The rugged European country of Montenegro is almost 300 times smaller than Russia and 134 times less populous than Germany. The promise of the Europe that emerged from the Cold War was that small nations could thrive without fear of being conquered. That promise has always been true.
The question is not if the Europe of the 21st century is fated to domination by a large power, but if it is.
Dritan Abazovi doesn't believe in that. In a country dominated by ethnic Montenegrins and Serbs, the prime minister is an Albanian. According to the French newspaper Le Monde, Abazovi has tried to engineer a departure from the region's hidebound politics of grift and ethnic warfare.
More likely to be found astride a bike than lounging in the back of a limo, he has tried to pull a young country proud of its past, though the fight for independence can be traced back to the 10th century.
In a recent conversation with Yahoo News, he said that this is a problematic time. He said that from one crisis to another, we are going to another crisis. One of the key allies of the Kremlin is Serbia, which is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
It's problematic for Abazovi's own prospects as well. One of Europe's youngest leaders will soon become a former leader after losing a no-confidence vote. There will be a new government in 2019. The ambitious young progressive sees himself as unburdened and willing to speak the truth.
Europe's refusal to confront Russia is more destabilizing than any confrontation may bring, according to Abazovi. I don't think they can stop the war with words, I don't think so right now. Something more concrete is what it needs to be.
As a child or teenager, Volodymyr Zelensky and Sanna Marin watched the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the Soviet Union. The nations of the former Yugoslavia, of which Montenegro was a part, reverted to sectarian violence after the massacre of thousands of Muslims at Srebrenica.
The countries of the Balkans are on the borderline between the past and the future. International tourists sampling Vranac wines and Silicon Valley technology firms setting up campuses in the capital city of Podgorica is attractive but not necessarily within reach. A $1 billion highway built by the Chinese is threatening the tiny country's fragile economy. The project was funded with a loan.
The war in Ukraine has reminded us that the European peace has always been tenuous because of the competing cultural and economic interests.
We will find common solutions to help each other if we have big social problems.
The aspiration of a carbon-free future crashing against the reality that Russian oil and gas are key to both their economies and their ability to stay warm has been a year of frustration for Abazovi. Will the ideals of solidarity withUkraine last? How long before nationalists take advantage of popular discontent for electoral gain?
You can speak about protecting the environment. People aren't interested in that anymore. Abazovi warns that they don't care if it's sustainable. It can be a problem for a long time. I don't think we should give up and allow fascist and antiauthoritarian regimes to rule us.
As he stood shoulder to shoulder with other European leaders in New York and attended functions with President Biden, he was faced with reality.
The no-confidence vote that will take Abazovi out of office was a reminder of how easy it is for the European past to surpass the European present. He entered into a deal with the Serbian Orthodox Church in order to shore up his own government. Abazovi lost his job in a 50-1 vote.
As other world leaders carefully messaged their way through the endless procession of conclaves and informal meetings at the United Nations, Abazovi enjoyed a measure of freedom.
He believes that Europe has been too slow to respond to Russia. Europe will find it hard to address all but the most immediate priorities if the war continues.
We are very uneasy. He is worried that today's Ukraine can be one of the other countries. The soviet nation of Yugoslavia had a measure of independence from Moscow due to both geographic and cultural differences.
Europe's wars have a tendency to spread. European leaders don't want a ground war in Eastern Europe, so they need to use more active diplomacy, but they don't know what that will look like.
As his own political future looks bleak, Abazovi sees Europe's collective future as far bleaker, unless Putin's ambitions are countered with a decisive counter punch.
He thinks that this is going to be a big disaster.
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