As the Ukraine war rages, Montenegro’s juggling act gets harder
Al JazeeraClose historic ties with Russia and deep internal divisions are undermining a unified national stance on the conflict. “Considering Russia’s base in Syria, increasing its influence in Montenegro could facilitate connection from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean,” Dilek Kütük, a Skopje-based analyst, told Al Jazeera. “With Montenegro’s population split between supporters of independence who identify as Montenegrin or who belong to ethnic minorities, and those who opposed independence and identify with Serbia, it’s primarily the former that have emerged as the pro-Ukrainian and the latter as the pro-Russian camp.” However, not all in the pro-Belgrade camp support Russia’s war in Ukraine. For example, at a protest in Niksic, some Montenegrins expressed support for Russia’s “attempts to protect their people in Ukraine” while waving Russian and Serbian flags. “The Serbian government still grapples with the idea that the two are no longer part of the same union, and Montenegro’s foreign policy will not follow Serbia’s.
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