John McCain
Threat from Putin, Russia is dead serious
Vladimir Putin’s Russia is on the offensive against Western democracy. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014. Russia attacked America’s 2016 election, attempted to interfere in France’s 2017 election, and is expected to do the same in German and other European elections.
But perhaps the most disturbing indication of Putin’s violent ambitions is what happened last October in the small Balkan country of Montenegro, where Russian intelligence operatives plotted to overthrow the democratically elected government and murder the prime minister.
Russia viewed Montenegro’s pursuit of European Union and NATO membership as insulting and threatening. Montenegro was once part of Russia’s traditional Slavic ally, Serbia. The country has long been a favorite for Russian tourists. Russian politicians and oligarchs are reported to own as much as 40% of its real estate.
Montenegro is also strategically located on the Adriatic Sea. Russia unsuccessfully sought a naval base in Montenegro a few years ago. If Montenegro joined NATO following the election, the entire Adriatic Sea would fall within NATO’s borders.
LAST CHANCE Montenegro’s entry into NATO would also send a signal that membership was a real possibility for other Western Balkan nations. That’s why, in Russia’s eyes, Montenegro’s Oct. 16 election was a last chance to reassert influence in southeastern Europe. Few would have guessed how far Russia was willing to go.
This month, a Montenegrin court accepted indictments against two Russians and 12 other people for their roles in the coup attempt. Americans must be aware of the allegations in these indictments, which are now public. Pieced together, they reveal not only another blatant attack on democracy by the Russian government, but also an unmistakable warning that Putin will do whatever it takes to restore the Russian empire.
According to the indictments, two members of the Russian military intelligence agency, the GRU, took over a plot to destabilize Montenegro in 2016 in league with Montenegrin opposition politicians and Serbian nationalists. One leading Serb plotter was brought to Moscow multiple times, once on a ticket paid for with funds sent from a Western Union on the same street as GRU headquarters in Moscow. The plan was this: During Election Day protests at the Montenegrin parliament, some 50 armed men, recruited by GRU agents and wearing police uniforms, would ambush and kill the members of Montenegro’s Special Anti-Terrorist Unit to prevent them from interfering. They would then proceed to the parliament, where they’d shoot at police defending the building.
Led by the coup plotters, the protesters would then storm parliament and declare victory for the opposition. Within 48 hours, a new government would be formed and arrests would be made, including of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic. If he could not be captured, he’d be killed.
BLAME AMERICA It appears the plot might even have involved trying to blame the U.S. for the violence. An Orlando company was contacted about providing security services in the capital during the election. American security personnel on the ground during a coup would have made excellent patsies for stories by Sputnik and Russia Today.
Fortunately, the plan never got off the ground. Several days before the election, a plotter got cold feet and informed Montenegrin authorities. Arrests were made and the scheme was disrupted. The GRU agents then tried to hire an assassin to kill Montenegro’s prime minister, but failed. They eventually made their way back to Moscow.
This heinous plot should be a warning to every American that we cannot treat Russia’s interference in our 2016 election as an isolated incident. We have to stop looking at this through the warped lens of politics and see this attack on our democracy for what it is: one phase of Putin’s campaign to weaken the United States, destabilize Europe, break the NATO alliance, undermine confidence in Western values, and erode resistance to his dangerous view of the world.
It won’t be long before Putin takes interest in another U.S. election. The victim may be a Republican. It may be a Democrat. To Putin, it won’t matter as long as he achieves his dark and divisive goals.
We must take our own side in this fight — not as Republicans, not as Democrats, but as Americans. The Senate passed strong new sanctions against Russia this month by a 97-2 vote. I hope the House will send them to the president and send a message to Putin that America will stand strong in defense of our democracy.