Montenegro: 'Russian Nationalists' planned To Kill Prime Minister

(Vatican Radio) The chief prosecutor of Montenegro says "nationalists from Russia" were behind an attempt to assassinate the pro-Western prime minister and carry out a coup amid growing political tensions over the future direction of the former Yugoslav republic.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report

Milivoje Katnic told reporters that investigators uncovered a plot to kill Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic because of his plans to have the Balkan nation
join the NATO military alliance. "The plan was to stop Montenegro on its Euro-Atlantic path, especially to prevent is from entering NATO and that was
the initial idea of those organizers," he told reporters.

"We will continue to cooperate with Russia because, at this phase of the process, we gathered evidence that indicate that organizers of this criminal group are nationalists from Russia, Russian citizens," Katnic added. 

The prosecutor said the Russian nationalists planned to break into parliament and kill Montenegrin Prime Minster Djukanovic with a professional
long-distance sharpshooter on October 16 -- the day of the former Yugoslav republic's parliamentary elections.

However he stressed there was no evidence that the Russian state was directly involved amid mounting tensions with Moscow over the allegations.  

DOZENS DETAINED

Some 20 Serbian and Montenegrin citizens, including a former commander of Serbia's special police forces, were detained in Montenegro.
 
Fourteen of them remain in custody on charges of involvement in the coup attempt.

Additionally. authorities in Belgrade have reportedly deported an unspecified number of Russian operatives who were monitoring
Prime Minister Djukanovic's movements from within the territory of neighboring Serbia.

Balkan leaders in strategically located Montenegro and other nations have accused Russia of trying to increase its influence in the region
through extremists and nationalists, charges Moscow denies.