Day 20: Meeting Montenegro

5/26/22

We drove to Podgorica, capital of Montenegro to have two briefings today.

The first was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!

Montenegro more than another other country in the region is pro-NATO.

Their ministers articulated that they want Montenegro and the Balkans to be high on the NATO agenda.

They are a young country, getting their independence in 2006. They were able to do so peacefully (not without a political fight/political denial), but this is unique in the region. Their key goal is to join the EU, and they've been a candidate state for a decade. It is my impression that they have a very good shot at this too, they seem like a very developed and democratic country. A key point is they were independent in the past: so they re-gained their independence from Serbia/Rump Yugoslavia.

Then, at the Faculty of Political Sciences of Montenegro, the professor hosting us gave us a complete crash course of Montenegrin history and statehood. I am too tired to get into the immense detail he gave, but if you want to know more I'd be happy to discuss sometime. The most interesting thing was the analogy he used to depict their relationship with Serbia- a pendulum: when the people are too closely grouped together with Serbia, they want to assert their differences. When the people become too distant from Serbia, they bring back their shared history and culture.

In the street near our hotel, I found a Feijoa, aka Pineapple guava. they call it by the Latin name in Serbia, so when my host said the name "Feijoa," we understood each other immediately!! :) That was an exciting moment, and this is but a small teaser for my Plant Report post (hint, the flowers are edible!) This bush is near the top of my favorite list, so it was very cool to see it in all its healthy glory here.

We didn't have time today to swim, but I intend to enjoy the beach all weekend.

Ćao for now :)