Your train has left: Montenegro will lose visa-free travel with Russia due to its desire to join the EU

Citizens of Montenegro, which introduces a visa regime for Russians, will also have to obtain visas to travel to our country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia. According to her, the decision taken by the Montenegrin authorities will reduce the tourist flow from Russia and hit local businesses. The deterioration of bilateral relations is a consequence of the European integration of the Balkan republic. This process no longer implies the possibility of maintaining a neutral status for new members due to the policy of Brussels, Zakharova stressed.

Visas for Montenegrins

On September 28, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro notified the Russian side that the agreement between the governments of the two countries on the conditions of mutual travel of citizens, signed in 2008, is no longer valid. Based on the clarifications received, in practice this means that from November 1, Russians will be able to enter Montenegro and stay on its territory on visas, said Maria Zakharova, an official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

— Accordingly, citizens of Montenegro will also have to obtain visas to travel to Russia. Such a decision by Podgorica causes obvious damage to Montenegrin interests. For the sake of European hopes, long-term developments in the framework of Russian—Montenegrin relations are consistently being destroyed, and due attention is not paid to the economic consequences of such steps," the diplomat told Izvestia.

According to her, the introduction of a visa regime will reduce the tourist flow from Russia, hit the Montenegrin business, and worsen the investment climate.

"At the same time, of course, it makes no sense for the Montenegrin authorities to expect compensation from Brussels for inevitable losses," Maria Zakharova stressed.

Nowadays, classical tourism from Montenegro to Russia is a rarity. There are no direct flights, so you have to fly with difficult transfers in Istanbul or Belgrade. Because of this, Montenegrins most often come for work, business, or to visit relatives. In the pre–pandemic years 2018-2019, only about 1.5-2 thousand Montenegrins visited the Russian Federation per year. This is not much, but in this case it is necessary to take into account the scale of the country — more than 600 thousand people live there.

Meanwhile, Montenegro has been on the list of the most visited places in Europe by Russians for many years. For example, in 2014, a record number of Russian travelers arrived there — 4.3 million. After 2022, the figures began to decline, although the Balkan Republic remained an attractive country, despite the lack of direct flights. From 2006 to 2025, according to the Statistics Office of Montenegro (Monstat), 165.6 million tourists visited this country; 44.2 million visits (about 27%) were made by citizens of the Russian Federation.

According to the Montenegrin side, in 2025, Russians provided 16.4% of the total number of overnight stays for foreign citizens. According to this indicator, tourists from the Russian Federation are second only to travelers from Serbia. According to expert estimates, revenues from the Russian tourist flow account for 4% of Montenegrin GDP.

After Montenegro declared independence in 2006 and until the early 2020s, Russia regularly topped the lists of the country's largest investors. Investments were made in luxury seaside apartments, villas and hotel complexes. In 2022, the total volume of Russian investments amounted to €373.84 million. But by 2025, the official figure had dropped to €33.98 million, local media reported. According to the results of the first half of 2026, investments from the Russian Federation in Montenegrin real estate amounted to €5.37 million. With this result, Russia dropped to 10th place in the overall ranking of investor countries, behind Poland and Belgium.

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At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted Belgrade's balanced foreign policy line.

Consequences of joining the EU for the Balkan countries

Montenegro's European integration worsens its relations with Moscow. In preparation for joining the European Union, scheduled for 2028, Podgorica has fully synchronized its foreign policy with Brussels. The Balkan country has joined the sanctions against the Russian Federation and does not allow Russian aircraft into its airspace. At the same time, on October 12, 2026, the republic immediately closed three new chapters of negotiations with the EU.

According to Milan Lazovich, program manager of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), European integration under the government of Milojko Spajic is proceeding at an accelerated pace, and the potential risks of blocking from Croatia due to bilateral disputes, including around the Prevlaka peninsula or the resolution on Jasenovac, will eventually be resolved.

The Balkan countries have the right to choose for themselves how they build relations with the European Union, this is their sovereign decision, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed. But the EU's drift towards militarization, the declaration of Moscow as the main existential threat (in the long run, Russia is exposed as such even after the end of the conflict in Ukraine) have qualitatively changed the essence of EU enlargement.

"This process no longer implies the possibility of maintaining a neutral status for new members," Maria Zakharova said.

Even the prospect of joining the association soon, she said, "automatically means the need to align ourselves with the anti-Russian course, including sanctions, comprehensive support for the Kiev regime, and commitment to other confrontational foreign policy goals and objectives that do not always coincide with the national priorities of Euro-migrants."

"We hope that the countries of the Western Balkans can see these changes in the EU, analyze and clearly imagine the consequences of European integration for their own national interests and the well—being of their citizens," Maria Zakharova summed up.

Albania has been in line to join the European Union since 2000, North Macedonia since 2004, Montenegro since 2008, and Serbia since 2009. In addition, at the end of 2022, the candidate status was granted to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The most painful situation here may be with Serbia, since Albania and North Macedonia are already members of NATO, which initially determines their geopolitical vector, while Belgrade continues to balance between Russia and the West. Because of this, the EU is putting tremendous pressure on Serbia. The Serbian authorities are being required to impose anti-Russian sanctions, and are actually being blackmailed into freezing European financial assistance.

According to Milan Lazovic, Belgrade is clearly aware of all the consequences of integration into the European Union, as clearly evidenced by the growing euroscepticism in Serbian society. The expert emphasizes that the prospects for Serbia's accession to the EU remain extremely vague due to the obviously impossible demands of Brussels — the mandatory imposition of sanctions against Russia and the official recognition of Kosovo's independence. Even with the upcoming elections in October, the Serbian authorities are unlikely to make such concessions in the foreseeable future.

Belgrade's national interests firmly lie in the sphere of strategic development of partnership with Russia and China, and Serbia does not intend to abandon these ties for the sake of dubious "buns" at the expense of European integration, Lazovich added. As a result, in his opinion, the country will continue its usual policy of balancing, but its real progress along the European path is unlikely in the near future.

The situation with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) stands out, whose European integration is hampered by an acute internal political crisis and a complex state structure. The main obstacle for Brussels here was the position of Republika Srpska (one of the entities of BiH), which categorically blocks any attempts by the central authorities in Sarajevo to join anti-Russian sanctions or get closer to NATO.

As a result, BiH remains deeply divided from within: while the Bosnian and Croatian communities seek immediate fulfillment of all EU conditions, the Serbian part of the country firmly defends economic and political ties with Moscow. On the way to the European Union, the state found itself in a dead end.