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Montenegro remains part of the West

After August 30 the foreign policy of Montenegro truly comes into question, said the President of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro Savo Kentera at the international conference organized by the Foreign Policy Center with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Serbia.

Even though it seems that all the efforts have been taken so that the international community and partners would see that Montenegro stays strongly committed to the EU, NATO, and Western values, we have a completely different situation in practice, he added.

Kentera emphasized that the Montenegrin society today is divided more than ever and that the image of Montenegro as a divided and unstable society suits only Russia.

Last year, Russia used the situation and people in the field to implement one sophisticated operation successfully, which resulted not only in the government change but also in these divisions in Montenegrin society and also had as a result the institutions of the system being susceptible to the foreign influence from the inside.

He put a particular emphasis on the security sector of Montenegro, as a sector that was very compromised at one point.

Referring to all these events in Montenegro, Kentera highlighted that danger is not latent and added:  „The kid gloves are completely taken off, and here we are witnessing a very rough game, the game that has not been played this way before, accompanied by crossing the borders that used to be respected and which should be respected. “

The President of the Atlantic Council believes that the case of Montenegro should serve as a good case study that will explain a successful Russian hybrid war manifestation. Montenegro should serve as an example for other countries so such things do not occur tomorrow in North Macedonia, Croatia, or any other NATO member state, Kentera emphasized.

A key thing now, he considers, is how to overcome this situation and how to ensure that the institutions of the system function properly and that someday tomorrow Montenegro remains strongly committed to the Alliance’s interests and that its EU membership is not questioned.

Kentera congratulated Russians on the successfully won battle, but he said that they will not win the war. Montenegro remains a part of the West, Montenegro will completely fulfill its commitments as a member of the Alliance, and it will eagerly seek to become an EU member state, Kentera said.

The President of the Atlantic Council particularly emphasized the role of Serbia in the stability and security of the region. „Serbia is a state that is now far too important in the Western Balkans to be left outside of all these integration flows, and outside of the Alliance after all“, Kentera said.

„I truly believe that this is the best possible future, not only for Serbia but also for all other regional countries that are not part of the Alliance; and only then can we talk about the stability and security of the whole region“, Kentera concluded.

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The Atlantic Council elected its new Board

The Assembly of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro held on February 25, 2021, in Podgorica elected the new Governance Board composed of Milica Pejanović-Đurišić, John Allen and Sharyl Cross. The Board members are prominent figures with many years of political and expert experience both at home and in the international scene.

The former President of the Parliament of Montenegro Ranko Krivokapić was elected Vice President, while the current President Savo Kentera remains at the head of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro.

The Atlantic Council of Montenegro will continue to be the leading platform gathered around democratic and development principles of euroatlantism. Bearing in mind its commitment to regional and global peace, as well as good neighborly relations, the Assembly underlined the strategic importance of the North Atlantic Alliance for the stability in Europe and the Euro-Atlantic area, including the Western Balkan region. Considering this, the Atlantic Council will enhance its efforts to raise awareness through all possible dialogue forms and to fight propaganda against the Alliance, which has brought peace to the region and defense, security, and stability to Montenegro.

There is a tendency in the Western Balkans for flaws of its nascent democracies to allow room for autocracies reviving retrogressive ideas directly opposed to euroatlantism and once promoting the political platform of wars and conflicts in this region. Unfortunately, these conditions have again brought to the surface the stigma of the Western Balkans as soft underbelly of Europe and euroatlantism, where situations and relations aimed at destabilizing and dismantling the unity of both NATO and the EU occur.

Considering this, as well as the fact that there has been a change in the course of security challenges, which prompts a stronger focus of the Alliance on the political dimension, the Atlantic Council will intensify its participation in global consultations on further adjusting and defining of the new NATO2030 strategy. Therefore, it will take part in seeking a global response to attempts of undermining of the member states’ political institutions, and in tackling radicalization and all forms of extremism, discrimination, and intolerance.

Technological development and digital transformation have fundamentally reshaped the global geopolitical landscape by changing governance structures, posing professional challenges, and requiring innovative political responses. In this context, the Assembly concluded that the Atlantic Council of Montenegro has potential to continue, in cooperation with its partners, developing towards carrying out of comprehensive analyses of political, socio-economic, environmental, and security implications of new technologies, by mapping possibilities for the development of innovation ecosystems and by recruiting young talents from Montenegro, the region and beyond.

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