WHEN NATO invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of the military alliance on December 2nd, Russia reacted angrily. It was an “openly confrontational” move, the foreign ministry said in a statement, and Russia would “respond accordingly.” Viktor Ozerov, a senior defence official, threatened to axe joint military projects with the Montenegrins. The Montenegrins were baffled, because there are none. Between Russian rhetoric and action, says Dimitar Bechev, an expert on Russian-Balkan relations, “there is a huge gap.”
A decade and a half after the end of the Serbia-Kosovo war, Russia and NATO continue to vie for influence in the western Balkans. Montenegro’s military is tiny, but its membership means that a small but significant piece of the Adriatic coast has been taken off the chessboard. Its strategic Bay of Kotor (see map) was once home to part of the Yugoslav navy, and to the Austro-Hungarian...Continue reading
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