In a formal sense, Montenegro's membership in NATO cannot and will not be questioned, former Montenegrin Minister of Defense Milica Pejanović Đurišić told Radio Free Europe (RSE).
She pointed out that what worries her more is the fact that within that formally rounded story "we do not have any content, because membership in NATO provides enormous opportunities that are not only related to the security and defense sector, but also other sectors, such as health , education, sector that deals with the consequences of climate change..."
"So it is of no use, because there is no initiative from this side. And that is what worries me. Because the fact that you will sit at a table and be one of the votes among 32 does not mean much for this country," he says. Pejanović Đurišić, who is the president of the Atlantic Alliance of Montenegro.
She said that Russia is using methods that are trying to cause destabilization on a much larger level than the Balkans.
"It turned out that it doesn't succeed. Since that kind of influence started, NATO has been getting stronger," Pejanović Đurišić emphasized.
Today, April 4, NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Montenegro has been its member since June 2017, and received the invitation for membership during the period when Pejanović Đurišić was the Minister of Defense.
At that time, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) of Milo Đukanović was in power.
Three years later, the DPS was replaced, and parties came to power, some of which oppose NATO membership, primarily the pro-Russian Democratic Front party, one of whose leaders is Andrija Mandić at the head of the parliament.
Political elites contributed to the decline in membership support
RSE journalist: In the last annual NATO survey, it is stated that the percentage of supporters of Montenegro's membership has decreased by two percent, while the number of those who would vote to leave the Alliance has increased by 12 percent. What do you think are the causes of such a drop in support?
Pejanović Djurišić: NATO support changes depending on the perception of what the security and safety threats are.
In contrast to other countries in which the deteriorating security environment is perceived, conditioned by what is happening with Russia's aggression against Ukraine, it obviously works differently in Montenegro.
And it is normal to wonder why this is so.
The only meaningful and rational answer is that it is a consequence of the activities, narratives and commitments of the current political elite in Montenegro, that is, the part that makes up the so-called parliamentary majority.
And that is why the citizens also perceive some kind of change in their attitude towards those fundamental foreign policy commitments of our country.
That is why it is very important that we do not stop at stating the fact that this is so. Rather, those who have assumed responsibility, and I would say not always aware of that responsibility, should adequately position themselves according to what are the interests of this state and its citizens.
I am referring to the provision of that framework in which safety and security are achieved for each of us.
RSE: Is it a story about a 'shell', that the government actually accepts the formal decisions of NATO, but not the values inherited by European and NATO countries?
Pejanović Djurišić: It can be interpreted that way. With the fact that I really have to say that this was not the case before, that we had the opportunity to express opinions, make suggestions... I have that kind of experience.
As it looks to me from the outside, that is unfortunately becoming less and less.
I would like us to keep in mind that dimension as well, that in our institutions, whatever they are, there is some kind of knowledge and institutional memory. And it would be good for those who have taken responsibility to be aware of this and to use what is available to them.
RSE: Do you think that at this moment NATO is a barrier to the penetration of Russian influence in the security system of Montenegro? Namely, the American ambassador to NATO recently warned that Moscow uses classic methods to cause instability in the Western Balkans.
Pejanović Djurišić: What we are witnessing is that Russia is using these methods to cause destabilization on a much larger level than the Balkans, that is, in NATO itself, that is completely clear.
And what is also abundantly clear is that it has been shown to fail at this.
Since that kind of influence started, since then NATO is getting stronger, unity is getting bigger, readiness of the members for defense and deterrence is also bigger, budget allocations are the same. So I think it's a completely failed attempt.
And when it comes to Montenegro, it was probably estimated that it does not have the established mechanisms that one would expect from a NATO member and that it is possibly one of the weakest links in the whole story.
However, I believe that the system as a whole will find a way to defend this area from some more disastrous consequences.
RSE: What do you think is the fate of those influences? To what extent does it depend on the situation in the region?
Pejanović Djurišić: It is intertwined, because the situation in the region is obviously subject to those influences. It tries to trigger as many points of destabilization as possible.
Recently, we had the opportunity to hear that Russia shows a negative attitude, not only towards the NATO membership of the countries of this region, but also towards the membership in the European Union, which was almost unthinkable until recently.
And which is otherwise unimaginable, because here we are talking about sovereign and independent states that make their own choices.
I think that the action of appropriate proxies, of which there are a large number in these regions, has certain negative effects and consequences for those parts of society that believe that commitment to the EU and NATO is the only guarantee of progress and development.
I would say that there has been a state of apathy lately, possibly because of all these political changes and their dynamics, but also for some objective reasons, such as the pandemic.
So I still believe in that part of our society, which is able to preserve the foundations of our country in the way we collectively imagine it.
RSE: At the time when you were the Minister of Defense, Montenegro received an invitation, and a year and a half later became a member of NATO. What do you think is the status of Montenegro in the organization itself today?
Pejanović Djurišić: Every member, regardless of its size and capacities, has the opportunity to contribute to NATO in a certain way. We are not talking about the contribution only in terms of the number of people, weapons...
NATO is not only a military alliance, NATO is an alliance of values, a political alliance in which there are numerous other opportunities to contribute.
One of the important contributions in that previous period was precisely our experiences and knowledge related to everything that happens in the region of Southeast Europe.
On the other hand, the character of our country - multiculturalism and multinationality - was of great interest to other partners, to hear our experiences, how we provide conditions for common life in these areas.
For example, this came to the fore when we were part of the mission in Afghanistan. It was the soldiers from Montenegro who were very well received by the local population, they had very good communication with them, and opened doors for others as well.
Therefore, it is very wrong to think that 'we are small, we cannot change and contribute something significant'.
I sincerely hope that those who are currently, and those who will be, in power will have more knowledge and capacity, will be better prepared for what membership in such an organization entails.
It will be necessary tomorrow for the EU, too.
So, we can't be someone there who will constantly have an excuse like - 'you know, we're small, so what can we contribute'.
We can contribute a lot, only if we know, want and can.
RSE: Last month marked a quarter of a century since the beginning of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. You mentioned that the facts related to the bombing are persistently manipulated. What exactly do you mean?
Pejanović Djurišić: The basic manipulation starts from the reason and pattern of what happened, while completely ignoring the fact that we witnessed something that could have taken on the character of genocide, not to use that difficult word.
In any case, we did not have the regional capacity to stop it.
It was similar in BiH in the 1990s, where the terrible bloodshed could not be stopped without NATO.
Therefore, in two situations in these areas, NATO played a key role in stopping such terrible events.
And we have political forces that then put it in a completely different context, manipulate and in that way probably fulfill a function for some third forces that are on the other side.
When it comes to 1999, there is an attempt to shift some kind of responsibility to those who were in power at that time, even though we had only one goal - to maintain peace in Montenegro to the extent that it was possible.
It is deliberately forgotten that then the parliament sat for days and nights and passed the Declaration of Peace. At that critical moment, all political entities had a greater degree of responsibility and willingness to talk than is the case today, when we do not have that kind of challenge, immediately.
Secondly, the sharp edge of criticism is aimed at NATO and the Secretary General, who on two occasions, in June 2015, when he was in Montenegro, clearly stated his and his NATO allies' position that it was an unfortunate event and that they express their condolences.
He was ready for any kind of help in this regard. He repeated it in 2019.
Therefore, the need for someone to call him out again to apologize or to express condolences shows this deficiency of our system.
We have that initial setup set up and no one is dealing with how to overcome what is both an emotion and a real problem that happened to certain people, families, places...
Bonus video:
