The August 30 parliamentary elections in this coastal former Yugoslav republic of some 620,000 people brought electoral defeat to the party of Montenegrin strongman and current president Milo Djukanovic for the first time in some 30 years. This was proclaimed by some as the long-awaited fall of the Berlin Wall in that country, seeing that the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) had seamlessly evolved from the League of Communists of Montenegro at the beginning of the 1990s, thus making its rule basically uninterrupted since the communist takeover of Yugoslavia in 1945. On September 23, the three opposition lists that won a narrow 41 seat majority in the 81-seat parliament elected the parliament’s new president and formally proposed the leader of the “For the Future of Montenegro” list, mechanical engineering professor Zdravko Krivokapic, as the new prime minister. Djukanovic has 30 days to offer him the mandate to form a government. In theory, he can offer it to someone else, but only Krivokapic has secured a majority. In any case, a new government must be either confirmed by parliament within 90 days or new elections called.

However, while to the casual observer the “Montenegrin Spring” appears to be in full bloom, it seems that some things are not open to democratic or any other debate after all. In the first place, the country’s pro-Western course, most importantly its NATO membership, EU integration path and the recognition of Serbia’s breakaway Kosovo province. Which tells us much about where we have arrived some three decades after the West’s proclaimed victory in the Cold War, and Fukuyama’s annunciation of the “end of history” and the final victory of “liberal democracy.”

Of course, there are no NATO troops concentrating at the Montenegrin border, no overt threats of foreign armed intervention – yet. Which is not to say that there are no threats at all. In fact, Djukanovic, a recent winner of the “Person of the Year in Organized Crime” award, has threatened violence twice in the space of several days, just in case the new government should decide to stray from the “correct” path.

In a recent interview for Sarajevo’s FACE TV, after speaking approvingly of the new majority’s assurances that the country would not veer from its westward course, Djukanovic nevertheless warned that he was prepared to defend Montenegro “from the woods if necessary,” invoking the country’s long history of armed resistance to attacks on its “statehood.” He also threatened to “demolish” any stone used to build a new church in the old capital of Cetinje – which was clearly an arrow aimed at the Serbian Orthodox Church, which led the mass resistance to Djukanovic’s Orwellian “Law on Religious Freedom” that turned out to be driving force behind his party’s election loss.

Djukanovic reiterated his threat in another interview several days later, throwing in, for good measure, the usual westward-directed virtue signaling and scaremongering about the Russian and Serbian threat to Montenegrin statehood and all that is great and good in the world.

What should be noted here is not just Djukanovic’s ominous rhetoric but the uniform silence with which it has been greeted by Western embassies and capitals, otherwise quick to detect and decry phantom Russian (and, locally, Serbian) threats at the drop of a hat. Which shows that the new parliamentary majority will be under the watchful eye of Brussels, Washington, London, Paris and Berlin, who are still counting on Djukanovic, warts and all, as a viable insurance policy just in case Montenegrins start getting some ideas of their own about how to run their country and start taking democratic choice a tad too seriously.

So, while Djukanovic is allowed to casually sling threats of violence from the sidelines, ready to pounce at his opponents’ slightest misstep, the new democratically elected majority is compelled to offer endless pledges of fealty to the country’s “unalterable” pro-Western course. Note, for example, the inquisitorial tone of a question posed to Krivokapic in a recent Deutsche Welle interview: “Djukanovic has distanced himself from Milosevic, declared Montenegro’s independence, supported EU sanctions against Russia, recognized Kosovo and entered NATO. How will you convince Brussels and Washington that you will not change his Western-supported foreign policy course, which is not supported by your own supporters, especially the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian parties in coalition with you?”

Naturally, Krivokapic assured his interrogator that neither he nor his political partners had any intention of straying from the Washington/Brussels party line or path, pointing to their coalition agreement as proof. In a nutshell, to quote Brezhnev’s famous policy speech given to Polish workers in November 1968, Krivokapic and company assured Western comrades that “none of their decisions should damage either socialism democracy in their country or the fundamental interests of other socialist democratic countries, and the whole working class democratic movement, which is working for socialism democracy.”

And, taking no chances, in a subsequent article written for the Washington Times, Krivokapic additionally reassured the Westintern that the new majority’s three-way agreement “guaranteed not only to maintain Montenegro’s commitment to NATO membership but to deepen our place in the alliance; and we pledged to accelerate reforms that can take our country into the European Union.”

