In a conversation on the “PIKċ” podcast with publicist Veton Surroi, the former Foreign Minister of Montenegro, Miodrag Vlahović, spoke about the role of Montenegro during the wars of the 90s and the turns that led to the country’s independence.
Vlahović emphasized that one of the most important moments was the acceptance of over 100,000 Albanian refugees from Kosovo during the NATO intervention, describing this as a great humanitarian and historical act for Montenegro.
“I think that one of the movements of the Montenegrin authorities that saved Montenegro and qualified it to return to independence, in a historical sense, is our attitude towards the refugees of the war, from Kosovo, towards more than 100 thousand ethnic Albanians that we accepted in Montenegro, without any incident from the authorities at the time”, he said.
According to him, this action constitutes a strong contrast with the earlier participation of the Montenegrins in the aggression against Dubrovnik, calling that period an “unfortunate and shameful participation”.
He added that Montenegro at that time was a “voluntary hostage”, where many reservists went to war with the belief that they were defending Yugoslavia, without realizing the contradiction of what was happening on the ground.
He also recalled that in 2004, as foreign minister, he had apologized in Zagreb for the role of Montenegrin reservists in the war, stressing that they had been misused and that it was not Montenegro’s war.
Miodrag Vlahović on the POINT with Veto Surroi
