“I think we always have, in Montenegro, some difficult times when we are about to create some governance. Not because of the local elections, not because of some internal issues, but because this country needs a government as soon as possible.” Said Savo Kentera for Albanian Radio and Television, when asked about the negations for the new government.
Kentera reminded that, until recently, Montenegro was a NATO member country everybody could rely on, which is not the case at this moment and that Montenegro is in a state of blockade.
“Until recently Montenegro was one of the best examples that everybody can rely on us in the alliance. Today that’s not the case. Today we have a number of decisions in respect to NATO, and in respect to EU, which are still about to be made, and nothing is happening because we don’t have a government. That’s why we have to create a government as soon as possible.” Kentera said
Kentera pointed out that one of the best things that happened in Montenegro’s recent history is the NATO membership, especially considering the ongoing war in Ukraine. Still, as he emphasized, the Russian influence is, nonetheless, present in Montenegro.
“I could just imagine what the Russians would do here through their proxies if we were not a member of NATO. Thanks to that, they cannot intervene here by an army or by some big things as they did in Ukraine, but what they want to do, and I have no doubts about that it is to show that they are able to undermine a democratic system in Montenegro, to show that a NATO member country such as Montenegro can be destabilized. “The president of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro said that there are different Russian proxies in Montenegro, but the one that’s most important is the Serbian Orthodox Church.
When it comes to creating a new government, led by Dritan Abazović as a Prime Minister, Kentera was asked if he hopes that the new government would introduce sanctions against Russia.
“That shouldn’t be the question at all, because the new government must be a pro-European, a pro-Western, a pro-NATO government and nobody should have doubts about that. We are obliged here right now to create such a government. In that government, there is no place, for any pro-Russian elements.” Kentera said
He added that Montenegro lost its credibility over the last 15 months and that the country needs to be back on the settle.
“It’s crucial to have such a pro-NATO, pro-Western, and pro-European government. And of course, decisions regarding sanctions, decisions on Russia, decisions regarding everything what’s in align to our membership in the EU and to our obligations as a NATO member country, that’s something that nobody should question at all. So, whoever thinks to lead this country in the opposite direction or to gamble with that, or to try to avoid that, he cannot be a Prime Minister, and we don’t want that kind of government here.” Kentera concluded