In his defense, this approach is basically understandable, as Krivokapic and his partners are well aware of all the obstacles they will face tackling their most important challenges, which are of an internal nature – deconstructing Djukanovic’s corrupt political machine, opening up the media for diverse political views, ending anti-Serb discrimination, voiding or amending the afore-mentioned Law on Religious Freedom, reforming the judicial system and coming to terms with the country’s high indebtedness and rising unemployment, exacerbated by the destruction of the tourist season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But of course, even internally, we can be sure that the neo-Brezhnevite guardians of Western “fundamental interests” will be closely watching for any kind of opening to Russian, Serbian or Chinese “malign influence,” even if it might be economically beneficial to this impoverished country. That’s where Krivokapic may run into trouble down the road as, set-in-stone foreign policy pledges notwithstanding, he has also unequivocally stated that Serbia and Montenegro are “the closest of states,” that “the Russian Federation is our brotherly country and great, centuries-long friend” and that he and his political allies are “obliged to repair our political relations with Russia, as well as Serbia.” He also did not neglect to remind that Djukanovic had granted recognition to so-called Kosovo despite the fact that, quoting Montenegro’s outgoing prime minister, “85% of Montenegro’s citizens were against the recognition of Serbia’s southern province.” In the eyes of the Westintern, such views are doubtlessly seen as double-plus-ungood.

Which means that more “pro-democratic” reinforcements are bound to be brought in, such as the former commander of U.S. forces in Europe, Ben Hodges. In a recent interview for the pro-Djukanovic Pobjeda daily, Hodges, now an associate of the neocon CEPA Washington think tank, gently reminded the future government that it is “expected to fulfill its NATO obligations,” while sending the usual barrage of unsubstantiated accusations Russia’s way, covering everything from using “force, disinformation and poison” to being responsible for Syria’s refugee crisis and other similar nonsense.

In observing the situation in Montenegro, the words of former England striker Gary Lineker come to mind, “Football is a simple game – 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.” What the collective West seems to be saying to Montenegrins these days is, “Democracy is a simple game – the people cast their ballots on election day and at the end, NATO and the EU always win. Or else…”

Behind the new Democratic Curtain, the Brezhnev Doctrine has found new life.

The outcome of the electoral contest is ambiguous, as most things are in the Balkans. The ruling pro-Western DPS Party (ironically, the acronym stands for “Democratic Party of Socialists” which is the successor to the former League of Communists), if we are to go by the official count, obtained a plurality of the votes, about 35%. (Of course, this generous percentage might be modified somewhat by factoring in reported widespread fraud which, according to some persuasive estimates, ascends to 40,000 phantom votes, or roughly one-third of DPS’ total.) But while DPS was presumably the biggest single vote-getter, together the three opposition coalitions it was facing still beat it by a wide margin. These opposition groups have signed a political pact with the intention of jointly forming Montenegro’s new government.

Even if they were to succeed, however, things at the top of the political pyramid would still remain the same. President Milo Djukanovic, who has been running Montenegro for the last thirty years, has another three years to go before his mandate expires. If the new government, as is likely, is formed by the opposition we will soon find out what the President thinks of the idea of cohabitation as the French would put it and had practiced successfully in the 1990s. Would temperamental Montenegrins manage to abide by the rules of such a delicate arrangement?

The choices facing President Djukanovic are stark. In order to evade legal problems related to broad accusations of criminal misconduct, he must hold on at all cost to the immunity afforded by the Presidential office. His options are neither many nor pleasant, given the palpable cooling in the stance of his Western sponsors toward his regime.

He could string out the appointment of the new government (constitutionally the process can take up to ninety days) or try to cobble together a majority coalition around his DPS by luring (in the Balkans there is little mystery about the means that would encompass, and personal charm is certainly not a part of it) a sufficient number of opposition deputies over to his camp. With thirty years of political experience, he surely has a dossier on every one of them and is well informed about their weaknesses.

The first option would depend heavily on Djukanovic’s betting on a Biden victory. Djukanovic has scored some good points with the Albanian factor in the Balkans by recognizing Kosovo and cooperating in other important ways. In fact, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, breaching diplomatic etiquette, made an impassioned appeal on Djukanovic’s behalf on the eve of the election. Biden is known to be sympathetic to the Albanian lobby, so support from him in the event he wins in November would not be an unreasonable expectation.

