Around 90 citizens from Serbia, arriving on a charter flight from Belgrade, were held on the tarmac of Tivat airport on 3 June - the plane stayed pinned to the ground while the Montenegrin border police carried out detailed checks of the passengers.

According to the police, these were „stepped-up controls" ahead of the EU - Western Balkans Summit, in which the charter flight from Belgrade with around 90 Serbian nationals was flagged and placed under control. The authorities also checked who was coming and why, and how long they planned to stay in the country.

The passengers were, understandably, shocked by such treatment - people landing for a summer holiday, suddenly held on the tarmac as a security threat. The police announced that after the checks the plane would be returned to Belgrade.

The story immediately took on a political colour on both sides of the border - Serbian media portrayed it as a humiliation, Montenegrin as routine security before the summit. The truth, as usual in the Balkans, is probably stuck somewhere in between: a real security protocol, used by both sides alike for an internal political point.

And the ordinary people? They were left where they always are left in quarrels like this - on the tarmac, suitcases in hand, waiting for someone above them to decide when they will again be allowed to cross a border they crossed without question only yesterday. How many times have we watched the same scenario in the Balkans - the states quarrel, and the passenger pays the bill?