Montenegro will return the trust of NATO Partners

With the formation of the government in Montenegro, after the elections held on August 30, 2020, numerous changes took place that damaged the “image” of Montenegro as a leader in the region in Euro-Atlantic integration. Wrong moves have been made that have shaken NATO’s trust in Montenegro, so much so that some members do not want to share information with Montenegro. The Government of Montenegro made those mistakes out of ignorance and intentionally. Part of the parties that make up the parliamentary majority are under the great influence of Serbia and Russia and, not for free, work for the interests of those countries, which is a danger to Montenegro.

However, Predrag Boskovic, former Minister of Defense of Montenegro, expects that the current Government of Montenegro will end its mandate in the coming weeks and that Montenegro will regain the reputation that it has built and gained the trust of its partners for years and decades.

Predrag Boskovic was the Minister of Defense at the time of Montenegro’s accession to NATO in 2017, and is now a member of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), individually the strongest party in Montenegro, which is in opposition.

Mr. Boskovic, Montenegro’s membership in NATO is one of the most significant achievements of Montenegro in the foreign policy field, after the restoration of independence. Political parties that now form the government in Montenegro opposed NATO membership, but also Montenegrin independence. Some moves were made that undermined NATO’s trust in Montenegro, and it was said that some NATO members do not want to share some information with the Montenegrin government. According to your assessment, how bad is it, as a former Minister of Defense, for Montenegro, and thus for its security?

Of course, it’s bad. I would say, however, this is a natural consequence of the fact that the Government is formed by a parliamentary majority, two thirds of which are openly on the anti-Western platform. After the elections on August 30, 2020, the votes of one part of the citizens, who voted for change, but are undoubtedly citizens who share European and Euro-Atlantic values, were used to transfer to those who are fighting for diametrically opposed values. Therefore, the parliamentary majority, and thus the Government of Montenegro, have a construction error. Such a mistake, which is at the root, naturally gives rise to numerous negative consequences. One of them is the phenomenon you mentioned in your question. However, I believe that in the coming weeks this mistake will be corrected, and that a stable and European parliamentary majority will be formed in Montenegro, which will have a clear task to solve the accumulated problems left by this government, to restore order in the system and to unlocks the further European path of Montenegro.

Were the omissions of the Ministry of Defense regarding NATO membership intentional or were they done due to ignorance, incompetence? Membership implies numerous obligations and activities?

I believe that this is a combination of everything you have stated. Time has indisputably shown that the Minister of Defense, Olivera Injac, did not live up to leading that ministry, and that her incompetence and ignorance – as she herself admitted in one television show, even led to a violation of the Constitution. However, we can accept that as an excuse if it happens once, however, we have a situation where such mistakes are repeated continuously, which, I believe, does not leave any dilemma that this is a bad intention towards the interests of the state of Montenegro. However, this storm, or rather the natural disaster that hit our country led by such a government, will pass, and Montenegro has built a serious trust of our partners over the years and decades, so we will not need much to repair the harmful effects on reputation. which this administration leaves us.

The ruling parties openly advocate turning to Russia, which Russia and Serbia use to influence the political and social situation in Montenegro. Is there a danger of even greater and so-called malignant influence of Russia and Serbia on Montenegro? Or are these the daily political messages of the government, in order to keep their voters?

So far, we have said a lot about the negative, or more precisely – malignant, influence of Serbia and Russia in relation to the events in Montenegro. This influence has been strong, especially since 2015, and since then their support for their political exponents has not been lacking in any sense – institutional, intelligence, financial. I am not inclined to believe that neither Serbia nor Russia is wasting their resources and just worship, predominantly the Democratic Front, without expecting their investment to be justified in return. In the case of Montenegro, this means that the parties in which they have invested are actually fighting for their interests, not the interests of the state of Montenegro. Therefore, this danger absolutely exists and it will be present for some time to come. However, I believe that we have shown that we have a good immune system when it comes to such attacks. For years, we have successfully defended ourselves from such positions from the position of the government, and now, from a less favorable position, i.e. from the opposition, we have shown that we can successfully fight for these values. Of course, the Democratic Party of Socialists is not alone here. The support of our traditional coalition partners is extremely important, as well as a wide front of numerous organizations and Montenegrin patriots who are ready to oppose the collapse of the values ​​of modern Montenegro. It is this broad front that has enabled us to successfully tackle these challenges, especially over the past year.

How long can this situation, i.e. the policy of the current government, last and how can Montenegro regain the trust of NATO partners?

I think that this unfavorable time of Montenegro’s development is coming to an end. We are witnessing the non-functionality of the parliamentary majority as well as the circumstances that the Parliament of Montenegro has revoked the confidence of one third of the ministers from the current Government. Therefore, this situation is not sustainable for all entities – both from Montenegro and in the international community, it is clear that the unraveling of this complicated knot must happen in the coming weeks. Therefore, I am optimistic that this Government will end its mandate very soon, I would not prejudge further moves.

The Geopost