Podgorica, Montenegro,jul 20:
Montenegro’s government on Thursday defended its contribution to peace in response to a verbal attack from US President Donald Trump, who said this week that the tiny Balkan nation’s “aggressive” people were capable of triggering “World War III”.
The rebuttal comes after Trump ignited outrage across Europe with his broadside, which many interpreted as the latest sign of the US president’s shaky commitment to the NATO alliance, which Montenegro joined last year.
In a statement on Thursday Montenegro defended its history of “peaceful politics,” saying the country “contributes to peace and stability not only on the European continent but worldwide, along with US soldiers in Afghanistan.”
It also added that it has served as a “stabilising” force in the region, which was ravaged by wars during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.Alongside Macedonia, Montenegro was the only ex-Yugoslavian country whose decision to split from the federation did not trigger a war, though its soldiers fought against Croatia’s war of independence in the 1990s as part of the Yugoslav army.”Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?” Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked the US president about the country of 620,000.Montenegro, whose troops number about only 2,000 personnel, joined NATO in June 2017, despite strong opposition from part of the population and violent demonstrations in 2015.The move also infuriated Russia, with whom relations have soured in recent years.
