William Montgomery, former ambassador of the United States of America (USA) in Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia and Bulgaria said that the USA had a ship in the Croatian city of Cavtat with a team of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) whose only job was to save the then (and now ) of the President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović if the then President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) Slobodan Milošević went after him.
In an interview with the Croatian Večernji list, he also said that it was difficult to raise funds to finance Đukanović's government, so as he says, they started allowing tobacco smugglers to operate from Montenegro.
"We had a ship in Cavtat with a CIA team whose only job was to rescue Milo Đukanović if Slobodan Milošević went after him. It was difficult to raise funds to finance his government, so we started allowing tobacco smugglers to operate from Montenegro." Montgomery said.
A Večernji List journalist stated that they saw from declassified American letters that at a meeting in 1999, then US President Bill Clinton told then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that former Croatian President Franjo Tuđman could be indicted before the Hague Tribunal.
The journalist also said that Montgomery, as the then US ambassador to Croatia, received a similar message and instructions to prepare and asked him in what way.
"Yes. In a way to prepare for possible violent protests directed at the embassy. Then, to give an assessment of what we think the reaction in Croatia might be. So I wrote a letter to Washington with the thesis that there would be a reaction with very unpredictable consequences. Not only in terms of what the government could do, but also what groups of citizens could do. And I wrote that I could not rule out the possibility that Tudjman's government could break diplomatic relations with us. I wrote that I don't know, but that everything is possible." Montgomery said.
He also said that the second message he received when Ivica Račan was already in power (he was the Prime Minister of Croatia from January 27, 2000 to December 23, 2003), was that the Hague Tribunal would indict General Stipetić.
"The three were supposed to be on the indictment. The message was: they haven't formally decided on those indictments yet, and one of the reasons why they found themselves within reach of the indictments is that they refused to talk to the investigators on the instructions of the Tuđman government. I immediately looked for Račan, and at that time he was at a conference of his party on some island, I think on Brač. It was not Račan's house that I visited before but some other place. At that time we had a ship anchored in Cavtat whose only job was to if Milosevic moved against Đukanović, that ship, actually a speedboat, should rescue Đukanović and transport him to safety. An American ship with an American CIA agent," said Montgomery for Večernji list.
The journalist stated that Montgomery mentioned Đukanović and the speedboat that was waiting for him, ready in case Milošević went after him so that he could pull him out and save him, and asked him what role he thought Đukanović played in the history of the breakup of Yugoslavia.
"Đukanović is the most capable, most agile politician in the region. He looked from which direction the wind was blowing and adapted to it. If you look at his life, you will see that he started as a loyal communist, then he was loyal to Milošević, and at a certain moment he realized that Milošević would not win, so he changed sides, turned his gaze to the West for support. He was in that role during the bombing campaign of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). But then when Milosevic left, we started devoting much more time and help to Serbia, whereas before it was more towards Montenegro Basically, during the Milošević years, when Đukanović turned and moved away from Milošević and when it was very difficult to secure financing for his government, we started allowing mass tobacco smugglers to operate from Montenegro. We as the West turned our heads and decided to we don't see that smuggling. Italy among others," Montgomery said.
He also said that everyone knew what was happening, but they allowed it because it brought in the money that Djukanović needed against Milošević.
"But when the wars ended and Milosevic fell, something happened like in the scene from "Casablanca". The Italians said: well, there is smuggling going on, we have to investigate it. And so they started a big investigation that included Đukanović. He he sees the Italians coming after him, the British starting to take organized crime more seriously, and so on. And then he turns again, this time to the Russians. He sends his closest advisor as ambassador to Russia with the intention of getting the Russians to come and invest in Montenegro. And they do it. But later he sees another opening, moves away from Russia and joins NATO," said the former American ambassador.
The Večernji List journalist then says "The Russians are also trying to stage a coup d'état at that moment, which is a serious matter".
"Yeah, he's surviving, too. He's constantly making huge strides in every direction, and it's incredible, and that's why I say he's the most agile, successful politician around," Montgomery said.
When asked if he had a role in uncovering the story about the tobacco mafia and Montenegro in the media and that some believe he helped the Croatian newspaper Nacional and its former editor Ivo Pukanić, Montgomery said that he was good friends with Pukanić.
"We cooperated closely when I was ambassador to Croatia. But I did not have any role in what you are asking me about. When I arrived in Belgrade, one of my first tasks was to go to Montenegro, then still part of Yugoslavia, and to evaluate different political parties, report back to Washington what the beliefs of those political parties are, what the chances are for Đukanović's dismissal. So I met two or three times with representatives of all parties there, including the Serbian one. I made a thorough analysis and reported that no I don't see any acceptable alternative to Đukanović because none of those other parties have the strength of his party. The Serbian party has no commitment to western values, in fact it opposes them because they are for Milošević. So we have no choice but to stick with Đukanović. That was not the position of the British ambassador (Charles Crawford), who felt that, because of the whole cigarette smuggling and all that, Djukanovic had to go. But that wasn't my position. So there's no way I would be part of any effort to discredit Djukanovic," Montgomery said.
When asked if he has any theory as to who ordered the assassination of Pukanić, Montgomery replied "Yes, I do."
When asked if it was the tobacco mafia, he said "Yes, absolutely."
When asked by a journalist if he could reveal a name, Montgomery said that he had enough serious threats.
"Which were conveyed to me by the Serbian and American intelligence services. So I wouldn't talk about the names. But I firmly believe that it was because of that," Montgomery said.
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