But while that is neither here nor there, the here and now does not look very cheerful. Signs that the West is getting tired and even annoyed with Djukanovic were accumulating as election day drew near and became particularly noticeable after the results were in. In a Statement issued two days after the votes were counted, EU honchos Josep Borrell and Olivér Várhelyi made it clear that Brussels would take a dim view of Djukanovic’s post-electoral shenanigans, though the warning was couched in refined diplomatic language. They referred to “a number of concerns in relation to undue advantage for the ruling party and the unbalanced media coverage” and urged “all political actors and relevant institutions … to engage in a transparent, decisive and inclusive dialogue on the implementation of these recommendations to address long-standing electoral shortcomings well ahead of the next elections”. Contrasted with effusive praise that until recently was showered on Djukanovic, these terse words are the functional equivalent of being politically thrown under the bus.

The other, more offensive strategy Djukanovic could employ is to play deaf to EU warnings and manufacture a parliamentary majority that would relatively smoothly prolong his rule. He could do it by…well, temporarily suspending the European values that he swears by and reverting to tried and tested Balkan methods of pressure creatively mixed with bribery. The alleged acquisition of enormous quantities of cash by illicit means is, after all, precisely one of the compelling reasons for holding on to the immunity of Presidential office, so the cash might as well be put to good use.

Djukanovic’s legacy is not pretty. Its leitmotif, simply put, is treachery, with larceny running not too far behind as the defining characteristic of his political career. His endless series of betrayals started with the opportunistic repudiation of his political mentor Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s. During the NATO aggression in 1999, he openly consorted with his country’s adversaries, whose bombs were destroying Montenegrin targets and killing Montenegrin civilians, as in the village of Murino. In 2006, he organized a fraudulent referendum which led to Montenegro’s separation from Serbia with himself as its undisputed ruler. When in 2010 the NATO occupied statelet of Kosovo declared its independence, he obligingly recognized it although a good part of it was Montenegrin territory until the beginning of World War I. But what did he care?

Having placed his fate entirely in the hands of new sponsors in Washington and Brussels, in lockstep with them he instituted a radically anti-Russian policy, even imposing “sanctions” on the Russian Federation, unconcerned about the overwhelmingly pro-Russian sentiment of the Montenegrin people. In 2015, by a vote in parliament under his party’s domination and without taking into account the opinion of the Montenegrin public, he dragged the country into the universally loathed NATO alliance.

The climax – and the beginning of his downfall – was the December 2019 law on religious communities that targeted the Serbian Orthodox Church. Unexpectedly, it touched a raw nerve. That is where the public, which had sullenly tolerated egregious misrule, finally drew the line. When parliament which he then still controlled passed the offensive religion law, peaceful rebellion could no longer be contained. Mass religious processions began being held in protest, demanding that the discriminatory law be repealed. With a new parliament to be seated soon, that very well may happen.

Fittingly, the great betrayer is now himself being betrayed by his foreign sponsors and there are signs that his domestic political machine is beginning to implode as well, as many of his lieutenants sense that the end is near. It is unlikely that many will regret Milo Djukanovic’s demise.

But it would be a mistake to see this as a belated outburst of Western-inspired triumphalism over the remnants of the vanquished Cold War enemy’s remnants. There was more irony than triumph here. And not because Djukanovic is still president, his mandate running until 2023, or because the opposition will likely have a razor-thin 41-40 majority, faced with the daunting task of disentangling the elaborate political-economic-media-criminal webs of a deep state built since 1989 (although many argue that its origins go back to the final communist liberation/takeover of Yugoslavia in 1945).

The irony, rather, lies in the fact that Djukanovic’s (un)reformed neo(liberal)-communists were a trusted Western partner and accomplice over most of that period. Djukanovic’s betrayal of the demonized Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, who had helped him ascend to power in the first place, followed by the subsequent betrayal of his main political partners, breakup of the joint state with Serbia in 2006 by way of a referendum of questionable validity and his sharp turn against Russia and towards NATO – these were all lauded in Western capitals, with hardly a peep about a “Berlin Wall” that needed taking down – until the desired tasks were accomplished, that is.

