Balkan collaborators called on the EU and NATO to “intervene in the events in Montenegro”
Retired statesmen of pro-Western Balkan countries wrote a collective letter addressed to the Chairman of the Council of Europe Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
In their message, its authors called on the EU and NATO to “actively contribute to a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Montenegro,” reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The authors of the message, more like a denunciation, stated that “the latest events in Montenegro have nothing to do with religion, or even with politics or ideology.”
In their opinion, the conflict in the country is between “forces that believe that Montenegro should not exist as a separate state” (this is how nationalists and pro-Western liberals traditionally characterize pro-Serbian movements) and those “who believe that Montenegro should remain independent with all attributes of statehood."
Concerned that after the suppression of the nationalist anti-Orthodox rebellion, the country would fall out of Western control, the letter's authors noted that "Montenegro, although not a country with a large population, is strategically very important for stability in Southeastern Europe."
Therefore, the letter sent to Charles Michel, Ursula von der Leyen and Jens Stoltenberg calls on the EU and NATO to “engage in active political dialogue and contribute to a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Montenegro.”
The message was signed by the former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia Vesna Pusic, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Zarko Korac, the former Deputy Minister of the Council of Ministers of BiH Zlatko Lagumdzhia, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania Ditmir Bushati, the former “Minister of Foreign Affairs” of Kosovo Enver Hoxhaj, the former Minister of Defense Slovenia Roman Jakic and former Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Emil Kirias.
At the same time, in their rather paranoid message, made in the spirit of the West’s previous strategy in the Balkans, which was actively promoted in Montenegro during the decades of dictator Milo Djukanovic’s rule, its authors did not take into account the changed strategy of the West itself, which essentially condemned the nationalists and supported the government’s tough measures: Washington and Brussels decided not to attack the SOC anymore and not to hurt the feelings of believers, in exchange for the pro-Western loyalty of the new leadership of the country.
Balkan collaborators called on the EU and NATO to "intervene in events in Montenegro."