Ein Tauziehen zwischen Russland und Europa spaltet Montenegro

Submission Statement: The title is a bit misleading, as Russia does not view “Europe”, i.e. the EU, as a legitimate entity, but rather an organization controlled by the United States. Also, Russia has not been a major player in this context, instead its Serbia.

However, Montenegro is a polarized country divided into three camps, Montenegrin Nationalists around corrupt former PM Djukanovic, Liberals who seek EU integration, and strongly anti-EU and anti-NATO Serbs. It is no secret that Serb officials in Montenegro are controlled directly by Belgrade. Tensions within the country escalated substantially since Djukanovic submitted a bid to join NATO in 2015.

Montenegro has long been seen as a haven for dirty Russian money as well. These divisions mentioned above have led to constant political paralysis in the country, with Serbs regularly threatening protests and unrest should their interests be ignored. Such a pity, since I hear Montenegro is a beautiful place that happens to be stuck in a geopolitical tug-of-war thanks to Russia’s and Serbia’s refusal to recognize geographic borders.

Personal question: Does Serbia still seek to reverse Montenegro’s independence, perhaps even through military intervention, as they do with Kosovo?