[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3631-S3633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Coup Attempt in Montenegro
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, last week, the Senate voted 97 to 2 to
strengthen sanctions against Vladimir Putin's Russia for its attack on
America's 2016 election and its other aggressive and illegal behavior.
I hope the other body will take swift action to send this legislation
to the President's desk.
We need strong Russia sanctions now because it has been 8 months
since the U.S. intelligence community said publicly that the Russian
Government directed this attack on our democracy. Yet, in the last 8
months, the Russian Government has hardly paid any price for its
aggression. Thus, Vladimir Putin has been learning all over again that
aggression pays. He learned that in Georgia in 2008. He learned that in
Ukraine in 2014. He has learned that in Syria since 2015. So Vladimir
Putin remains on the offense. This year, Russia attempted to interfere
in France's election. We have already seen attempts to influence German
public opinion ahead of elections in September. And there is every
expectation that Russia will do the same thing in the Czech Republic,
Italy, and elsewhere in future elections.
But perhaps the most disturbing indication of how far Vladimir Putin
is willing to go to advance his dark and dangerous view of the world is
what happened in October 2016 in the small Balkan country of
Montenegro, when Russian intelligence operatives, in league with Serbia
nationalists and others, attempted to overthrow the democratically
elected Government of Montenegro and murder its Prime Minister on the
country's election day. Why would Vladimir Putin go this far? To answer
this, one must understand why Russia was so interested in the outcome
of Montenegro's election.
Russia opposes the spread of democracy, human rights, and the rule of
law across Europe, which is advanced by the European Union and
protected by the NATO alliance. To Russia's great frustration,
Montenegro's Government had committed the country to a Euro-Atlantic
future and pursued membership in both the EU and NATO.
Indeed, NATO's invitation to Montenegro to join the NATO alliance in
December 2015 was considered particularly insulting and threatening by
Moscow. After all, Montenegro had once been part of Russia's
traditional Slavic ally, Serbia. Montenegro has long been a favorite
destination for Russian tourists. Russian politicians and oligarchs are
reported to own as much as 40 percent of the real estate in that
country. A few years ago, when it feared losing its naval base in Syria
due to the civil war, Russia reportedly sought a naval base in
Montenegro but was rejected. Now, if Montenegro joined NATO, the entire
Adriatic Sea would fall completely within NATO's borders.
Montenegro's accession into NATO would also send a signal that NATO
membership was a real possibility for other nations of the Western
Balkans--Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and, according to
some optimistic voices in the region, perhaps even Serbia.
That is why Montenegro's October 16 election was no ordinary one. In
Russia's eyes, it was a last chance to stop Montenegro from joining
NATO, to thwart Montenegro's pursuit of a Euro-Atlantic future, and to
reassert Russian influence in southeastern Europe. That is why there
was little doubt that Russia would exert heavy pressure on Montenegro
ahead of the election. Russia had already been accused of fomenting
anti-government demonstrations and funding opposition parties. Yet few
would have guessed how far Russia was willing to go. But now we know.
This April, as part of my visit to seven countries in southeastern
Europe to reaffirm America's commitment to the region, I visited
Montenegro and was briefed by Montenegrin officials on
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the status of the investigation into the coup attempt. On April 14,
Montenegro's special prosecutor filed indictments against 2 Russians
and 12 other people for their roles in the coup attempt. This past
weekend, a Montenegrin court accepted the indictments. As a result, the
evidence before the court is now public.
I believe it is critically important that my colleagues and the
American people are aware of the allegations made in these indictments.
Pieced together, they reveal another blatant attack on democracy by the
Russian Government--an attempt to smash a small, brave country that had
the nerve to defy its will. And it is another unmistakable warning that
Vladimir Putin will do whatever it takes to achieve his ambition to
restore the Russian Empire.
According to the indictments, the coup planning got off to a slow
start in March 2016. That was when opposition leaders in Montenegro
allegedly sent an emissary known as Nino to Belgrade to meet with
Slavko Nikic. In the first meeting at Slavko's office, Nino said that
he had been doing business for years in Russia, and he claimed that he
was in contact with powerful men in Russia. He claimed that one of the
men with him was a Russian FSB agent in charge of special tasks. Nino
tried to enlist Slavko and his men to lead a plot to destabilize
Montenegro, and Slavko indicated he was able and willing to
participate. Later, Nino and Slavko met on the Pupin Bridge in
Belgrade, this time with the supposed FSB agent in tow. The Russian
told Slavko it would be good if he traveled to Moscow.
After these encounters in Belgrade, Nino enlisted the help of
Bratislav Dikic, the former chief of Serbia's special police and
someone we will meet later in this story, to use his contacts to check
into Slavko's reliability. He didn't pass the test, and this original
version of the coup plot was abandoned.
