 | |
 Montenegro |  United States |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Montenegro, Washington, D.C. | Embassy of the United States, Podgorica |
According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 26% of Montenegrins approve of U.S. leadership, with 48% disapproving and 26% uncertain. [1]
Relations between the United States and Principality of Montenegro existed from 1905 and lasted until the latter was annexed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces bombed Podgorica due to Nazi occupation in Montenegro. [2] [3]
| | |
 Montenegro | United States |
|---|---|
When Milo Đukanović first emerged on the political scene, he was a close ally of Slobodan Milošević. [4] However, in the years up to the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, he gradually became pro-western. [5] Milošević and other members of his governing coalition were considered pariahs by every western government, so Đukanović became one of the few elected politicians within FR Yugoslavia they would openly communicate with. They were willing to overlook Đukanović's communist past, initial pro-war stance, and mounting evidence of criminal involvement, allowing him to regularly meet with Clinton administration officials such as Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger as well as British PM Tony Blair, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana all throughout this period. Some credited Đukanović for the fact that Montenegro was spared from the brunt of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia that devastated the infrastructure of Serbia, suffering no greater destruction. Others find it more reasonable to conclude that he did so only for pragmatic reasons and foresaw great incentives in communicating with Western leaders to push for political separatism.
The United States recognized Montenegro on June 12, 2006, and formally established diplomatic relations on August 15. The U.S. maintains an embassy in Podgorica. A variety of U.S. assistance programs are currently in place in Montenegro to help improve the economic climate and strengthen democracy. These programs include initiatives to prepare the country for World Trade Organization accession and to promote local economic growth and business development.
Montenegro maintains an embassy to the United States in Washington, D.C. and a consulate general in New York City. [6] [7] [8]
The United States has had an active policy regarding military cooperation with Montenegro's military forces, mainly to improve Montenegrin standards necessary for eventual membership in NATO (which eventuated in 2017). [9] Public opinion in Montenegro regarding NATO membership has been cited to be very negative, largely due to the bombing of FR Yugoslavia. [10] [11] [12] In August 2006, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld paid an official visit to Montenegro, seeking support for the War on Terror and overall American geopolitical goals in Europe. [13] Following the Secretary's meeting with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, it was announced that Montenegro had agreed in principle to aid the US efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, although no specific pledges of aid were made. [14]
The United States Navy has maintained a regular presence on the Montenegrin coast since 2003. [15] [16] The United States has on many occasions sent destroyers to the port of Bar for naval training, exercises, and regular patrol of traffic in the Mediterranean Sea. [17]
Montenegro is a country in Southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Its 25 municipalities have a total population of 633,158 people in an area of 13,812 km². It is bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, Albania to the southeast, Croatia to the west, and has a coastline along the Adriatic Sea to the southwest. The capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is the Old Royal Capital and cultural centre.
Since the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the foreign policy of the newly established Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was characterized primarily by a desire to secure its political and geopolitical position and the solidarity with ethnic Serbs in other former Yugoslav republics through a strong nationalist campaign. While the country was involved in Yugoslav Wars and therefore exposed to several rounds of devastating sanctions against Yugoslavia this involvement was often denied for political or ideological reasons. In the initial period Federal Republic of Yugoslavia unsuccessfully aspired to gain international recognition as the sole legal successor state to SFR Yugoslavia, the country which was one of the most prominent foreign policy subjects during the Cold War.
The early written records of the history of Montenegro begin with Illyria and its various kingdoms until the Roman Republic incorporated the region into the province of Illyricum after the Illyro-Roman Wars.
The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro is a social-democratic and populist political party in Montenegro. A former long-time ruling party sitting at the opposition for the first time since 2020, it was formed on 22 June 1991 as the successor of the League of Communists of Montenegro, which had governed Montenegro within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since World War II, and has remained a major force in the country ever since. The party is a member of the Socialist International and the Progressive Alliance, and an associate of the Party of European Socialists. During the 1990s, DPS was the major centre-left, social-democratic party in favour of Serbian–Montenegrin unionism. However, since 1997, the party has embraced Montenegrin independence and has been improving ties with the West, slowly turning into a catch-all party embracing Atlanticism, Montenegrin nationalism, neoliberalism, and pro-Europeanism.