When Djukanovic and company staged a crudely organized, evidence-free “Russian-supported coup attempt” during the elections of October 2016, using the occasion to reduce turnout and proper election monitoring just enough to secure a (nevertheless narrow) victory and then, less than a year later, steered this coastal country of some 600,000 to the seemingly safe harbors of full NATO membership – they did not realize that the deafening applause they were hearing from the self-designated guardians of global democracy and all that is good, was in fact the far off sound of their swansong, and that it was time for a graceful exit. As it ultimately happens with all the West’s situational favorites, their expiration date was nearing.

For why would the West put up with living evidence of its double standards and selective attention to human rights and democracy longer than it had to, especially on hallowed European soil, where “democracy” is supposedly an indigenous plant? Djukanovic and pals had already become notorious for their Latin American-style rule, financed by proceeds of cigarette and drug smuggling, murky privatizations of state property and (deep) state-backed monopolies. Not to mention unsolved high-profile murders with a clearly political dimension, such as the May 27, 2004 assassination of the editor-in-chief of an opposition newspaper. In 2015, Djukanovic was even deemed worthy of a “criminal of the year” award.

But the warning shots, in the shape of increasingly unfavorable media coverage and negative “independent” reports on crime and corruption, went unheeded. Instead of gracefully withdrawing from the political stage to enjoy his millions, Djukanovic – the “eternal president” as Deutsche Welle dubbed him – reentered the arena and reclaimed the country’s highest office in 2018, which was his eighth term as either prime minister or president.

And Djukanovic’s party might very well have carried these last elections as well if not for the monumental mistake he made at the end last year, when, at his behest, the Montenegrin parliament passed the Law on the Freedom of Religion in the early hours of December 27, 2019. Despite its name, the law called for a de facto nationalization of properties of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in Montenegro and for the Church to “register with the authorities” under an officially approved name, despite the fact that the SOC had just celebrated the 800^th anniversary of its autocephaly, along with its first diocese – the Zeta diocese – established in 1219 on the territory of today’s Montenegro, by Archbishop Sava, a prince of the Serbian Nemanjic dynasty. During the parliamentary voting, which took place in the dead of the night, the most vehement opposition MPs were arrested, despite their immunity.

Public resistance started the next day. Some of the police acted with brutality. A bishop was beaten severely enough to require hospitalization (another would be arrested a couple of months later, along with several priests). However, what first looked like just another mass political protest of the kind Djukanovic had previously successfully put down, quickly transformed into a spiritual tidal wave that washed over the country’s entire landscape – both physical and political.

It was estimated that anywhere between a quarter and a third of Montenegro’s population joined in what soon became daily processions. The scenes from the peaceful processions, in which priests and the faithful carried church banners, huge wooden crosses, icons, Serbian and traditional Montenegrin flags (whose colors are identical) while singing spiritual songs exploded over the region’s social media.

As was the case with most human activity, the processions were interrupted after three months in mid-March by the pandemic and the accompanying anti-mass gathering measures that the Montenegrin government was all too eager to enforce. But the damage had obviously been done. The spiritual uprising, with its rallying cry: “We won’t give up our shrines,” had broken the suffocating political atmosphere. The resistance of the Orthodox faithful also encouraged those of other faiths or even no faith at all to join in, and wound up serving as an organizing framework for all that were in any way opposed to Djukanovic and his 30-year rule, just in time for the August elections. The clear anti-regime opposition united in three blocs, preventing the dissipation of votes that had hampered previous campaigns, and secured the parliamentary majority.

Unlike previous times, Djukanovic could no longer count on overt pre- or post-election support from his Western allies. The incoming messages were neutral at best, and often unapproving. Even Freedom House was not amused, assessing that “corruption is a serious issue,” and that “investigative journalists and journalists critical of the government face pressure, as do many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).”

It may have been hard enough to support a figure like Djukanovic for so long, but now he had become undefendable. It wasn’t just the malevolent new law, but the fact that Djukanovic, himself an avowed, unbaptized secularist, was announcing the formation of a new, domestic “church.” This was not only a potential embarrassment for the post-religious Eurocrats in Brussels, but something that even the Ecumenical Patriarchate, fresh from its ill-conceived Ukrainian adventure, refused to support, standing firmly behind the Serbian Orthodox Church and its historical roots. Doubleplusungood.

