| Mission1: | Embassy of Croatia in Podgorica, Montenegro |
| Mission2: | Embassy of Montenegro in Zagreb, Croatia |
Foreign relations between Croatia and Montenegro are bound together by shared history, intellectual development, and common geography. Both states are members of the Council of Europe and NATO. Montenegro has been a candidate to join the European Union since 2012, a pursuit supported by Croatia, who has been an EU member since 2013. Their diplomatic relations have been friendly and amicable, with strong political and economic collaboration. Small border disputes have remained unresolved between the two states since the dissolution of Yugoslavia, as do some shipping and naval disagreements.[1] [2]
In late 2002, Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro adopted an interim agreement to settle the disputed Prevlaka peninsula at the entrance of the Bay of Kotor in Croatia's favour, allowing the withdrawal of the UN monitoring mission. This agreement has applied to Montenegro since its independence, who agreed to settle future possible disputes in the International Court of Justice. In 2000, Montenegrin president Milo Đukanović issued a formal apology to the Croatian government for the shelling of Dubrovnik in 1991, which Croatia accepted as part of broader warming of relations.
Croatia recognized the independence of Montenegro on June 12, 2006, establishing diplomatic relations on July 7, 2006. Both Croatia and Montenegro have supported the 2008 independence of Kosovo from Serbia, jointly recognizing it as an independent country.[3] [4] Relations between the Croatia and Montenegro are promoted through the Croatian-Montenegrin Friendship Society "Croatica-Montenegrina".[5] Montenegrin and Croatian, official languages of Montenegro and Croatia respectively, are mutually intelligible standard varieties of the Serbo-Croatian language. During the COVD-19 outbreak in Europe, Croatia supplied medical equipment to Montenegro.[6]
In June 2024, the Montenegrin parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the atrocities committed at the Jasenovac concentration camp during World War II as genocide. The resolution also included the Dachau and Mauthausen camps. The move, led by pro-Serbia parties, was seen as a counter-response to Montenegro's support for the United Nations resolution on the Srebrenica genocide that was passed in May.[7] [8] Croatia reacted to the resolution negatively, with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman criticizing the move and expressing concerns that it could harm Montenegro's European Union accession prospects as well as bilateral relations between the two countries. Croatia formally protested by sending a diplomatic note to Montenegro.[9]