Montenegro President's Overtures Cautiously Welcomed in Moscow

Moscow-based media and analysts have expressed caution about concrete after Montenegro's newly-installed president Milo Djukanovic said he is ready to work on improving relations with Russia.

In two statements ahead of April 15's presidential elections and after the polls, veteran leader Djukanovic said he plans to improve the relationship with Moscow, which has cooled in recent years and worsened even more as Montenegro joined NATO last year despite Russian opposition.

"As far as Montenegro is concerned, and as far as I am concerned, talking about normalisation is knocking on an open door," Djukanovic told Russian news agency RIA Novosti in an interview on April 21, adding that he regretted the deterioration of relations in recent years.

"Unfortunately, relations have worsened, quite unnecessarily. And only because Montenegro made a strategic decision to join NATO and the EU," Djukanovic said.

Russian media widely quoted Djukanovic's statement about the "strong and important links between the Montenegrin and Russian people" and the two nations' "centuries-old tradition of friendship".

Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic on May 4 echoed Djukanovic's warm words. Darmanovic, who is known for his sharp comments about Russian influence in the Balkans and on Montenegrin politics, said relations with Moscow should be improved and that everyone in Montenegro "thinks like that".

The Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson responded to Djukanovic's olive branch on April 26 by saying that "relations need not have been ruined".

Meanwhile influential Russian newspaper Kommersant wrote on April 23 that during the presidential race Djukanovic had expressed "absolute willingness to build good relations with Russia".<...