Belgrade has never come to terms with Montenegro leaving, and it’s trying to provoke chaos in every way possible, with the help of local actors. Serbia doesn’t choose words to qualify Serbs in Montenegro, and Montenegrin statehood too, said the President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Sonja Biserko.
In her opinion, regional relations are on the verge of becoming fragile and the distrust in Serbia is becoming bigger and bigger.
“Distrust of all neighbors in Serbia is absolutely justified, especially since Belgrade is constantly faking and revising not only history, but also reality. Serbia is destabilizing, or at least it is trying to destabilize Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, simultaneously. In all this chaos, Serbs in Kosovo suffer the most, because they live in uncertainty and under constant pressure that Belgrade puts on them. Their future is at stake thanks to irresponsible acts of both presidents”, says Biserko.
She points out that Montenegro is the target Serbia had never given up on.
“Such a complex international and regional context is good for different aspirations and geo-strategic contemplation. During the entire 20th century. Serbia never hid that it had pretensions to B&H and Adriatic; elite groups of nowadays think it’s not late for the achievement of that objective. Also, Russian strategist and analysts think that borders at Balkans are not definite and that Moscow must take part in their final definition”, says Biserko.
She asserts that annulment of Montenegrin statehood and state independence is the long-term objective of Belgrade.
“In that sense, the atmosphere that’s been created in Belgrade recently, and some more aggressive activities, come as no surprise. Minister of Foreign Affairs, among others, participates in all that spinning. He said recently that citizens of Serbia were being abused by Montenegrin judicial and court system.Discrimination against Serbs in Montenegro is yet another story: they are deprived of all rights, starting from employment to the fact that they are forbidden to use Serbian language in schools. There’s no an example that a nation is in such a terrible position in the 21st century, as it is the case with Serbs in Montenegro”, said Biserko.
Extreme right in Podgorica is organizing provocative actions, aimed against Montenegrin independence.
“The situation is becoming more radicalized, not only in Montenegro but in other neighboring countries too. This simultaneous dynamics is accelerating and going in a wrong direction”, says Biserko.
