"Piracy and robbery": Russian senator excoriates Montenegro over property freeze

By freezing real estate owned by Russians, Montenegro has engaged in piracy and robbery, and this will subsequently harm its economy and friendly relations with Russia, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov has said.

He made the remarks in a conversation with TASS on July 28, while commenting on the fact that on July 27, the website of Montenegro's cabinet of ministers published a document according to which the republic started freezing Russian-owned real estate.

"Montenegro embarked on this disastrous path which all of Europe and the US are following, the path of piracy and robbery. That's because those who brought money there and purchased real estate, all of them came with legitimate funds. So, [the Montenegrin authorities] have no grounds for confiscating or freezing [anything]," the senator stressed.

In his opinion, the Montenegrins are making a big mistake, since many Russian tourists have always vacationed in that Balkan country. "We loved this country. I think that the Montenegrin economy will just crash. Secondly, no matter how hard they try to kiss up to their masters (NATO and the EU), nothing will come of it. [They are] a country without resources, a rather weak country and they will continue to live off the European Union's handouts," the politician insisted. "Montenegro lost a good friend like Russia. And it hasn't acquired any new ones," he noted.

The legislator also reiterated that 15 years ago, Russians were enthusiastic about buying up property in Montenegro. In his opinion, many of them got carried away. Dzhabarov thinks that it was a mistake because a person should own real estate only in his or her own native country.

On Wednesday, the website of Montenegro's cabinet of ministers published a document according to which the republic started freezing Russian-owned real estate. On June 10, Montenegro's Interior Minister Filip Adzic said that the country would freeze 44 Russian-owned properties as part of the Russia-targeted sanctions imposed over Moscow's special operation in Ukraine.

On March 1, the Montenegrin authorities joined all the EU's sanctions against Russia. The country's President Milo Dukanovic declared solidarity with Ukraine following a summit of NATO member states. That said, various Montenegrin towns are holding rallies in support of Russia. The Balkan nation's residents are demanding that the anti-Russian sanctions be lifted and collected 6,000 signatures required for the country’s parliament to consider a resolution on the matter.