Former Foreign Minister of Montenegro, Miodrag Vlahović, has stated that Serbia remains a destabilizing factor in the region, emphasizing that its influence extends across several Balkan countries.
“There is a problem in the Balkans called Serbia. It is the generator of many problems in its immediate environment and across all our countries,” Vlahović said.
He stressed that Montenegro should pursue membership in the European Union primarily in its own interest, rather than as a tool to influence developments in Serbia or the wider region. According to him, expectations that Montenegro’s EU integration would automatically transform Serbia are exaggerated.
“I tend to say, euphemistically, that it is clear we all have a ‘common friend’ we, the Bosniaks, and Kosovars—but it seems to me that it has long become inappropriate to use this as an argument for or against Montenegro’s EU accession on the grounds that it would have an impact… it is possible, perhaps it would be beneficial, but that is not the point,” he added.
According to him, there are ongoing efforts to influence Montenegro’s internal developments, including attempts to alter the country’s state and political identity. He warned that such influences may aim to transform Montenegro into a state with pronounced ethnic characteristics, similar to the structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Nevertheless, Vlahović emphasized the importance of preserving the civic concept of the Montenegrin state and avoiding ethnic divisions as a response to external pressures.
“Montenegro must develop an authentic, all-encompassing civic concept, while clearly understanding from beginning to middle to end that without Montenegrins there is no Montenegro; meaning that eliminating Montenegrin identity ultimately means eliminating Montenegrin statehood, and vice versa,” the former minister concluded.
