Montenegro's anti-NATO lobby jeers as Trump pushes PM aside

Podgorica, Montenegro May 26, 2017
Footage of US President Donald Trump appearing to push aside Montenegro's prime minister at the NATO summit were being relished Friday by those opposed to the Balkan country joining the military alliance. Caught on camera, the incident showed Trump making his way to the front of a lineup of leaders for a NATO family portrait, pushing past Montenegro's Dusko Markovic at Thursday's summit in Brussels. The apparent snub took place on the eve of Montenegro formally becoming NATO's 29th member in a move bitterly opposed by Russia, with the incident leapt upon by the country's pro-Russian opposition. "Dusko Markovic has banged on for years about Montenegro becoming a NATO member just like the others, which will be respected and will be at the table where decisions are taken, and so on," remarked Jovan Vucurovic, spokesman for the opposition Democratic Front. "Well, now we've seen just what the president of a world power thinks of that." After the incident, Markovic was quoted in the Montenegran press as saying he "didn't even notice" describing the incident as "harmless". "It is natural that the president of the United States would be on the front row, it's his right," he said. But Vucurovic, whose party has firmly opposed the NATO bit, accused him of belittling himself. "The problem isn't what Trump did... It's the fact that Markovic excused it and humbly sought to justify the fact that he dared to be in a place which... was not his -- that's what's most important." But communications expert Radoje Cerovic said the image could have a positive effect. "From now on, there will be many more people hearing about Montenegro, its prime minister and its accession to NATO." Last month, Montenegro's parliament approved the country's accession to NATO in a vote which was boycotted by pro-Russian parties. Opinion over the matter is sharply divided in the tiny Balkan country of just 620,000 people which was once part of Yugoslavia. Montenegro will formally join NATO on June 5.