Mike Pence, in Montenegro, Assures Balkans of US Support – New York Times
Russia continues to seek to redraw international borders by force, Mr. Pence said. And here in the western Balkans, Russia has worked to destabilize the region, undermine your democracies and divide you from each other and from the rest of Europe.
He added, The western Balkans have the right to decide your own future, and that is your right alone.
Mr. Pences tone on trans-Atlantic relations was far more reassuring than that of President Trump, who once called NATO obsolete, castigated allies for not spending more on defense and characterized the European Union as a tool of German influence.
Mr. Pence hewed on Wednesday to a more traditional American view of NATO and the European Union as bulwarks of Western democracy. Whether your future is in NATO, the European Union or both, the United States supports you because either path will strengthen Europe, he told the Balkan leaders.
As to Mr. Trumps nationalist outlook, Mr. Pence said, America first does not mean America alone.
Montenegros invitation to join NATO comes at a time of high tension between the alliance and Russia.
Yet Jonathan D. Katz, a former State Department official who is now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, expressed skepticism about Mr. Pences performance.
While his message of greater security support and further European-Atlantic integration should be of great relief to these countries, it is tainted by Trumps continued embrace of Putin and deep cuts in U.S. assistance to the Western Balkans, Mr. Katz said in an email, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Along with Prime Minister Dusko Markovic of Montenegro, the leaders present included the prime minister of Albania, the chairman of the council of ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the prime minister of Croatia, the president of Kosovo, the prime minister of Macedonia, the prime minister of Slovenia and the prime minister of Serbia.
Of the eight countries, two Croatia and Slovenia are members of the European Union. Four of them Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia belong to NATO.
Seven of the eight countries at the summit meeting (all but Albania) emerged out of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in 2006, but Kosovo, which declared its own independence in 2008 with American backing, is not recognized by Serbia or its historic patron, Russia.
Mr. Pence did not dwell on the past.
You belong to a new generation of Balkan leaders, and this is a historic moment for progress in the western Balkans, he said on Wednesday. I urge you with great respect to make the most of this moment.
Several of the leaders are, like Mr. Pence, fairly new to their jobs: Croatias prime minister, Andrej Plenkovic, 47, a former diplomat and member of the European Parliament, took office last October; Macedonias prime minister, Zoran Zaev, 42, in May; and Serbias prime minister, Ana Brnabic, 41, the first woman and first openly gay person to hold that position, in June.
Albanias prime minister, Edi Rama, 53, a former artist and basketball player, showed up for the summit meeting in white sneakers.
Mr. Pence is the highest-ranking American official in a century to visit Montenegro, a small country on the Adriatic Sea, and the first vice president to do so. Montenegro was the final stop of a trip that took Mr. Pence to Estonia, where he reassured leaders of the Baltic States, and Georgia, which fought a brief war with Russia in 2008.
Echoing a point made by Montenegros prime minister, the vice president said: NATO is made up of large countries and small countries, but the U.S. has no small allies and we cherish our new alliance with Montenegro through NATO.
At a NATO summit meeting in May, Mr. Trump was recorded on video appearing to shove his way past Mr. Markovic while making his way to the front of the group for a photograph of the alliances leaders. Mr. Markovic, who smiled and let Mr. Trump pass, did not appear offended, but many observers expressed outrage.
On Wednesday, there was no shoving.
Follow Sewell Chan on Twitter @sewellchan.
A version of this article appears in print on August 3, 2017, on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Pence, Critical of Russias Aims, Assures Balkan Leaders of U.S. Support.
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Mike Pence, in Montenegro, Assures Balkans of US Support - New York Times