Still, Djukanovic is not the type to go off into the night quietly. It’s expected that he’ll give his all to poach that all-important single MP from the opposition’s ranks as a last-ditch attempt to keep the reigns of power securely in his hands, and that his security services and underworld allies might engineer various, potentially destabilizing incidents. But there is a consensus that, this time, that simply won’t fly. The three opposition blocs have been so adamant in their opposition to the ruling party that any defection from the ranks would be clearly seen for what it is – a straight buy-off, after which all the grievances, emotions and resentments that had been pent up for decades, and which the Church-inspired uprising managed to discipline and channel in a positive, proactive direction, would finally explode out of control.

Unfortunately, if all else fails, après moi, le déluge does not seem like an option that Djukanovic and at least some of his domestic and foreign partners in crime would shy away from. So, the Montenegrin parliamentary elections may be over, but not the West’s traditional geopolitical game in the Balkans, according to which Montenegro is a key barrier to Serbia’s – and, by extension, its traditional ally and Orthodox Slavic cousin Russia’s – access to the warm Mediterranean and the (re)establishment of a sovereign bulwark against perpetual, Western-inspired “balkanization” that has made the area into a perpetual “tinderbox.” If that project, which includes not only the completion of NATO’s “unfinished business” in the region, but also the consolidation of an artificial Montenegrin, anti-Serbian identity – i.e., the Ukrainization of Montenegro – is seen to be endangered, then all bets are off and, in the eyes of certain Western swamp-dwellers, even damaged goods like Djukanovic might be preferable to any further inroads made in the region by dreaded Russia and the new(est) Western bogeyman, China.

Good reason to doubt these baseless charges starts from the fact that they come from Djukanovic, who has a stupendous reputation for corruption and is trying to move forward desperately with NATO accession for Montenegro which has stalled in the U.S. Senate for about two months. At this point if he were to say the sky is blue, it would be reason to disbelieve him and look for an ulterior motive.

Djukanovic transparently is throwing this red meat on the table in the context of hysteria that is going on in Washington concerning allegations of Moscow’s hacking the American election (“the Russians did it!”) and the open attack by the “deep state,” by elements of the intelligence community with their leaks, and by the mainstream media that just claimed the scalp of general Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser. Besides criminally seeking to overthrow the constitutionally elected government – as they have imposed “regime change” on other countries – they want to do anything they can to block any rapprochement from the Trump administration with Moscow.

Djukanovic has very artfully inserted himself into this narrative. His message is simple: you can’t let the Russians win. Nothing else matters. He is trying to use “the Russians are coming” meme as a way to jumpstart Montenegro's stalled NATO bid. Let's remember the debate in Washington isn’t about letting Montenegro into NATO because having it as an ally makes American more secure. Montenegro obviously does nothing for our defense. The question is whether the NATO door will remain open, particularly for Georgia and Ukraine.

It seems no one cares to ask why America should be allied with a nation that doesn’t particularly what to be allied with us. According to opinion polls, it is far from clear that most Montenegrins want to be in NATO and aligned to us in the first place. Most recent polls indicate a slight plurality in the “against” camp despite relentless government propaganda and the braying of Soros-controlled media. A recent survey indicated that some 84% of Montenegrins want a vote on the matter. Even a solid majority of NATO supporters favor a referendum. Djukanovic won’t hold a referendum because he knows he would lose it.

Djukanovic’s ploy is well timed. It both feeds and feeds off of the anti-Russian frenzy, which is the basis of what former Congressman Denis Kucinich has called an attempted coup to bring down the Trump administration. Calls are openly heard for “patriots” in the intelligence services to overthrow Trump for the “good of the country.”

It is uncertain whether Djukanovic will successfully ride the wave of Russophobia to get Montenegro into NATO. What is certain is that America is on the edge of turning into a banana republic. Trump has very little time to strike back, hard. One way for him to show who’s boss is to turn thumbs down on Djukanovic and his trickery.

Providing no evidence to support the shock claim, chief prosecutor Milivoje Katnic alleged that a «powerful organization» comprising some 50 Russian, Serbian and Montenegrin nationalists had plotted to crash the elections held on October 16 and trigger a coup by assassinating long-time prime minister Milo Djukanovic.

The alleged coup was claimed to have been busted by Montenegrin authorities on the day before the election. Now the same authorities have concluded that the plot was hatched from inside Russian territory.

Without disclosing the identities of those individuals allegedly detained, the official version lacks credibility.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the accusations of Russian interference in Montenegro. While Montenegrin opposition political parties lambasted the claims as «gross propaganda» aimed at furthering premier Djukanovic’s pro-NATO, pro-European Union agenda.

