Good morning! In the midst of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the ambassador of France gives an interview to a media that serves to spread the Russian-Serbian malign influence in Montenegro. To a media that regularly spreads lies and humiliates Ukraine and Montenegro, spreads hatred, and fuels divisions in our country. Why?
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Why Ms. Maskay?
In the collective memory of Montenegrins, at least that part of the public that cares about Montenegrin independence, France did not play the most positive role during the annexation of Montenegro by Serbia in 1918. According to the established historical narrative, the French army was an accomplice of the Serbian army in the occupation of Montenegro. On the other hand, in Serbia, for years, a myth has been built about France as a friend, mostly because of the alliance during the First World War. French far-rights and Islamophobes see in Serbia a kind of heroic promised land, which in the Middle Ages and the 1990s was “Europe’s line of defense against Muslims”.
That’s why today you have situations like that one where the French far-right Gijon (Arnaud Gouillon) agitates for Serbian nationalism from the position of head of the Serbian Government’s office for relations with Serbs in the region, i.e. a man institutionally in charge of the Serbian World.
The former French ambassador did not hide his affection for Serbian nationalists in Montenegro, and it is widely known that he focused his attention and critical edge on “Montenegrin extremists”. During his mandate, the French Embassy initiated and sponsored the establishment of a cyber security center at the University of Montenegro – at the University, which is currently led by a convinced Kremlin agent of influence and another Ukrainophobe.
The newly appointed ambassador of France continues on the same path and gives an interview to Borba, the means of the Kremlin’s malign influence in Montenegro. Borba and IN4S have been identified in many relevant reports as the main channels of influence of the Kremlin and the Serbian government in our country. There is no way that the French ambassador is not aware of that.
If she doesn’t know that, it’s enough to open Borba today and look at headlines like “Vucic unmasked the lying fraud of Montenegro”, or to look at the section of columns where hate speech is spilled every day. On the pages of their columns, threats are made, people with different opinions are insulted, misinformation is spread and anti-Western indoctrination is carried out. It’s not the best environment for an ambassador from the West.
France, as one of the largest economies of the EU, has not made a name for itself in Montenegro with its support for free media and civil society in our country, as is the case with the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, the Czech Republic and numerous other countries from the West, some of which are much smaller than France.
French diplomacy gained strong visibility in the Montenegrin public only with the previous ambassador, who entered into an open conflict with the opposition and the independence supporters and thus contributed to the perception that the country he represents is not very friendly towards the idea of an independent and sovereign Montenegro, as it formally appears to be. The latest interview of the new ambassador with Borba only adds fuel to the fire and deepens mistrust.
The question arises among all those are sharing Western and transatlantic values in Montenegro: why Ms. Maskay does not directly give an interview to Russia Today or Sputnik in Serbia, along with her fellow Frenhman Gijon.
This is just one in a series of gaffes by Western diplomacy, which deepens mistrust and thus opens up space for the strengthening of Russo-Serbian influence in Montenegro. In their desire to bring the Serbian nationalist public in the region closer to themselves through appeasement, in this way, they are only losing the trust of their traditional allies. And they persistently continue to do so.
That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
