The European Union has mutated in support of NATO, implements an aggressive anti-Russian line and actively participates in a hybrid confrontation with Russia and, accordingly, the expansion of the EU into the Balkans means drawing the countries of the region into a confrontation with Russia, said the country's ambassador to Montenegro, Vladislav Maslenikov. .
Maslenikov, speaking about Montenegro's candidacy for EU membership, said that the current leadership of the country sees its "historic chance" in the current declared readiness of the EU for enlargement, and that, at the same time, "Brussels does not hide that this renewed interest in enlargement is connected with the Ukrainian crisis".
"In general, many Montenegrin politicians understand that this 'enthusiasm for expansion' will disappear in Brussels immediately after the end of the conflict in Ukraine. But the people who are now in power in Podgorica are young, unencumbered by the political experience of the previous almost two decades (if we count since the declaration of independence in 2006), and it seems realistic to them to 'get promoted' to a slightly open window of opportunity," said Maslenikov in an interview with the Russian newspaper "Izvestia", which was published on the embassy's website.
In order, as he said, for example, to assess the prospects for the European integration progress of Montenegro, "it is not necessary to 'hang out' with the ambassadors of the EU countries - the information is literally at your feet".
"In addition, I have been dealing with EU issues for almost a quarter of a century - believe me, little has changed in the way Brussels deceives the candidate countries. Of course, formulations such as 'the most advanced candidate', 'the next member of the EU' or 'more work needs to be done on reforms' were not invented yesterday and not especially for Montenegro. What has really changed is the level and seriousness of the requirements for entry candidates. In any case, towards the Western Balkans," said Maslenikov.
He believes that the previous government of Dritan Abazović became an "absolute champion" in destroying Russian-Montenegrin relations.
"On this issue, it did more than the last two governments of the Democratic Party of Socialists Milo Đukanović, which started this process. Our embassy has been working for the second year in the most unfavorable conditions that the Montenegrin authorities have created for us for no reason. In the context of the 'epidemic' of the expulsion of Russian diplomatic officers, which affected Western countries, the reduction of the number of our diplomats in Montenegro to two units is still unprecedented," said Maslenikov.
"As far as we know, this whole story is based on the absolutely absurd idea of the Western 'partners' of Podgorica that through a sudden reduction of the Russian diplomatic presence, the Montenegrin people can be forced to 'stop loving' Russia. The idea turned out to be inadequate and counterproductive - in my experience, in the past period, the support of Montenegrin citizens for our country has significantly strengthened. To be honest, I did not expect this from some people, who recently expressed solidarity with Russia. And if now, instead of government offices and diplomatic receptions in Podgorica, we more often attend events in numerous municipalities country, then this is better. In this way, we learn 'first-hand' how Montenegro lives and breathes," added the Russian ambassador.
The paper also asked him whether it can be expected that Montenegro can lift the sanctions against Russia or at least stop supporting the new packages of the European Union. The Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, as they stated, "said at the last forum in Davos that following the policy of EU sanctions did not bring the country any benefit."
Maslenikov said that it was a "quite interesting" statement by Spajić, who became the head of the government a little more than three months ago.
"In Podgorica, it was established for the first time at such a high level that joining the EU's anti-Russian measures did not bring any dividends to Montenegro. Russian diplomats in Montenegro have been constantly talking about this since 2014, since the then government headed by Milo Đukanović joined the sanctions to the Russian Federation, which are illegitimate from the point of view of international law," said Maslenikov.
On the one hand, he adds, "it is good that someone in the leadership of Montenegro has 'grown up' to state this fact publicly". "However, it is difficult to see in this any sign of the likelihood that Podgorica can lift the sanctions or at least refuse to join the new package of EU anti-Russian measures," said Maslenikov.
He said that, in the economic dimension, "Russia did not even notice" the sanctions against Montenegro, and that for the Montenegrin economy, "the losses are very noticeable", stating that this is "openly confirmed by the representatives of the domestic business, especially the tourist business, and ordinary citizens of the country".
"The subject of these economic losses is very painful for the Montenegrin authorities, who do not publish any data about it, and it is possible that they do not collect it. Back in 2019, the Montenegrin media published a figure of two billion euros, which is valid for their assessment of the damage from anti-Russian sanctions, introduced in 2014. Given that the following governments of the country continued to follow the madness of EU sanctions, it is reasonable to assume that Montenegro has lost at least twice as much in the past almost five years," says Maslenikov.
He claims that the majority of Montenegrin citizens do not support the sanctions policy of the Montenegrin authorities. "According to public opinion polls, 71,3 percent of Montenegrins are now against sanctions against Russia, a year ago 66 percent of citizens supported that position," claimed Maslenikov.
He said that the current government is "already the third" that is "obsessed with the idea of 'replacing' Russian tourists".
He also believes that it is difficult to expect the restoration of direct flights between Russia and Montenegro in the foreseeable future, due to the harmonization of Podgorica with decisions on EU sanctions.
Maslenikov said that trade does not play a big role in economic relations between Russia and Montenegro, but that Russian investments are another matter. "For all the years of Montenegro's independence, the volume of our investments approached two billion euros. For the sake of comparison, in approximately the same period, Montenegro received about one billion euros in grants from the European Union," he pointed out.
When asked what the prospects are for improving relations with Russia, Maslenikov said that, as far as the possibility of something changing, "the ball is in the court of the Montenegrin side."
"The question is whether Podgorica understands that relations with Russia will have to be renewed before the country enters the EU. Although the current political elite gives the impression that it will 'return for friendship' at the moment when the EU reverses the enlargement process again or if - and that will certainly not happen quickly - Montenegro joins the EU and there is an inevitable disappointment because they 'joined one EU and entered another.' countries that have joined the EU since 2004.
"The Montenegrin leadership, approaching the EU sanctions, did not ask its people for their opinion. Likewise, no one asked for the opinion of the Montenegrin people when joining NATO. And the gap between what the people want and what the Montenegrin authorities are doing towards Russia is obvious. "Both in Russian and Montenegrin society, there is a very high demand for the normalization of our relations and their return to the level of traditionally friendly and close ones," concluded Maslenikov.
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