«It is obvious that the special prosecutor has become a servant of the [ruling] Democratic Party of Socialists», said Milutin Dukanovic, leader of the opposition Democratic Front, as quoted by news outlet RFE.

Indeed, since Milo Djukanovic announced accession plans to the US-led NATO military alliance nearly a year ago, his government has met with stiff opposition among Montenegro’s tiny population of around 620,000.

Many Montenegrins recall that their country was bombed by NATO only 16 years ago when it was still part of Serbia arising from the former Yugoslavia. In 2006, Montenegro became independent from Belgrade, but memories are scarred by NATO’s aerial bombardment in which thousands of people were killed during a campaign that served US-led Western interests to dismember the Balkans into pro-Western states. These states have since bolstered the expansion of NATO forces towards Russia’s borders.

Today, Montenegro finds itself as the latest springboard for NATO aggression against Russia.

It seems more than a coincidence that only three days before Montenegro made its grave accusations of Russian subversion, NATO deputy general secretary Rose Gottemoeller had reportedly visited the country, vowing that it would be elected as the 29th member of the military alliance by as early as 2017.

Montenegro’s accession to NATO must be approved by each of the alliance’s member states. Their votes seem assured in light of the latest claims about Russian «aggression».

Russia has long expressed its official disapproval of yet another eastward expansion towards its borders. And Moscow has openly lent its political support to opposition parties within Montenegro which are against NATO membership.

The Djukanovic government claims that Moscow is bankrolling opposition parties – claims which Moscow and the internal parties flatly deny. The latter say that allegations of Moscow sponsorship are simply dirty tricks by Djukanovic to discredit legitimate opposition to his NATO ambitions.

Ahead of the election last month, the ruling party was apprehensive of the results. Deep disaffection among Montenegrins arises not just over plans to join NATO, but also from grievances with perceived cronyism and corruption around the prime minister. There are widespread suspicions that Djukanovic and his inner-circle have been bought off by NATO interests.

Opposition parties make the plausible claim that the alleged coup was announced the day before the elections on October 16 in order to push electoral support for Djukanovic and his government. As it turned out, the ruling party was not able to win a convincing majority in order to form the next administration. For the past few weeks, it has been trying to cobble together a coalition from among opposition parties.

The latest «bombshell» by the chief prosecutor «concluding» that there was a Russian-backed element in the «coup attempt» is seen as a cynical ploy by Djukanovic to sway some of the opposition to repudiate Moscow and to embrace a coalition with his party.

That outcome would then pave the way for the country to proceed with plans to finalize NATO membership.

This tawdry charade cuts both ways too. Not only does NATO obtain another chess piece in its long-term aggressive game towards Russia. The alliance also fuels its rather empty tank with more propaganda.

The day after Montenegro made its claims about Russian subversion – and a bid to assassinate the premier no less – NATO announced that it was going ahead with the «biggest reinforcement of defenses since the end of the Cold War». Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, told British media that 300,000 alliance troops were being put on high alert.

«We have seen Russia being much more active in many ways», said Stoltenberg, with a wan vagueness that makes him sound more secretary than general.

Last month, NATO chiefs agreed to boost «rapid reaction forces» stationed in eastern Europe and the Baltic states. As Stoltenberg told British media: «There are a large number of people in the armed forces of NATO allies. We are looking into how more of them can be ready at shorter notice.»

And lo and behold, thanks to its Montenegro partner, NATO acquires a timely excuse to justify a massive escalation of forces near Russia. What would normally be evinced as flagrant aggression towards Russia can now be justified as «collective NATO defense».

Western official claims of Russian expansionism since the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in 2008 and the Ukraine crisis in 2014 have always been prone to sound canned and corny from a lack of evidence. So too are Western claims of Russian warplanes and warships marauding near the territories of Europe. As are claims that Russia is about to invade the Baltic region.

It must be excruciatingly frustrating for NATO planners to find credible justifications that they can present to the Western public for their multi-billion-dollar military escalations and reckless warmongering towards Russia.

Last week, British media were saturated with outlandish claims made by MI5 spymaster Andrew Parker accusing Russia of threatening state security and sowing division in Europe. Such bogeyman stories are in danger of sounding ridiculous and the purveyors of such yarns appearing equally absurd.

