Earlier this week, President Donald Trump identified a seemingly unlikely threat to world security: Montenegro, a tiny Balkan country of just over 600,000 people.
Montenegrins, Trump told Fox News on Wednesday are a “very aggressive people,” arguing that their membership in NATO could spark a war. “They may get aggressive, and congratulations, you’re in World War III,” he said.
Trump was responding to a question from Fox host Tucker Carlson, who asked the president a hypothetical question: “Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?” Carlson was referring to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which requires NATO members to aid other member states if they are attacked. The article has been invoked only once, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
But Montenegrin officials insist Trump has nothing to worry about. “Aggressive is a word which can’t be applied in the case of Montenegro,” said Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic, the Montenegrin ambassador to the United Nations, in a phone interview with The Washington Post. Montenegro, she said, is pushing for “stability in the region and trying in these turbulent years to help others.”
In a statement released Thursday, the Montenegrin government called itself a “stabilizing state in the region” and pointedly noted that it has sent troops to Afghanistan. “We build friendships, and we have not lost (a) single one, and at the same time we are able to boldly and defensively protect and defend our own national interests,” the statement said. “In today’s world, it does not matter how big or small you are, but to what extent you cherish the values of freedom, solidarity and democracy.”
The government also said that “the friendship and alliance of Montenegro and the United States of America is strong and permanent.” The statement was published alongside a photo of Vice President Mike Pence in Montenegro last year.
Montenegro joined NATO in June 2017, making it the newest member of the alliance. The U.S. Senate voted 97 to 2 in favor of Montenegro’s accession, but Russia publicly opposed Montenegro’s efforts to join. Montenegrin officials have even accused Russian agents of conspiring to kill then-Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic in 2016, in an effort to undermine the country’s NATO bid — a claim Russia has denied.
Rachel Rizzo, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security’s Transatlantic Security Program, said that Trump is “extremely skeptical” when it comes to NATO enlargement, which made Montenegro an easy target. “The fact is Montenegro is the opposite of aggressive,” Rizzo said.
This is not the first time controversy has arisen over Trump’s behavior toward Montenegro. Last year, at the country’s first summit as a NATO member, a video of Trump pushing past Prime Minister Dusko Markovic went viral. As The Washington Post reported at the time, the clip was featured on some American late-night comedy shows and mentioned in a number of Montenegrin news outlets.
But Markovic took a diplomatic position toward that incident. “This was an inoffensive situation,” he told journalists. “I do not see it in any other way.”
And Trump’s comments may even have a silver lining. “President Trump made worldwide promotion for Montenegro, even though I don’t think that was his intention,” former Montenegrin foreign minister Milan Rocen said in an email to The Post. “That cannot harm Montenegro … if it’s going to make harm for him — remains to be seen.”