It was at this point that the two Russians, Eduard Shishmakov and
Vladimir Popov, stepped in to take control of the plans for
destabilization operations in Montenegro. Both of these men are
believed to be members of the Russian military agency, the GRU.
Shishmakov in particular already had a colorful past. In 2014,
Shishmakov had been serving as deputy military attache in Russia's
Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. After a scandal involving a Russian spy
network within the Polish Government, the Polish Government identified
Shishmakov as a GRU agent, declared him persona non grata, and ejected
him from Poland.
Having taken over the Montenegrin operation, Shishmakov moved quickly
to contact Sasa Sindjelic. The two had first met in Russia back in
2014, when they discussed their opposition to the EU and NATO.
Shishmakov even offered to help support Sindjelic's organization, the
Serbian Wolves, which promotes Pan-Slavism and close relations between
Russians and Serbs and opposes NATO and the Government of Montenegro.
The two met again in Moscow in 2015. This time, Shishmakov had
Sindjelic submitted to a polygraph test that lasted for hours. After
the test went well, he sent Sindjelic home with $5,000 and a promise to
contact him if something urgent came up. That was in the spring of
2016. Shishmakov wrote that Montenegro's Prime Minister, Milo
Djukanovic, and his government must be removed immediately and that the
people of Montenegro must rebel in order for this to happen.
Then in September 2016, Shishmakov told Sindjelic to urgently come to
Moscow. Shishmakov even sent $800 to Sindjelic to buy his ticket. It
was no trouble for Shishmakov to send the money--after all, he sent it
from a Western Union conveniently located on the same street as GRU
headquarters in Moscow. Once in Moscow, Shishmakov and Sindjelic
discussed the planning and operation of the plot to overthrow the
Montenegrin Government, install the opposition in power, and abandon
all plans for Montenegro to enter NATO. Shishmakov said opposition
leaders from Montenegro had already visited Moscow a number of times
and were in agreement with the plan.
In total, Sindjelic received more than $200,000 to support the
operation. He used those funds to pay personnel, acquire police
uniforms and equipment, and purchase weapons, including rifles, gas
masks, bulletproof vests, electrical tranquilizers, and a drone with a
camera. He was also provided encrypted phones to enable secure
communications between the coup plotters and GRU agents.
Sindjelic and Shishmakov stayed in close touch as preparations
continued ahead of the October elections. The plan was this:
On election day, the Montenegrin opposition was planning large
protests in front of the Parliament, expecting to draw nearly 5,000
people. Sindjelic and his coconspirators, including Bratislav Dikic,
the former commander of the Serbian special police, would recruit as
many Serbian nationalists as they could to travel from Serbia to
Montenegro to join the demonstrations. They were hoping 500 would join
the protests and be ready to act when called upon.
As the protests were underway, a group of 50 armed men recruited by
Shishmakov and wearing police uniforms provided by Sindjelic would
ambush and kill the members of Montenegro's Special Anti-Terrorist Unit
to prevent them from interfering with the coup. The armed men, still
wearing their police uniforms, would then proceed to the Parliament
building, where they would begin shooting at members of the police
defending the Parliament building. They hoped to create the impression
that some members of the police were changing sides and joining the
protesters against the government. As the coup plotters saw it, this
was poetic justice--reminiscent of how former Serbian President and
convicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic had fallen from power.
Led by the coup plotters and the Serbian nationalists, who would wear
blue ribbons to be recognizable to one another, the protesters would
then storm the Parliament building and declare victory for the
opposition. Within 48 hours, the new government would be formed and
arrests would be made across the capital, including Prime Minister
Djukanovic. If the Prime Minister could not be captured, he would be
killed.
The coup plotters obviously wanted to create chaos, and it appears
they may have had someone in mind to blame for the violence. Ahead of
the election, the Montenegrin opposition hired a U.S. company to
provide services, including countersurveillance and planning to extract
personnel from the Montenegrin capital, around the time of the
election. It is still unclear, the precise nature of this outreach to
the U.S. company by the Montenegrin opposition or what services the
company may have ended up providing, if any. Now, this is speculation,
but if I know the Russians, American security personnel--some likely to
have military or intelligence background--on the ground during the coup
in the Montenegrin capital would have made excellent patsies for
stories on Sputnik and Russia Today.
Fortunately--one might even say luckily--the plan never got off the
ground. Four days before election day, one of the coup plotters got
cold feet and informed the Montenegrin authorities. On election day,
Montenegrin police arrested 20 Serbian citizens, including the on-the-
ground leader of the nationalist protesters, Bratislav Dikic, the
former commander of the Serbian special police. News of the arrests
sparked fear among others involved in the plot, many of whom retreated
to Serbia.
