The United States ought to work hard to make Montenegro’s NATO membership a success, the latest US Atlantic Council’s report titled Balkans Forward: A New A New US Strategy for the Region.
“This means working closely with our newest ally on a common security agenda, but also helping it accelerate domestic reforms, bolstering the rule of law, and helping nurture a healthy political climate that includes space for a loyal opposition. After all, presidential elections are looming in 2018, and Russia is sure to try to leverage its malign influence in the Democratic Front to field an anti-Western candidate,” the Washington-based organisation says in its report presented by the council’s vice president Damon Wilson.
The Atlantic Council advocates returning the US reputation as an “honest broker”.
“When a young student asks why Milo Djukanovic’s Montenegro has been allowed to join NATO and is making progress on EU accession even though he has ruled his little coastal country more or less unopposed since 1991, the West needs to have a better answer than ‘stability’. Rather, the West needs to be clear that it holds leaders accountable for reforms,” the document says.
The report points out that the last two years have seen breathtaking attempts by Russia to capitalize on the region’s lingering pathologies to undermine the European project.
“Though the region still broadly yearns to join the West (and its institutions), the final outcome should no longer be taken for granted. The United States, in particular, can and should play a key role. We should give voice to a clear, common vision for the region, and coordinate with the European Union to reestablish clarity in a common transatlantic goal at the political level,” the document adds.
The Atlantic Council suggests four concrete steps the United States ought to take to help stabilize a region badly in need of stability.
The first of them is establishing a permanent US military presence in Southeastern Europe. The document says that “Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo is ideal for this purpose”.
The organisation also suggests pursuing a “historic” rapprochement with Serbia and regaining reputation as an honest broker.
“A blind pursuit of stability at the cost of progress in democratic development virtually guarantees the persistence of the very pathologies that plague the region. Montenegro’s accession to NATO presents one opportunity to help an emerging partner make good on its commitment to genuine democratic reforms,” the council says.
The fourth step is to “bet on the region’s entrepreneurs and youth”.
“None of these moves make sense without addressing longer-term economic prospects for the region’s young people, especially as the accession process stretches indefinitely into the future,” the document says.
