Ivo Banac is the history professor at Yale University and at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, former Minister in the Government of Croatia and one of the most renowned members of the Croatian Helsinki Committee. In the interview for „Dnevne novine“ he said that if the opposition in Montenegro proved to be better than Milo Đukanović in promoting Montenegrin liberties and European norms, then maybe the question of his political longevity would make some sense. But this way, it only prolongs his inevitability.
„Presidential elections in Montenegro and Đukanović’s victory showed the isolation of Putin’s agency, which tried to change the political course in your country, under the cloak of reforms. That part of allegedly pro-European opposition lost credibility. If you add the result of Draginja Vuksanović to Đukanović’s victory, it’s clear that Russian influence came down to the third of the total electorate“, said Banac.
He also pointed out the importance that Đukanović’s victory has for Croatia.
„ In recent times, there has been a rapid penetration of the Russian influence in Croatia. By that I mean Russian strategic investments, arrogant behavior of the Russian ambassador, emergence of Russian players in some political parties, Russian propaganda in media and so on. Therefore, in Đukanović’s victory, many Croatians see their own victory“ said Banac.
