Russia strongly opposed the accession of Montenegro to NATO. Now the country accuses Moscow coup attempt. But what is behind these accusations?
Montenegro accession to NATO. Needs the approval of only four members of the Alliance, and then a small country will be able to join the military Alliance. Russia strongly opposed. At the beginning of the accession negotiations in late 2015, the Russian foreign Ministry warned that taking NATO “directly violates the interests of Russia and makes us take appropriate response measures”.
Can you relate to these measures and the coup attempt in Montenegro during the parliamentary elections in October 2016? So says the government and the Prosecutor’s office in Montenegro. Now they have evidence that Russian intelligence agents are behind the alleged coup attempt, said spectracolor Montenegro Milivoje Catnic (Milivoje Katnić). The Minister of foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov and the press Secretary of President Putin, immediately denied these statements.
Opinions differ not only in the question of Russia’s participation, but was there really a coup attempt. Pro-Russian opposition in Montenegro believes it is an invention of the leader, Milo Djukanovic (Milo Djukanović), with which he wanted to create a pretext for persecuting their opponents. In fact, the Prosecutor’s office accuses the two leaders of the opposition party Democratic front participated in the conspiracy. In this regard, the Parliament in Podgorica last week stripped of their immunity. The fact that the party maintains close ties with Russia, no doubt. In early February, the two leaders of the party were still in talks in Moscow.
The issue of NATO membership, the population was divided into two camps
The case began on 15 October last year, the day before the parliamentary elections, when he was arrested twenty-Serbs who, according to the indictment, on the night of the election was to seize public buildings, kidnap and kill Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and declare the Pro-Russian Democratic front as the winner. Even then there was talk that among the supporters were also two Russian nationalists, who prosecutors said intelligence officers.
Assumptions about Russian trace found a response, after the Prime Minister of Serbia Alexander Vucic (Aleksandr Vučić) said that Serb security forces have detained a second group of men with the same problem, which is a “third state”. Immediately after this, Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the national security Council of Russia and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, without notice, went to Serbia.
Milo Djukanovic, against which, presumably, was sent to the revolution, determines the course of development of Montenegro has for 26 years. Although now it only occupies the post of Chairman of the ruling party, nobody doubts that he still has a great influence in the country. He determined foreign policy of Montenegro, giving the country to the West. But domestically his authority had signs of authoritarian rule. The issue of NATO, the population of Montenegro was divided into two camps.
This is also seen in the results of the parliamentary elections in October, after which Djukanovic’s party was the strongest, but did not get its own majority. The opposition is boycotting the Parliament and because of the persecution of its leaders refused to participate in the upcoming local elections in March. Last week, the Democratic front accused the Djukanovic that it is provoking “civil war” in Montenegro.
