Nato: Further enlargement

The “historic” decision of the North Atlantic Council to invite Montenegro to begin the accession procedure and become the 29th member of the Alliance, is the latest move in the US/Nato strategy to close in on Russia.

What significance does Montenegro (the last of the States (2006) formed after the disintegration of the Federation of Yugoslavia) have for Nato? Montenegro, a state that Nato shredded to bits through infiltration and war.

We can answer this question by taking a look at the geographical map. With an area slightly smaller than Puglia’s (only 200 km on the opposite side of the Adriatic) and a population of just about 630,000 inhabitants (a sixth of Puglia’s), Montenegro holds an important geostrategic position. It borders Albania and Croatia (both Nato members), Kosovo (a de facto Nato member), Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (a Nato partner). It has two ports, Bar and Porto Montenegro that can be used for military operations in the Mediterranean. In November 2014, the second became a stop-over, for the carrier plane Cavour. Montenegro is also strategically important to store weapons and other materials used in war. On its territory, we find 10 big underground bunkers, built at the time of the Federation of Yugoslavia, where there are another 10,000 tonnes of old ammunition to offload or export, and reinforced hangars for planes (bombed by Nato in 1999). With the millions of Euro provided also by the EU, its restructuring has been taking place for some time now (the first have been of Taras and Brezovic). Thus Nato will provide Montenegro with a bunker that, modernized, will enable huge quantities of ammunition, including nuclear weapons and hangars for fighter bombers to be stored.

Montenegro, whose admission to NATO is now certain, is also a candidate to join the European Union, where 22 of the 28 members are already members of the US- led Nato. Federica Mogherini has played an important role in this: visiting Montenegro as Minister of Foreign Affairs in July 2014, she confirmed that “the policy on enlargement is key to the success of the EU and Nato - in promoting peace, democracy and safety in Europe.” And she praises the government of Montenegro for its “success story”. In 2013, this government led by Milo Djukanovic had been suspected by no other than Europol (the EU’s Police Office) because Montenegro became the melting pot for drug trafficking from Afghanistan (where Nato operates) to Europe and it is the most important centre for money laundering. A “success story” similar to that of Kosovo, which also demonstrates how organized crime can be used for strategic ends.

So continues Nato’s expansion to the East.
– In 1999 it swallows up the first three countries of the former Warsaw Pact: Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
– In 2004, Nato is enlarged to include another 7 states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (once part of the USSR); Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia (former member of the Warsaw Pact); Slovenia (once part of Yugoslavia).
– In 2009, Nato accepts the following as members: Albania (once a party to the Warsaw Pact) and Croatia (once part of Yugoslavia).
– Now, despite the strong internal opposition harshly repressed, it wants to bring Montenegro in, followed by other “Aspiring nations”– Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Ukraine – and by others again to which the door “is left open”.

By expanding to the East, ever closer to Russia, with its bases and military forces, including nuclear forces, Nato is in fact opening the door to catastrophic scenes for Europe and the world.