Milo Đukanović is a Montenegrin politician who served as the President of Montenegro from 2018 to 2023, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2002. He also served as the Prime Minister of Montenegro and was the long-term president of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, originally the Montenegrin branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, which governed Montenegro alone or in a coalition from the introduction of multi-party politics in the early 1990s until its defeat in the 2020 parliamentary election. He is the longest-ruling contemporary politician in Europe, having held key positions in the country for over 33 years. However, he was defeated by the 36-year-old centrist former economy minister, Jakov Milatović, after the presidential run-off held on 2 April 2023.
Filip Vujanović is a Montenegrin politician who served as the 3rd president of the Republic of Montenegro under Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006, and the 1st president of independent Montenegro from 2006 to 2018.
Momir Bulatović was a Yugoslav and Montenegrin politician. He was the first President of the Republic of Montenegro from 1990 to 1998, after which he served as the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1998 until 2000, when Slobodan Milošević was overthrown. He was a leader of the Montenegro's Democratic Party of Socialists from 1989 to 1997, when he split from DPS after a conflict with Milo Đukanović.
The European Montenegro was the ruling political alliance in Montenegro headed by Milo Đukanović's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
Monitor is a weekly news magazine published in Podgorica.
Nebojša Medojević is a politician in Montenegro. He is the president of Movement for Changes (PzP), a political party emerging from the Montenegrin NGO Group for Changes. He ran for president in the 2008 presidential election of Montenegro.
Nezavisni dnevnik Vijesti is a Montenegrin daily newspaper.
The 1992 Montenegrin independence referendum was the first referendum regarding Montenegrin independence, held on 1 March 1992 in SR Montenegro, a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In a referendum on 21 May 2006, the people of Montenegro opted to leave the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. This result was confirmed with a declaration of independence by the Montenegrin parliament on 3 June 2006. It simultaneously requested international recognition and outlined foreign policy goals.
Foreign relations between Croatia and Montenegro are bound together by shared history, intellectual development, and common geography. Both states are members of the Council of Europe and NATO. Montenegro has been a candidate to join the European Union since 2012, a pursuit supported by Croatia, who has been an EU member since 2013. Their diplomatic relations have been friendly and amicable, with strong political and economic collaboration. Small border disputes have remained unresolved between the two states since the dissolution of Yugoslavia, as do some shipping and naval disagreements.
Montenegro–Russia relations are foreign relations between Montenegro and Russia. Montenegro has an embassy in Moscow and Russia has an embassy in Podgorica.
Presidential elections were held in Montenegro, then a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, on 5 October 1997. A second round run-off was held on 19 October 1997. Although incumbent President Momir Bulatović, who was supportive of Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milošević, received a plurality of the vote in the first round, he was defeated in the second round by Prime Minister Milo Đukanović.
Montenegrin–Serbian relations are foreign relations between Montenegro and Serbia. From 1918 until 2006, the two states were united under the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro. Since 2006, there have been sporadic instances of debate on Montenegro's legitimacy as a separate state as well as much more prominent controversial debate on the Montenegrin ethnic identity. Despite this, the two countries have maintained mostly friendly geopolitical and economic relations.
Goran Žugić was a Montenegrin policeman and state security operative. He was also the personal aide and a close friend to Montenegrin statesman Milo Đukanović.
Montenegrin nationalism is the nationalism that asserts that Montenegrins are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Montenegrins.
Vladislav Dajković is a Montenegrin Serb politician serving as a member of the City Assembly of Podgorica since 12 April 2023. He was one of the founders and former secretary general of the True Montenegro, a right-wing populist pro-Serbian political party in Montenegro, which he left in 2019, after which he founded another right-wing party, Free Montenegro.
This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.
Media related to Relations of Montenegro and the United States at Wikimedia Commons
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