Montenegro
Monday 4 December 2023
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“Then US Secretary of State James #Baker assured: ‘There would be no extension of @NATO one inch to the East.’ ”
Baker’s words are taken out of context. Then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has denied they were a “promise” not to expand NATO. -
The names may have changed since Russian tycoons rallied around Boris Yeltsin in the early post-Soviet era, but there are still Russian oligarchs aplenty, and they have clout.
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While ‘brain dead’ @NATO annual #military budget exeeds [sic] $1 trillion, #Russia spends on defence 23 times less (only $46 bln). Neretheless, [sic] #fake Russian threat is used to justify even more waste of taxpayers’ $. Good for business strategy, dangerous for intl. peace & security”
It’s no surprise that NATO’s 29 countries collectively spend more on defense than Russia alone. -
“Quasi-state entity in Kosovo is a failure. Growing number of countries, which revoked recognition of its ‘independence’ confirms it.”
The newest European state has a permanent population that overwhelmingly supports independence, a defined territory, a government and its own constitution, and has established relations with 115 states. The U.S. is taking decisive steps to secure Kosovo’s international integration. -
“The persecution of the SPC [Serbian Orthodox Church] in North Macedonia, as well as the latest heightened tensions and pressure on the SPC diocese in Montenegro can be interpreted as part of the wider strategy of the West to counter Orthodoxy.”
NATO is no enemy of Orthodoxy as several NATO member states are predominantly Christian Orthodox. The Orthodox churches of Montenegro and North Macedonia have been seeking independence even before the break up of Yugoslavia. -
"Can NATO bring anyone closer? History does not know any such examples. What I can see is that NATO is adding new members, who are now being pulled in by various methods.”
NATO membership is based on invitation and approval by existing member states. Countries must meet certain standards to be eligible. -
“When Montenegro and Macedonia were out of the blue dragged into NATO, the situation with Macedonia’s name was used in a brazen manner. They held a referendum organized in gross violation of the constitution, which in Macedonia requires a referendum to put forward only one question, but they put forward three: do you want to be a member of the European Union, a member of NATO, and are you ready to change the name of the country for that. In general, a fraudulent question, of course.”
The referendum on North Macedonia’s name was called according to the country's constitution. Candidates for NATO membership must apply to join the Alliance, not the other way round. Macedonia had met the criteria for NATO membership ten years before receiving an invitation. -
“The Autonomous Province of Kosovo was forcibly separated from the rest of the country under the propagandistic pretext of thwarting the allegedly unfolding ‘humanitarian disaster.' In reality NATO became a trigger for a real human tragedy, a smokescreen hiding the anti-Serb ethnic cleansing that caused over 200,000 non-Albanians to leave their homes.”
FalseNATO launched its air campaign against Yugoslavia to stop ethnic cleansing of Kosovo AlbaniansRussia’s Foreign Ministry flips the facts about NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. Serbian security forces were killing and expelling Kosovo Albanian civilians before the start of Operation Allied Force. The ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians accelerated during the NATO air strikes. -
“It’s a provocation, specifically to coerce the Russian delegation to slam the door and pull out of PACE.”
The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly's letter sent to Russia and all other member states proved Slutsky’s claim was false. The letter said all PACE delegations should include at least “one member of the under-represented sex appointed as a representative.” -
“The way the referendum is formulated is scam in itself… There is a strong opposition in Macedonia now; the President has said he’s against the referendum, so it will change a lot… What a lot of the Balkan countries are expecting is that by entering the European Union, they will get subsidies… I think most of them couldn’t care less about NATO, as it doesn’t have a good image over there.”
Contrary to the author’s claims, a majority of Macedonians supports Euro-Atlantic integration and joining the EU and NATO. -
“Apparently, our American colleagues do not want to present any evidence of the ‘Russian cyber interference,’ which they supposedly have, and that is to avoid shame. There is not and there cannot be any [such evidence].”
Russia’s interference is detailed in multiple, publicly-available cyber security reports. The shuttered internet domains are connected to Fancy Bear, which the reports say has compromised and attacked Western leaders, governments, political groups and private corporations. -
Putin’s “Surgeon” of the Night Wolves Issues “End of the World” Message to Slovakian President Kiska
“Let us remind you, dear President, that the headquarters in Slovakia was not opened by the Russian citizens, but by the Slovaks themselves. And offices in Europe are opened not on the initiative of Moscow, but on the initiative of the citizens of European countries themselves who have searched for the truth and found it in the Night Wolves, and not in your hypocritical and unprincipled satanic world order.”
The Night Wolves have been essential to Vladimir Putin’s domestic and foreign policy objectives, including propaganda campaigns. They fought as mercenaries in Ukraine and fomented a failed coup in Montenegro. Since 2012, the club has received millions of rubles in government funds for projects promoting Russia’s agenda in Eastern Europe, especially in the Balkans.