“Russia influences political and social events in Montenegro through the Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbia”

Trying to influence Montenegro as much as possible, Russia, above all, wants to reduce the influence of the West and provoke the West and NATO, and for this it has the support of the current government, long-time journalist and political scientist Ilija Despotović from Podgorica told our portal.

In an interview with The Geopost, he said that Russia, through the Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbia, influences political and social events in Montenegro and wants to strengthen its position towards the West, and that Russian benevolence and assistance throughout history, as he said, has always been conditioned by meeting certain military and state needs and interests of Russia.

“When any of the Montenegrin rulers showed their discontent, they were ‘sanctioned’ by the Russian kingdom,” Despotović said.

Despotović added that the “future” of Russian influence in the Balkans, and even in Montenegro, depends on Montenegro’s real European perspective, as he said, when Montenegro becomes a member of the European Union.

"Of course, also from US policy in that context. There is no doubt about the power of NATO itself, not only in the military sense, but also in terms of its political supremacy as an alliance in the strategic sense. First of all, both NATO and the EU must remove as soon as possible any doubt about their existence and ability, as a strategic project, policy and way of life, as a democracy and a modern civilization, to 'rule' Europe and the world," said Despotović.

When it comes to the visit of the Russian ambassador to the University of Montenegro, Despotović emphasizes that a person with undisguised pro-Serbian and pro-Russian political affiliations has come to the head of the University and the Russian ambassador, according to him, has rushed to personally and openly promote "cooperation" between educational institutions.

"Culture is particularly suitable for camouflaged, 'delicate' propaganda of Russia's state interests and, of course, media actions will be used in this sense. There are already media outlets in Montenegro that are known as pro-Russian. The Russian television 'Sputnik' is already being called 'Russian CNN'. It is symptomatic, for example, that the Minister of Culture, Education and Science, Vesna Bratić, visited Russia in the first year of the pro-Serbian-Russian government in Podgorica. The media have noticed that she participated in a debate in Moscow under the Serbian flag, without the Montenegrin flag," said Despotović.

Asked whether Montenegro suffers much damage because it does not export its products to the large Russian market, Despotović said that the issue of mutual economic sanctions between Montenegro and Russia should be seen in the context of overall interstate relations and their position in the constellation of international relations.

"Therefore, economic sanctions are mutually relative in their importance. Their character has more of a political flavor. A good part of the public in Montenegro does not approve of the sanctions against Russia, but this is almost not discussed, except that here and there it is mentioned in parliament as a "sin" of the previous government. The story about the economic damage that Montenegro suffers due to the ban on the export of Montenegrin wines to the Russian market has long been stopped. Montenegro has also exported some processed meat products, but all this does not seem to have serious consequences for producers in Montenegro," concluded Despotović.