The most significant effects of US President Joe Biden‘s visit to Europe are the announced punishment of all kinds of distortions of the truth and the spread of various false claims about the collapse of NATO and the US, and that Russia will take their place, and a ban on redrawing borders is especially important for the region, when it comes to ethno-nationalism and fascism. Analysts for Pobjeda comment that the most important thing is to punish the slowing down and contesting of the peace-building process, and that in our case is to stir up nationalist tensions and disintegrate the existing entities and states.
“This visit of Biden is an opportunity for a formal public announcement that an agreement has been reached on strengthening the partnership between NATO, the EU and America, which is a novelty not only in matters of security and defense, but also in matters of defense of values, ie democracy. This means that they will cooperate in the political, economic and any plan to combat racism, neo-fascism and ethno-nationalism that have affected America and Europe, and in this case it is most important for the Balkans, but also Montenegro and Serbia,” said Dusan Janjic, President of the Forum. for ethnic relations, for Pobjeda on the question of what the return of the USA to the Balkans means for Montenegro, nationalism and the “Serbian world”.
Speaking about how the plan called Donald Trump failed and that it only separated America from European allies, journalist Jakša Šćekić assessed for Pobjeda that Biden's visit to Europe and talks in NATO and G7 are proof that America is reuniting with its traditional allies.
He also states that the Biden-Putin meeting showed that America is talking to Russia on behalf of Europe.
“Many people in Serbia will not like this change and the arrival of Biden in this way, because they thought that Trump would reduce the role of America in Europe due to his isolationism, and thus in solving the Kosovo problem.” However, no, America is coming back to the big door and what Vice President Harris said about every event, and from now on, America is also interested in the world”, says Šćekić.
One of the effects of Biden's visit will be to punish all those who violate and verbally execute everything that is signed from the documents, and now they are spreading untruths about what is really in those documents.
“The previously announced decree on punishing politicians and prominent people in the Western Balkans envisages a wide range of acts that will be punishable,” Janjic said.
He points out that there will be not only corruption, trade, terrorist financing, for which some people have already been punished.
“It is not just a matter of violating certain principles and interests of the United States, as Dodik and many have already been punished – it has now been extended to all resolutions concerning this area, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 is included. This is very important, because the notion was created here that only Russians and Chinese defend Resolution 1244. This is not true because Russians and Chinese veto prevent the change of Resolution 1244 with a new resolution, but Russia is very much blocking it in terms of implementation,” Janjic explains.
He cites a specific example that will be sanctioned.
“Whoever further claims that Kosovo is occupied, and that is contrary to the Kumanovo Agreement and Resolution 1244 – because the international military forces in Kosovo are with the consent of Belgrade and the decision of international bodies – is subject to sanctions. This is often heard in Montenegro as well – the pro-Serbian wing claims that it is an occupation. The most important thing is that the slowing down and disputing of the peace-building process will be punished, and that in our case is nationalism and the disintegration of existing entities and states”, concludes Janjić.
A particularly interesting detail from the NATO summit is Biden's message that Article 5 of the Alliance's charter is a “sacred obligation”, to which the President of Montenegro tweeted that it was a great return of friends and partners to the allies.
Šćekić concludes that Montenegro now only needs to press the gas in terms of EU membership, because it is in an excellent situation: it has all the chapters open, it just needs to apply new cluster technology and slowly end the clusters.
“It is obvious, for a thousand and one reasons, that now, in partnership with the United States, they will put Serbia on a siding. And that is a great chance for Montenegro to be the first member from this area to enter the EU,” said Scekic.
Summarizing that part of Biden's message, Janjic states that he was neglected by the executive power in Montenegro, even though it concerns every member – that is the obligation to intervene in case one of the members is endangered by external dangers.
“About two weeks ago, NATO publicly announced that Montenegro is stable regardless of these political changes, that internal security is not endangered – but the fact is that such a statement follows after assessments and very serious harmonization. So, it is quite normal that Montenegro is one of the topics, possibly even if some more direct help is being considered”, states Janjić.
When asked whether the nationalism in Serbia, which flows unhindered to Montenegro, will subside a little, Šćekić answered in the negative.
“I watched some DF representatives apologizing to the Serbian nation for the Srebrenica Declaration. When it comes to Srebrenica and all the declarations and decisions of the international court, Serbian nationalists deliberately present it as if it were a condemnation of the entire Serbian nation – and they are doing it for political reasons. The condemnation for the genocide for Srebrenica is an individual guilt, but they turn it into a collective guilt and the people in Serbia think that the entire Serbian nation has been condemned, and not just Mladic and Karadzic,” says Scekic.
“All speculations about how NATO will disintegrate, how the United States will take away the air base and give it to Russia, which were promoted in the media and among politicians in Montenegro and Serbia, have disappeared. There is nothing of that and it was clearly announced at the meeting of the trilateral leaders of Serbia, BiH and Turkey. The message was sent that Turkey will work on strengthening the Euro-Atlantic future of BiH. So, when we add everything up, it directly and indirectly concerns Montenegro – the more stable NATO is, the more stable Montenegro is”, says Janjic.