Milan Roćen (

Montenegrin Cyrillic The Montenegrin alphabet is the collective name given to "" ( Montenegrin Latin alphabet; in Cyrillic) and "" ( Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet; in Latin), the writing systems used to write the Montenegrin language. It was adopted on 9 June 2009 ...

: Милан Роћен; born 23 November 1950 in

Žabljak Žabljak (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Жабљак, ) is a small town in Montenegro in the Northern Montenegro, northern region. It has a population of 1,723. Žabljak is the seat of Žabljak Municipality (2011 population: 3,569). The town is in ...

SR Montenegro The Socialist Republic of Montenegro ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora, Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора), commonly referred to as Socialist Montenegro or simply Montenegro, was ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

) is a Montenegrin politician who was the first

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Government of Montenegro The government of Montenegro (, Влада Црне Горе) is the executive branch of state authority in Montenegro. It is headed by the Prime Minister of Montenegro, prime minister. It consists of the prime minister, the deputy prime ministe ...

following independence in 2006 and the last ambassador of the

State Union of Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

to the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(from 2004 to 2006).Biography
, ''Montenegro's government official website'' He was a political advisor of the

President of Montenegro The president of Montenegro () is the head of state of Montenegro. The current president is Jakov Milatović since 20 May 2023. The official residence of the president is the Blue Palace in Cetinje. The president is constitutionally limited to ...

Milo Đukanović Milo Đukanović (, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician who served as the President of Montenegro from 2018 to 2023, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2002. He also served as the Prime Minister of Montenegro (1991–19 ...

Personal life

He graduated in journalism from the Faculty of Political Science,

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

. He is married and has one son. Besides speaking his native

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

, he also speaks

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Political career

From 1976 to 1979, following his degree in journalism, Milan Roćen was a journalist for the weekly magazine ''Ekonomska politika'' in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. In 1979, he became a staff member for the information and propaganda department of the presidency of the central committee of the

League of Communists of Montenegro The League of Communists of Montenegro (, SKCG) was the Montenegrin branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the One-party state, sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. Under a 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, 1974 SFR Yugoslavia ...

. In 1982, he became political chief of staff to the President of the same committee. From November 2006 to July 2012, Milan Roćen was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro (Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro from December 2010). Roćen is one of the most influential members of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, which has been in power in Montenegro since the introduction of a multi-party system in 1990.

Controversy

According to an investigation supported by the '' Puffin Foundation Investigative Fund'' in 2008, ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' reported that Roćen, then ambassador of

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

to the

, authorized a contract with ''Davis Manafort Inc'', a consulting firm founded by

Rick Davis Richard Dean Davis (born November 24, 1958) is an American former soccer midfielder, and former captain of the U.S. national team for much of the 1980s. He is considered by fans the best U.S.-born player of the North American Soccer League er ...

, and that the firm was paid several million dollars to help organize the 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum campaign. Referendum finance documents did not record any exchanges with ''Davis Manafort'', although the claims of the payments were backed my multiple American diplomats and

Montenegrin government The government of Montenegro (, Влада Црне Горе) is the executive branch of state authority in Montenegro. It is headed by the prime minister. It consists of the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the ministers. Milojk ...

officials on the condition of anonymity. In June 2019, an audio recording from the mid-2005 surfaced, that shows ambassador Roćen expresses concern over the EU pressure on the authorities of the Republic of Montenegro, asking Russian oligarch

Oleg Deripaska Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska (; born 2 January 1968) is a Russian oligarch and billionaire. Deripaska began his career as a metals trader after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He used accumulated funds from trading to acquire stakes in the Sa ...

, on behalf of then- Prime Minister of Montenegro Đukanović, to lobby for the Montenegrin independence referendum, through his connections with Canadian billionaire

Peter Munk Peter Munk (November 8, 1927 – March 28, 2018) was a Hungarian-Canadian businessman, investor, founder and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of a number of high-profile business ventures, including the hi-fi electr ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.Molio Deripasku da lobira za referendum
Dan, 22 June 2019

References

1950 births Living people People from Žabljak Foreign ministers of Montenegro Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro politicians University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Science alumni {{Montenegro-politician-stub