The US State Department has sanctioned former Budva mayor and Montenegrin parliamentarian Milo Bozovic and the former president of Montenegro’s Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, barring them from entering the country for alleged involvement in significant corruption linked to drug trafficking.
Bozovic, a prominent figure in the coastal town of Budva and a member of the Democratic Front alliance, was arrested in 2023 for drug trafficking and is now on trial.
Medenica, who led Montenegro’s judiciary for nearly two decades and was one of the country’s most influential officials, was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of forming a criminal organisation and abuse of office. Prosecutors accused her of accepting bribes, leaking sensitive judicial information and influencing court decisions in favour of a smuggling group led by her son.
“These designations reaffirm the United States’ commitment to combating illicit drug trafficking, transnational criminal organisations, and corruption that threatens US national security interests in the Western Balkans and beyond,” the State Department said.
The sanctions were imposed under Section 7031-c of the State Department’s Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024, as extended by the Continuing Appropriations Act.
The US also designated their immediate family members as ineligible for entry into the US: Dragana, Balsa and Pavle Bozovic, as well as Milos and Marija Medenica.
Medenica is currently on trial in Montenegro. In November 2024, the High Court sentenced her to six months in prison for abusing her official position but the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial. She denies the charges.
Medenica was arrested in April 2022 after media published transcripts of exchanges of messages between her son, Milos, and a police officer, Darko Lalovic, in which they were arranging the purchase of cocaine and cigarette smuggling in the port of Bar.
In the transcripts, using the encrypted messaging application Sky ECC, Milos Medenica claimed his mother was aware of their illegal business and said they could expect protection from her.
She was accused of abuse of power in that case but was released to defend herself after spending six-and-a-half months in custody.
Milos Medenica has been in custody since May 2022. He is suspected of heading a 16-member criminal group, including his mother, that smuggled drugs and cigarettes and of exercising illegal influence.
Vesna Medenica resigned as head of the Supreme Court in December 2021, several months after the decision to award her a third term as president was criticised by the European Commission and by NGOs in Montenegro.
She was first elected head of the Supreme Court in 2007 and was re-elected in 2014 and 2019. Before her first mandate, she was Supreme State Prosecutor.