The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Mrs. Sonja Biserko, believes it is the EU’s fault that Russia “won the hearts in the Balkans” so easily.
“After being pressed by the crisis, the West in 2008 reduced its presence in the region, sidelining EU enlargement”, she said and added Russia is ever-interested in meddling into Montenegro’s affairs.
“It turned out to be a cardinal mistake for the EU. In fact, the region has slipped into regression, seeking support from other parties in Russia, China, Turkey, the Emirates… In the meantime, it is clear that Moscow is not interested in development projects, but primarily aims for the obstruction of European development in Balkan countries”, she underlined.
Biserko believes Russia, in its “brotherly” interference, will not hesitate to use Montenegrin opposition, the Serbian Orthodox Church and certain intelligence circles. She credits the political maturity of Milo Djukanovic with resisting foreign pressures in the past.
Western media and analysts, she said, rightly say that the upcoming presidential elections in Montenegro are actually a new choice between East and West, a kind of referendum on the future of Montenegro.
“For a long time, Montenegro has prepared its path into the EU, and now it has to take into account the underground rocks that impede it. That’s why I say that in the period ahead, we can expect strikes both on the internal, regional and international levels. I am of the opinion that nothing will jeopardize the Euro-Atlantic orientation of Montenegro, but nevertheless, the public must understand what challenges and dangers lay ahead. And not only for Montenegro, but for the whole region”, Mrs. Biserko concluded in her comment for Pobjeda daily.
