Serbian and Montenegrin justice ministers promised today to work together in the future, after a bungled search for criminal figures had strained the already strained ties of the two former Yugoslav republics, according to dpa. The ministers, Serbia's Snezana Malovic and Montenegro's Miras Radovic, met in Belgrade to discuss the case of Darko and Dusko Saric, suspected drug lords and Serbian nationals who slipped away because police in the two countries did not work together. "Problems in extending international legal assistance will be overcome with a more efficient communication of the state prosecution," Belgrade said in a statement after the meeting. Belgrade had accused authorities in Podgorica of sheltering organized crime bosses when it surfaced that the two Serb brothers recently took Montenegrin citizenship under murky circumstances. The dual citizenship at least provisionally protected the brothers from arrest, as virtually all former Yugoslav republics prohibit the extradition of nationals to third countries for prosecution. Montenegrin security services investigated the procedure to give the brothers citizenship. A security committee eventually admitted that the brothers got their passports even though police were aware that they were suspected heads of a criminal organization. The Saric brothers came into the limelight in October, when they were linked to a foiled effort to transport two tons of cocaine from Uruguay. They subsequently went into hiding. Relations between Serbia and Montenegro have been strained for other reasons, including Montenegro's recognition and opening of diplomatic ties to Kosovo, the former Serbian province.
