Comment published on Peacefare.net
Montenegro, a War Criminal, and European Integration
Miodrag Vlahović, former Foreign Minister of Montenegro, writes:
The death of convicted Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladić found Montenegro—as officials from Brussels state and representatives of Montenegro’s ruling majority reiterate—in the final stages of moving toward EU membership.
The optimism of official Podgorica is so pronounced that the Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, Andrija Mandić—who has a three-decade history of supporting Milošević and Putin—expressed condolences to the deceased’s family while mourning the “Butcher of Bosnia.”
Many within the ruling structures followed his lead, revealing their sincere support for the criminal policy in which Mladić served as the executor of the Srebrenica genocide.
The majority of officials in Montenegro’s current government do not yet acknowledge what happened in Srebrenica.
EU reaction
The actions of Aleksandar Vučić’s regime—which is organizing the funeral and associated commemorative activities celebrating this “defender of Serbs”—have drawn the attention of Brussels. Commissioner Kos cancelled her announced visit to Belgrade.
But that will likely be the extent of the EU’s reaction. Serbia’s sale of weapons to Ukraine comes at a price—and with consequences.
Yet—regarding Montenegro—Brussels remains silent.
The opposition DPS has launched an initiative to oust Mandić, who still proudly bears the title of Chetnik duke. However, the move cannot secure a parliamentary majority because the government’s leading party—Prime Minister Spajić’s PES—refuses to support it.
Consequently, Montenegro finds itself in an ambivalent situation. On one hand, the move toward the EU is accelerating, while on the other, the principles and values of a democratic and civic society are being eroded and undermined.
The official administration in Brussels has no answer—or rather, no desire to provide one—to the question of whether avowed (and proven!) anti-Europeans can lead Montenegro into Europe. The official stance is “business as usual”, emphasizing the closing of negotiating chapters and an ambitious program to rapidly align the legal framework with European standards. “Montenegro is the front-runner”—and there is an unwritten obligation to remain optimistic.
How long this “idyllic” state can last remains to be seen.
Three challenges
There are three major challenges—or problems—that cannot be ignored.
The first issue is the discrepancy between the proclaimed and actual goals of the ruling majority. Viewed from the outside, this presents the danger of “Trojan horses” within the EU—a risk Europeans cannot overlook, and not merely because of their experience with Viktor Orbán.
Viewed from within Montenegro, it manifests as the rapid “Serbianization” of Montenegrin society—spanning everything from politics and culture to education and the authorities’ ideological and political decisions.
To put it in terms understandable to Western friends: there is not a single ethnic Montenegrin in the Montenegrin government (!), and the policies of the ruling parties are under the strong and decisive influence of the Church of Serbia—an institution that brutally and unequivocally denies Montenegrin national identity and statehood, and which behaves like an occupying force within Montenegro.
The second problem is the complex relationship with the Republic of Croatia. Montenegro has unresolved land and maritime border disputes with its neighbor, as well as a host of issues—uncomfortable for Podgorica—stemming from the 1991–1992 aggression against Dubrovnik, a conflict in which Montenegro played the role of a voluntary hostage to the nationalist policies of Milošević’s Serbia.
The current government in Montenegro views all its neighbors (with Serbia as exception, of course)—and Croatia in particular—as historical adversaries. Consequently, any form of “concession” toward Zagreb is out of the question for them. The situation is straightforward: those who advocated for and participated in the wars across the former Yugoslavia (on Serbia’s side) cannot champion peaceful, civilized solutions with Croatia.
This stance taken by the Montenegrin government contradicts its official European orientation. For Montenegro to become an EU member, Croatia must also vote in favor of its accession.
Finally, there is a highly complex situation within the EU itself regarding the methods, pace, and rules governing the admission of new members. France and Germany are—logically—at the forefront of these new ideas.
Both the veto power of new members and the accession mechanism itself are being called into question. The EU is considering not only the Western Balkans but also its “eastern periphery”—Ukraine and Moldova.
The purpose of forced optimism
None of this seems to trouble Prime Minister Spajić or Speaker Mandić greatly. Beyond a curt dismissal of these ideas, there is no real debate among politicians or analysts—not just those aligned with the government.
That is why Montenegro today hovers between forced optimism and a heap of grave, burdensome problems.
Instead of serious inquiries and analyses—in both Brussels and Podgorica—we are witnessing a new variation on Milan Kundera’s famous *The Joke*: “Optimism is opium for the people.”
This is also why our American friends—who have both the desire and the interest to engage with Europe and its enlargement—might, we hope, better understand us, given that they too are confronted with an extreme form of official optimism back home.
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