DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

The Lead Story
Fa rther from Be lgra de,
Clo ser to Bru sse ls
Mo nte ne gro - the Ne xt
Me mber of the Alliance
By: Srđan Kusovac
In le avi ng a dysfu ncti onal
uni on, Mo nte ne gro
eli mi na ted a ma jor obsta cle
on its pa th to the Eu ro pe an
Uni on and the only obsta cle
on its way to Eu ro-Atla ntic
inte gra ti on - Se rbia.
The author is the edi tor in chi ef
of the da ily „Po bje da“ in
Po dgo ri ca, Mo nte ne gro
Fo rty pe rce nt of Mo nte ne gri ns unco ndi ti ona lly su ppo -
rt the ir co untry’s me mbe rship of NA TO, whi le 44 pe -
rce nt, in ca se of a re fe re ndum, wo uld be aga inst it 1 .
This da ta — from a su rvey co ndu cted in De ce mber
2009 by the ’Stra te gic Ma rke ti ng’ po lli ng age ncy for
the go ve rnme nt’s Co ordi na ti on Te am for the Imple -
me nta ti on of Co mmu ni ca ti on Stra te gy on Eu ro-Atla -
ntic Inte gra ti ons – also show that 79% of Mo nte ne gri ns
expe ct the ir co untry to be co me a NA TO me mber re -
ga rdless of the ir opi ni on on the ma tter. 2 This da ta is
of incre ased si gni fi ca nce if we ke ep in mi nd that the
nu mber of ci ti ze ns su ppo rti ng NA TO me mbe rship has
incre ased co mpa red to pre vi ous su rve ys.
Only a we ek be fo re this da ta was pu bli shed, Mo nte -
ne gro re ce ived re co mme nda ti ons from the mo st re -
le va nt address po ssi ble when it co mes to NA TO
me mbe rship – Wa shi ngton. Du ri ng the offi ci al vi sit
of pre si de nt Mi lo \u ka no vi } to the Uni tes Sta tes of
Ame ri ca, one of the key di scu ssi on to pi cs was NA TO
me mbe rship. Even if the me ssa ge se nt by the Whi te
Ho use — re fle cted in the fa ct that „the Vi ce-Pre si de -
nt (Jo se ph Bi den) re ite ra ted Ame ri ca ’s su ppo rt for
Mo nte ne gro ’s EU and NA TO aspi ra ti ons“ 3 — co uld
be inte rpre ted as the usu al pro to col su ppo rt of Ame -
ri can offi ci als to appli ca nt co untri es’ di gni ta ri es, the
atti tu de of the Sta te De pa rtme nt le ft no pla ce for do -
ubt. On Ja nu ary 20, Se cre ta ry of Sta te Hi la ry Cli nton
co ngra tu la ted the Mo nte ne grin Pri me Mi ni ster on achi
evi ng MAP sta tus wi th NA TO, and ple dged the Uni -
ted Sta te s’ su ppo rt for Mo nte ne gro be co mi ng an
inte gral pa rt of the Eu ro-Atla ntic co mmu ni ty 4 in the
stro nge st expre ssi on of pu blic su ppo rt from Wa shi -
ngton so far. Mi lo \u ka no vi } re pli ed he was co nfi -
de nt Mo nte ne gro was go ing to be the ne xt sta te to
be co me a me mber of NA TO. 5 Less than two we eks
la ter, a si mi lar atti tu de was expre ssed by „the key
stra te gic expe rt“ of the No rth-Atla ntic Tre aty - Fra -
nk Bo la nd, the di re ctor of NA TO ’s De fe nse Po li cy
and Pla nni ng De pa rtme nt. 6
What has ma de Mo nte ne gro such an appe ali ng pa -
rtner only three and a ha lf ye ars after the pro cla ma ti -
on of its inde pe nde nce? Why is NA TO’s su ppo rt
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