What the Summit in Podgorica Brings: Regional Leaders Will Have to Declare Whether They Are for the East or the West

Prime Minister Denis Zvizdić will represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Adriatic Charter Summit on August 2nd in the Montenegrin capital, and the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, will also travel to the Summit.

The hosts of the Summit in Podgorica are Montenegro and Macedonia, and in addition to these countries, leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Slovenia will also attend the Summit.

They will discuss accelerating the Euro-Atlantic integration of the region's countries, upcoming reforms, and promoting regional reconciliation, as well as contributing jointly to regional and global stability.

What does the American-Adriatic Charter Summit, scheduled for August 2nd in Montenegro, represent?

Blagoje Grahovac, a retired aviation general and geopolitical analyst, says in a comment for the Patria agency that the Summit in Montenegro is very important for the future of the entire Western Balkans for several reasons, and that after everything, some politicians in the region will have to declare their stance on the dual policy they are pursuing towards the East and the West, which, according to Grahovac, brings instability to the entire region.

"The Summit in Podgorica is positive for the future of the region. Since 2005, I have been writing that the South-East region, as the backbone of the future Balkan region, will be Europe's shield. By the South-East region, I mean the former Yugoslav countries plus Albania. And I have no more doubts that this is becoming a reality," says Grahovac.

"In the territory of former Yugoslavia, we have a problem which is reflected in the fact that the countries are no longer legally regulated, democratic states, but party states, where the monopoly of political parties threatens the states themselves and all citizens within them. Political freedoms are being completely abused. States have become a service of the ruling political parties. We have a complete inversion of the rule of law and democracy. Europe, including the US, is now trying to bring democracy and the rule of law to the countries of former Yugoslavia, which would imply respecting full political freedoms in the states. And this will happen," believes Grahovac.

Precisely for these reasons, Grahovac points out, the American-Adriatic Summit in Montenegro sends an important message. First of all, he says, double-dealing politicians will have to clearly decide which policy to follow. So far, he believes, they have said one thing to the international community in the West, while citizens have witnessed the occupation of natural and economic resources from the East, primarily by Russian tycoons, beneath that narrative.

"In this insincere game, peoples and states suffer. This double game has become a very significant security risk. Both the EU and the US are aware of this, and finally, the Western Balkans will have to decide which civilization we belong to," says Grahovac. For him, there is no doubt that the Western Balkans belong to Europe, both geographically and civilizationally, writes NAP.