President Stevo Pendarovski, who is on an official visit to Montenegro, will visit the memorial to Vladimir and Kosara in Bar together with Montenegro’s President Milo Đukanović.
President Pendarovski will give the Montenegrin President a memorial plaque to Vladimir and Kosara as a sign of the strong friendship and close cultural and historical ties between North Macedonia and Montenegro.
The legend of Vladimir and Kosara, one of the most romantic tales of early Montenegrin literature, is based on Macedonian tsar Samuil’s daughter Kosara’s marriage (ca. 1000) with Jovan Vladimir, Prince of Duklja. According to legend, Vladimir had been defeated and imprisoned by tsar Samuil in Prespa.
Visiting the handsome captive in prison, Princess Kosara fell in love with him and asked her father to let her marry Vladimir. Tsar Samuil allowed the marriage and returned Duklja to Vladimir. The couple lived near Montenegro’s Lake Skadar until tsar Samoil’s successor, Vladislav, lured Vladimir back to Prespa and sent soldiers to behead him. Vladimir was buried in Prespa, and soon after his death he was declared a martyr and a saint. A couple of years after his burial, Kosara transported his remains to Duklja and became a nun.
When she died, she was buried next to her husband. President Pendarovski and President Milo Đukanović at their Tuesday meeting in Cetinje confirmed the excellent bilateral relations as well as the successful political dialogue between the two countries.
They told a news conference that economic cooperation should be prioritized. They also agreed, in light of the war in Ukraine, that the region’s European integration should be accelerated, considering the geostrategic importance of the Balkan countries for the EU.
As part of the official visit, President Pendarovski also met with outgoing Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić and Dritan Abazović, Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister-designate for Montenegro’s new government.
