Podgorica, (MINA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has rejected the proposal of President Jakov Milatovic to appoint former Montenegrin Foreign Minister Miodrag Lekic as a member of the Commission for Demarcation and Identification of State Border, “Vijesti” has learned.

According to unofficial information, following the rejection of Lekic’s nomination, the head of state is considering several other potential candidates for the commission, one of them being professor of international public law and former judge of the European Court of Human Rights Nebojsa Vucinic.

A few days after nominating Lekic, Milatovic said that he believed that Cape Ostro on Prevlaka should belong to Montenegro.

The statement was met with a sharp reaction from Croatia. Vanda Babic Galic, special advisor to Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic Radman, said in an interview with “Slobodna Dalmacija” that it was understandable that Milatovic’s statement was perceived as a step backwards, “because it evokes rhetoric from a time when Montenegro’s territorial aspirations towards southern Croatian were accompanied by the clatter of tanks”.