Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, Vesna Pusić, stated that the wars of the 1990s continue to burden relations between Croatia and Montenegro, and these issues have become historical due to the politics that emerged after the 1990s.
However, as she noted, pro-Russian and pro-Serbian currents in Montenegro are trying to exacerbate relations between Montenegro and Croatia. Pro-Serbian and pro-Russian politicians in Montenegro are attempting to utilize anything they can remember, including completed historical narratives, to complicate and strain relations with Croatia. Pusić believes this is because they, especially their leaders, link good relations with Croatia to Montenegro’s accession to NATO and, potentially, to EU membership.
Pusić emphasizes that Croatia is ignoring the behavior of the current government in Montenegro in every possible way.
“Since this should be prevented in their view, they are using everything they can to destroy Montenegro’s relations with the only neighbor that has already helped with NATO, and possibly even with the EU. Initially, Croatia reacted diplomatically with restraint, and now mostly ignores the situation because it is quite clear what is happening,” Pusić told Antena M.
