Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic on Monday sent a letter of condolence to the Zagreb City officials on the death of Mayor Milan Bandic whom Djukanovic described as "a friend who made a special contribution to efforts to overcome the traumas of the recent past."

“Bandic will be remembered in Montenegro for improving good neighborly policies and cooperation between Montenegro and Croatia,” Djukanovic wrote in his message.

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I received the news of the sudden death of Mayor Milan Bandic, who had for years given his own personal stamp on Zagreb’s modern development. In his own way, Bandic has permanently marked Croatia’s contemporary political landscape,” Djukanovic stated.

Djukanovic added that he “always appreciated the friendly relations they had built.”

“Please accept my deepest condolences and pass on my sincere sympathies to his family,” Djukanovic wrote in his letter.