Furious that the plot had been disrupted, Shishmakov, the Russian GRU
agent, grasped at straws for new ways of bringing down the Montenegrin
Government. He ordered Sindjelic to procure an assassin to kill the
Prime Minister. Sindjelic did not carry out that order and later turned
himself into police, fearing he would be next for assassination by the
GRU.
Shishmakov also ordered a false flag attack on the opposition party
headquarters to create the appearance of an attack by the government.
He even hoped to entice one of the political parties that was part of
the Prime Minister's coalition to leave the government with a bribe
using Russian money funneled through Chechnya. Again, fortunately none
of this worked.
Montenegrin police made several arrests in the aftermath of this
failed coup attempt, but those arrests did not
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include the alleged GRU agents, Mr. Shishmakov and Mr. Popov. They were
in Belgrade, Serbia's capital. Presumably, Montenegrin authorities
hoped the Serbian Government would consider expediting the pair to
Montenegro as the government had done with some of the lower level coup
plotters, but that did not happen, and the two Russian agents returned
to Moscow.
I know that sounded a little complicated. Every American should be
disturbed by what happened in Montenegro. We should admire the courage
of the country's leaders who resisted Russian pressure and persevered
to bring Montenegro into the NATO alliance, which finally took place
officially 2 weeks ago.
If there is one thing we should take away from this heinous plot, it
is that we cannot treat Russia's interference in America's election in
2016 as an isolated incident. We have to stop looking at this through
the warped lens of politics and see this attack on our democracy for
what it is--just one phase of Vladimir Putin's long-term campaign to
weaken the United States, to destabilize Europe, to break the NATO
alliance, to undermine confidence in Western values, and to erode any
and all resistance to his dark and dangerous view of the world.
That is why Putin attacked our 2016 election. That is why Putin
attempted to overthrow the Government of Montenegro. That is why he
tried to influence the election in France and will try the same in
Germany and elsewhere throughout Europe. That is why it probably will
not be long before Putin attempts some punitive actions in Montenegro
to show other countries in the Western Balkans what happens when you
try to defy Russia.
That is why it will not be long before Putin takes interest in
another American election. The victim may be a Republican. It may be a
Democrat. To Putin, it will not matter as long as he succeeds in
dividing us from one another, weakening our resolve, undermining
confidence in ourselves, and eroding our belief in our own values.
I urge my colleagues again that we must take our own side in this
fight, not as Republicans, not as Democrats but as Americans. It is
time to respond to Russia's attack on American democracy and that of
our European allies with strength, with resolve, with common purpose,
and with action.
I would like to finally add we will be holding a hearing in the Armed
Services Committee on this whole situation that took place in
Montenegro.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, before the Senator from Arizona leaves the
floor, he and I are very much in syncopation on the question of what he
has just eloquently addressed about the Russian attempts to interfere
in other countries as well as in our country with regard to the
elections.
I just wanted to pose a question to the Senator. Is the Senator
aware, as he obviously is--but it is my rhetorical question--that the
Russians have already intervened in the elections of other countries
and indeed tried and it boomeranged against them against France and are
probably in the midst of trying to interfere with the German election?
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, every indication, I would say to my friend
from Florida, a most valued member of the Armed Services Committee,
they will continue to try to interfere in any election they possibly
can. They are spending large amounts of money. They have certainly, to
some degree, undermined confidence between countries in the NATO
alliance, and that, coupled with the degree of uncertainty here in
Washington, has probably put as great a strain on the NATO alliance as
you have seen since its very beginning. I thank my colleague from
Florida.
Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, one further question. Has the Senator
been--well, he obviously is aware, and he has obviously been briefed--
but can he help convey the gravity of the situation of Russia's
interference in the upcoming elections in 2018 and 2020, where not only
is it a question of whether they would change the vote count by getting
in and hacking, but they could change the registration records so that
a voter could show up to vote on election day and suddenly the
registrar says: But you are not registered.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would just say to my colleague from
Florida that when you look at their early attempts versus their latest
attempts, they learn with every experience. It is a lot easier--as my
colleague from Florida knows, it is a lot easier to play offense than
defense.
We are going to have a hearing on this whole Montenegrin thing, and I
know the Senator from Florida will play a very significant role. Every
time we turn around, we have a new revelation of some of the activities
that have been carried out, not just by Russian hackers but by Chinese,
by Iranian, even by single individuals. This is probably the national
security challenge that may not be the greatest, but I would say we are
the least prepared for.
Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, this Senator certainly looks forward to
that hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee. I thank the
chairman for his leadership in constantly bringing up and reminding the
American people of the threat that is coming through cyber attacks into
this Nation and others.