A Tug Between Russia and Europe Divides a Tiny Balkan Nation

Andrew Higgins

PODGORICA, Montenegro  Elected last year on promises to accelerate a shift out of Russia’s orbit of influence and into the European Union, the government of Montenegro recently nominated a curious candidate as its ambassador in Moscow  a Russian citizen.

That ignited a spat between the government and the separately elected president, who was appalled at the idea of a Russian, a dual citizen of Montenegro who has been vocal in his support for the Kremlin, representing the country in Moscow.

“I invited him for an interview and quickly realized what was going on,” recalled Montenegro’s president, Jakov Milatovic, whose limited powers include the approval of ambassadorial appointments.

Deciding that the nominee for the Moscow job was out of step with Montenegro’s commitments as a member of NATO, which include supporting Ukraine’s military, he asked the government to find someone more suitable.

The tiff underlined a growing rift between Milatovic and the government of Prime Minister Milojko Spajic that has cast a shadow over Montenegro’s efforts to join the EU and curb the influence of pro-Russian political forces.

Tugged for decades between East and West, the former Yugoslav republic — coveted by both NATO and Moscow for its deep bays on the Mediterranean — had seemed set on a clear path away from Russia after it joined the Atlantic alliance in 2017.

And when voters elected Milatovic and then gave the most votes in a legislative election to his allies in Europe Now, a party headed by Spajic, the two men were firmly united behind the goals of joining Europe and rooting out the corruption and crime that had long bedeviled the country.

Today, Milatovic has split from Europe Now. He accuses a coalition government — led by Spajic but dependent on support from Kremlin-friendly legislators — of sinking back into the patronage politics it promised to eradicate and bowing to the interests of Russia and Serbia at the expense of Montenegro’s links with Europe.

The rift highlights the difficulty of building a stable, Western-style democracy in a fragile Balkan country rent by rival ethnic, religious and geopolitical loyalties.

“It is definitely more difficult than everybody expected,” Milatovic said in an interview in Podgorica, the capital.

Spajic’s allies have accused Milatovic of undermining the elected government. He is “trampling his promises to be the president for all Montenegrins,” read a statement issued by Europe Now.

Asked for comment about Milatovic’s accusations, Spajic’s office said the prime minister was unavailable for interviews.

Addled by corruption, Montenegro under its previous leader, Milo Djukanovic, had become a haven for drug traffickers and cigarette smugglers.

Montenegro’s membership in NATO — which was fiercely opposed by many of the country’s ethnic Serbs, including several now in the government — closed the last significant gap in the Atlantic alliance’s control of the northern Mediterranean coastline. It also ended hopes long cherished by Moscow of gaining a foothold there for its military.

Montenegro’s continued membership in the alliance is not in doubt, but, according to the president, many of the promises made before last year’s elections are.

Clear evidence of that, he said, was a resolution passed by parliament in July stating that a Nazi puppet state in neighboring Croatia during World War II committed genocide at its Jasenovac concentration camp. The bill in Montenegro was pushed by ethnic Serbs angered by a United Nations commemoration of a genocide by Bosnian Serbs in the 1990s.

“Nobody is denying what happened at Jasenovac,” the president said. But, he added, the resolution, had only served “the tiny party political interests of very few people” while enraging Croatia, which is a member of the EU and thus able to stall Montenegro’s entry into the bloc.

The resolution was pushed through by the speaker of parliament, Andrija Mandic, a Kremlin-friendly ethnic Serb politician who has taken on an influential role in the government.

In 2019, Mandic was convicted of working with Russian intelligence operatives on a botched 2016 coup attempt aimed at derailing Montenegro’s entry into NATO. In July, Mandic was acquitted by a higher court.

Croatia denounced the genocide-related resolution as “unacceptable, inappropriate and unnecessary” and out of line with Montenegro’s desire to join the EU.

In a written response to questions, Mandic said the resolution had “received strong support” from the U.S. ambassador and in no way obstructed Montenegro’s European aspirations, a view he blamed on “some ill-intentioned people from our country.” A U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Podgorica said Mandic’s claim of U.S. support was not true.

The dispute with Croatia overshadowed what, just a few weeks earlier, had been an important signal from the EU that Montenegro was making progress. The EU in June gave a thumbs-up to the country’s moves to align its judiciary and fundamental rights with EU standards. This still left many more hurdles to cross before membership but was hailed by the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica as “a milestone” that “deserves celebration.”

But, to the dismay of Western diplomats, sniping has only intensified between Milatovic, an Oxford-educated economist, and Spajic, a former investment banker. Their previous alliance has been shattered by sharp differences over the inclusion in the government of prominent pro-Russian and pro-Serbia politicians and what the president sees as the government’s stacking of the public broadcaster, state-owned enterprises and other entities with political loyalists.