Djukanovic: Serbia Has Never Come to Terms with Montenegrin Independence

Milo Djukanovic (BetaPhoto/Office of the President of Montenegro)

Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said that Serbia had never accepted Montenegro's independence which it views as being part of Serbdom, adding that the actions of the Serbian Orthox Church were akin to "clerical fascism."

"I can testify to this from my time spent in politics, while historical documents dating back to 19th century will confirm my words," Djukanovic said at a July 6 conference, The Western Balkans: The Key Piece to the European Security Puzzle, organized by GLOBSEC.

Djukanovic said that Serbia had never accepted Montenegro being independent, and never come to terms with it and instead considered its neighbor a part of the "Serbian world." "Looking at Serbia's regional relations, the role it has assumed is potentially destructive, as it is clearly revisiting the early 1990s. Serbia believes that it is supposed to protect the interests Serbs, wherever they may live in the region. It's the same mistake Slobodan Milosevic made back in the 1990s, and we all know what happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Djukanovic said.

The Montenegrin president said that his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, was trying to present the protection of Serbs in Montenegro as a legitimate goal. "Interfering in the internal affairs of a state cannot be a legitimate goal. Regrettably, Serbia is repeating its mistakes, and I'm afraid it's creating a realistic potential for regional instabilities. Serbia is doing this while relying on Moscow's support," Djukanovic underlined.