Montenegro on Trump’s war remarks: ‘We build friendships’
PODGORICA, Montenegro — World War III? Not us, say the puzzled people of Montenegro.
Public officials in this tiny European nation didn’t know what to say initially when President Donald Trump suggested that NATO’s newest member — and, with a military of fewer than 2,000, one of its very smallest — could be the spark that sets off a global Armageddon.
That the leader of the world’s dominant superpower would characterize the 620,000 or so Montenegrins as “very strong” and “very aggressive people” rendered their government speechless.
It found its voice Thursday. “We build friendships, and we have not lost a single one,” read a statement issued in t he capital, Podgorica, in response to the media’s clamoring for comment. “It does not matter how big or small you are, but to what extent you cherish the values of freedom, solidarity and democracy.”
Living in a region that has seen more than its share of conflicts, Montenegrins say they are much more interested in tourism than war.
Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic like Slovenia, the home country of first lady Melania Trump, is known for its long Adriatic Sea beaches.
“I laughed when I heard that and figured it could be a good advertisement,” retiree Slavka Kovacevic, 58, said of Trump’s depiction while taking a break from her morning shopping.
Trump ventured his thoughts on Montenegro during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday after the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. They were discussing NATO’s mutual defense People stroll along a street Thursday in Podgorica, the capital. Montenegro has fewer than 2,000 in its military. pact.
If Montenegro, for example, were provoked, having NATO behind it could embolden “a tiny country with very strong people” to engage, the president said.
“They are very strong people. They are very aggressive people, they may get aggressive, and congratulations, you are in World War III,” he added.
The comment was not the first time Trump had taken notice of Montenegro, which joined NATO last year, in a way that attracted oversized attention.
At a NATO summit last year, his first as president, Trump shoved Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic out of the way while trying to get in front for a leaders’ group photo.
Back then, Markovic refused to make a fuss over the American president’s manners. Markovic also took the high road regarding Trump’s comments this week. He noted in a parliamentary debate Wednesday that Trump spoke within the context of questioning NATO financing and was not trying to put down a particular ally.
“Therefore, the friendship and the alliance of Montenegro and the United States of America is strong and permanent,” Markovic’s government said Thursday.
Trump’s views have some basis in history. Montenegro, which means “Black Mountain,” does boast a heroic warring tradition forged over centuries of conquest and contemporary conflicts in the Balkans.
Montenegro was a rare country in the region to retain a level of autonomy during the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Its past ties to Russia, with whom Montenegro shared a predominantly Slavic and Orthodox Christian culture, were so strong that its leaders were said to have declared a war on Japan in 1904 just to support Russia.
Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia after World War I. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Montenegro was bombed by NATO in 1999 before it split from Serbia in 2006.
“I just want to remind all the American public opinion and President Trump that Montenegro was an ally with American soldiers in two wars, in the First World War and the Second World War,” former Parliament speaker Ranko Krivokapic said.
“Montenegrins are not aggressive but the nation of brave warriors,” he said.