But then hold on – what relief! – along comes tiny Montenegro with «news» of a dastardly plot by Russia to overthrow the government and murder its prime minister. And so the whole charade goes on with renewed pace. The crony leaders of Montenegro get to stay in power to milk the country even more, NATO seems assured of another stepping stone to intimidate Russia with, and the US-led alliance gets away with the supreme crime of aggression under the guise of «defending allies».

Oh what a lovely little plaything – er, partner – Montenegro has turned out to be for NATO.

On April 30, 1999 NATO aviation delivered two strikes against the township Murino, a small resort in eastern Montenegro. Civilians died, including three children who went to grade school. Fifteen years have passed. Milo Djukanovic, the Montenegrin dictator, said that joining NATO is a political priority for his country. It is emphasized that 2014 is a decisive year because Montenegro must be ready for the NATO’s September summit to be held in the United Kingdom. The expansion of the Alliance to the East will be an issue on the agenda. 

The authorities affirm that the country has completely changed during in the last 15 years. Podgorica has recognized the independence of Kosovo and Metohija and forgotten those who lost their lives during the NATO aggression. With German funds it is ready to erect a memorial to Hitler’s fascists, who occupied Montenegro during World War II. It is planned to reconstruct the German Nazi soldiers’ cemetery near the Golubovci airport, which was bombed by NATO in 1999.

The old and new fascists have one thing in common – they share the feeling of hatred towards the Russian people. Hitler eliminated the League of Nations. The NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia has drastically diminished the role of the United Nations on the world arena, as well as the influence of United Nations Charter on international law. It’s not an occasion the US intelligence services during the Second World War were created with the help of German generals: Heinrich Müller, Reinhard Gehlen, Baron Otto von Bolschwing and Emil Augsburg. 

Montenegro has really changed during the last dozen of years, but Milo Djukanovic is still the same. In his time he was assigned the role an ideal partner of NATO. There is a very important historic aspect to be remembered here. During WWII, the United States resorted to the help of mafia while liberating Italy. According to Swiss professor Daniele Ganser, the alliance between Italian mafia and the United States, as well as mafia and NATO still exists. For instance, Washington uses criminal structures to eliminate its opponents – independent politicians and journalists in Europe. The United States and NATO rely on mafia in the Balkans. 

They have brought terrorists, drug dealers and illegal traders of human organs to power in Pristina on the territory of occupied Kosovo and Metohija. 

According to documents in the possession of Italy’s prosecutor’s office and inquiries of independent journalists, Milo Djukanovic has had close ties with Italian and American mafia since a long time. A 409 – page report is added to the indictment brought by Italian prosecution. 

Prosecutor Giuseppe Scelsi has formally stated that Milo Djukanovic is the top boss of Montenegrin mafia. 

In the 1980s well-known mafiosi Della Torre organized large heroin supplies from Italy to the US East Coast. There was solid evidence that Della Torre was involved in money laundering. He got profit from heroin trade through Swiss banks, but Americans never brought charges against him with a string attached – he had to cooperate with the US special services. In 1996 the Italian mafiosi started to run his own chain involved in counterfeit cigarettes business. As sources confirm, he worked with Milo Djukanovic. The counterfeit cigarettes trade brought millions of dollars into the pockets of US intelligence. Many of truth pursuers, who stood in the way of the CIA and mafia alliance, paid with their lives, including two journalists: Dusko Jovanovic, the Editor of Montenegrin newspaper Dan, and Ivo Pukanic, Editor-in-Chief of Croatian weekly magazine National. Pukanic has published facts providing ample evidence of the Djukanovic and Subotić involvement in illegal cigarette trade. 

In March 2011 US Senator Richard Lugar formally proposed to make Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro full-fledged NATO members. According to him, the expansion is of crucial importance for security and democracy in the Balkans. At the beginning of October 2013 Lugar met Djukanovic and said that «Montenegro is the number one candidate for membership in NATO». At the very same time Italian prosecutor Giuseppe Scelsi, who possessed irrefutable evidence of the fact that Djukanovic was involved in criminal activities, was charged in October 2013 with abuse of office. Today Washington lets Djukanovic know that if he makes Montenegro a NATO member, then all the accusations related to criminal activities will be lifted… 

In 1999 NATO started its expansion to the Balkans by committing a grave crime – an aggression against Yugoslavia. Nowadays the creation of criminal regimes on the territory of former Yugoslavia is a logical continuation of its policy.