Word: montenegro
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There seems to be some confusion about national identity in the Balkans. Last week’s “Yugoslavia” is now a relic—today there are “Serbia and Montenegro.” Still confused? You should be. The new name is unwieldy, trying to express everything that needs to be said in a single breath. Beyond that, it dismisses the ethnic identities of two distinct peoples: Serbs and Montenegrins...
...EU’s enthusiasm for the new confederation is simple: a “united” Serbia and Montenegro undermines the Montenegrin independence movement. Although these secessionists constitute a marginal number of the 600,000 Montenegrins in the former Republic of Yugoslavia, they are, nevertheless, an incendiary force. And increasingly the West has feared that they might start a fire in the Balkans, particularly among the Hungarians in Vojvodina or the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, who have twice the ethnic representation of the Montenegrins. By aligning Montenegro once again with Serbia, the EU can maintain the status quo?...
...every technical measure, a democracy, can it possibly maintain “rule of law, human rights and respect for minorities”—secondary conditions for entrance? By fostering the artificial unity of the confederation, the EU is actually ensuring that Serbia and Montenegro falls short. So long as ethnic divisions exist, continued instability is certain and membership is out of reach...
...long-term goal is to bring all the democracies of Europe together.” This goal cannot dwarf the EU’s foremost concern: to maintain shared security. Given this modus operandi, it seems implausible to expect that the EU will take in Serbia and Montenegro...
...certainly has ambition beyond self-preservation; now the EU “has the potential to become a political power too.” Even if Serbia and Montenegro does not gain admission into the union, its democratization reflects the EU’s expanding sphere of influence. The EU’s authority grows with the call for Serbia and Montenegro to “harmonize” its economic policies with those of the bloc even though officially the republics will maintain “considerable economic and political autonomy.” It speaks to the power...