Montenegro to require vaccination record and negative COVID-19 test result for entry into the country

Montenegro will begin mandating that foreigners provide a negative COVID-19 test and a two-dose vaccination record for COVID-19 today in an effort to lower infection rates.

Montenegro’s new entry requirements follow President Milo Djukanovic’s positive COVID-19 test on December 23. Since the country’s vaccine roll-out in May, almost 50% of the population has been inoculated, though the country’s political leadership and its Orthodox-Catholic religious institutions have traditionally refrained from encouraging people to get vaccinated. With a population of 620,000, the official death toll is 374 per 100,000, making it the fourth-highestin the world.

Considering Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic’s lack of vaccination and continued religious skepticism, expect Montenegro’s COVID-19 case load to continue to rise. In the short-term, proof of vaccination for foreigners may temporarily curb the growing daily average infection rate, but will likely be ineffective in the long-term if political and religious indifference toward vaccinations continues.

Facing re-election in 2023, Krivokapic may increase protective domestic measures against COVID-19 to turn the country’s situation around and position himself for re-election. Expect Krivokapic to refrain from endorsing vaccinations unless religious skepticism wanes and begins swaying Montenegro toward inoculation, making it politically practical for Krivokapic to endorse vaccination as well.

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