Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said after a meeting with President Aleksandar Vucic that the government decided to withdraw its decision to expel the Montenegrin ambassador.

The decision was taken on Saturday after the Montenegrin government declared Serbian Ambassador Vladimir Bozovic persona non grata over a statement about historic events in Montenegro which official Podgorica said was offensive.

Brnabic told reporters that the new decision was taken at Vucic’s initiative following consultations with Serb leaders in Montenegro.

According to her, Vucic asked the government to reconsider its decision and added that she and Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic decided to meet the request “as an act of good will”.

She said that Vucic told her and Selakovic at the meeting that decisions and conventions are important but that life, friendship and cooperation with Montenegro are more important and that “another hand of cooperation and friendship should be offered”.

“We do not want a hostile act of this type against Montenegro which is why we took this decision,” she said.

Brnabic said that Ambassador Bozovic’s statement could not be considered offensive but that the Montenegrin government was just waiting for an excuse to expell him.