BELGRADE, Serbia 

Having declared itself free of the coronavirus, Montenegro announced on Monday that it will soon start allowing visitors from several European countries.

However, a notable exclusion from the list of approved countries was Serbia that drew the ire of Serbian citizens and officials.

“The opening of borders with countries that meet appropriate epidemiological criteria is expected in the first days of June. Currently, those are: Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Albania, Greece,” read a tweet by the government of Montenegro on Monday evening.

On Tuesday, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said the decision proved that Serbians were not welcome in Montenegro.

“Our citizens can now see that they are not welcome in Montenegro. [This is] Because, we did not lie that our people were dying from the flu and pneumonia, instead of the coronavirus,” said Brnabic.

She asserted that Serbia did not believe in reciprocating such measures, and would not close its borders to Montenegrin citizens.

Montenegro, which declared independence from Serbia in June 2006, is one of Europe’s smallest country with a population of little over 600,000.

On Sunday, 68 days after it announced the first COVID-19 case, Montenegro declared itself free of coronavirus.

Over that period, the country recorded a total of 324 cases and nine deaths.