vukićević, heads the Ministry of Transport.
This party, among other things, advocates for the annulment of the recognition of Kosovo's independence, which Montenegro recognized in 2008, when Milo Djukanović's Democratic Party of Socialists was in power.
They claim that Kosovo is occupied Serbian territory and call it "pseudo-countries".
This party, led by Milan Knežević, has absolute power in Zeta, the newest municipality in Montenegro.
The local parliament of Zeta has adopted a Declaration by which, according to them, the recognition of Kosovo's independence is not valid in the territory of this municipality.
Lifting sanctions against Russia and Montenegro's exit from the NATO alliance are part of their foreign policy objectives.
This party has been part of the parliamentary majority since August 2020, when, together with the party of Andrija Mandic, Speaker of the Assembly, the Democrats and the civic movement URA, they took power.
With the restructuring of the Government in July last year, they won two positions and formally became part of it.
Although the Democratic Front parties had warned that they would freeze foreign policy objectives and respect good neighborly relations, in practice the opposite happened, which caused official Podgorica to receive three protest notes from its neighbors – one from Croatia and two from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Knežević and Mandić were declared persona non grata in Croatia last year./REL
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