At a crossroads: Toward the West or back to Russia
BAR, Montenegro — Aspiring NATO member Montenegro is hardly a formidable military force — the tiny country’s four military jets are up for sale, and its two operational warships hardly ever leave their home port.
With its 2,000-strong army, the scenic country — squeezed between towering mountains and the Adriatic Sea — would hardly boost the West’s defense in any confrontation with Russia.
Nonetheless, Montenegro is in the middle of a row between the West and Moscow over influence in the Balkans. The outcome of that clash could determine which way the whole western Balkan region is heading: toward the European Union, NATO and integration with the West, or back to Russia’s embrace.
“It is clear that the East-West tensions have left consequences on the political and security situation in the western Balkans,” said former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.
Djukanovic’s pro-Western stance made him the target of an alleged election-day coup attempt in Montenegro in October. The Kremlin’s secret service operatives allegedly planned to kill him, topple his government and replace it with a puppet regime. All that because of Montenegro’s NATO bid which Djukanovic had championed, until he stepped down after the election.
Montenegro had been a faithful ally of Russia. But after splitting with Serbia in a 2006 referendum, the nation of 620,000 people took a strong turn toward Euro-Atlantic integration.
Russia strongly opposes the expansion of the Western military alliance in a region it considers part of its strategic sphere of interest. Wary of Russian influence in the stillvolatile region, NATO wants Montenegro in the alliance.
Montenegro’s membership has been ratified by 25 of the alliance’s 28 member states. U.S. senators still haven’t approved it, and there are fears in Montenegro and the region that President Trump’s new administration is too lenient toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.