"Russia won't mind Montenegro joining NATO"
Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic expects his country to be invited to join NATO by the end of the year. He also believes Russia will not "oppose" this.
Tuesday, 14.04.2015.
15:28
"Russia won't mind Montenegro joining NATO"
He also commented on his decision not to attend the May 9 celebrations in Moscow marking the 70th anniversary of victory over fascism and said it was "not influenced by anyone from the European Union or Western centers of power." Instead, he said, the decision was "completely domestic" - and another that he "does not expect to cause negative reactions from Russia."It was announced earlier this month that a coordinating board set up to organize the marking the anniversary in Montenegro "made a decision according to which the head of state will speak at the event in Podgorica." Vujanovic emphasized that he "should be in the country" on May 9 and in this way "pay his tribute to the anti-fascism of Montenegro," and added that nothing can be subordinate to that, not even his "participation" in the military parade in Moscow.
Vujanovic believes that it is the duty of the president to attend the marking of such a great event and added that he cannot imagine that anyone in Montenegro believes that he should be in Moscow instead of Podgorica.
Vujanovic also stressed that during the meeting of the coordinating board he absolutely had the support of President of Parliament Ranko Krivokapic and Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.
But the decision caused strong reactions in Montenegro and sharply divided the political scene and the public.
Some see it as a gesture of contempt toward his own country, but also toward the role of the Soviet Union in crushing fascism during the Second World War, while others think it is a strategically important, pragmatic move that will boost Montenegro's Euro-Atlantic integration and accelerate its accession to NATO.
Russian Ambassador to Montenegro Andrei Nesterenko said recently that Vujanovic had initially accepted President Vladimir Putin's invitation to be in Moscow on May 9 and then, after the meeting of the coordinating board, changed his mind. The diplomat said this was "very surprising."
Nesterenko remarked that he was unaware of another example in the practice of international relations when a head of state made a decision that was placed on his official "form", for a group of officials to then review that decision, and added that the question now was "how to build bilateral relations on the highest level based on such principles."
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