Board of

March 2, 2011
Directors
William Montgomery, former American ambassador to Serbia, revealed to be a paid
Haris Alibašić Serbian lobbyist
President

Ferid Sefer According to an article published online by the Belgrade based newspaper Blic, William
Vice President Montgomery the outspoken former United States ambassador to Serbia, is in fact a paid Serbian
lobbyist:
Sanel
Babić
Secretary
“The SNS leader [and former leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party] Tomislav
Nikolic engaged last year former USA ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery to help him
Uzeir Ramić improve his party’s image in the USA and the EU, but also help him win power in Serbia. The
Treasurer monthly advisory fee is EUR 7,500 monthly plus costs…” Full text of the article can be found
here.
Hamdija
Čustović
Spokesperson In the past few years there had been intense speculation that Mr. Montgomery was an outspoken
lobbyist who was working on behalf of Serbian ultranationalist parties and politicians to
Aldina advance their political interests and aspirations by using the heft of his former position and the
Muslija
connections he had made throughout his career to write and speak out publicly on their behalf.
Amir These speculations and rumors have now been reported to be true. Mr. Montgomery’s main
Makarević efforts seem to be directed at changing the United States foreign policy in a direction that would
please the Serbian ultranationalist politicians, parties, and intellectuals. These are the same
Dževad group of people that had brought Slobodan Milosevic to power in the late 1980s and had
Burić
actively taken part in the wars of aggression perpetrated by Serb forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Haris Croatia, and Kosovo. Mr. Montgomery is allegedly a well paid and effective mouthpiece for the
Šuko same ultra-nationalist ideology and policies of expansion for a “Greater Serbia” that have in the
recent past brought about genocide, ethnic cleansing, the creation of concentration and rape
Kemal
Hamulić
camps, and had ultimately resulted in the worst atrocities committed on European soil since the
horrors of the Holocaust.
Mirsad
Smajić On June 4, 2009 Mr. Montgomery wrote an Op-Ed article published in the New York Times
titled “The Balkan Mess Redux” where he argued that the United States should fundamentally
Rusmin
Topalović change its longstanding foreign policy objectives in the Western Balkans by supporting Serbian
ultranationalist political principles. He stated that the peoples of Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Semir Đulić Kosovo could never peacefully live together and that they would have to be forcefully separated
from each other (practically paraphrasing what Radovan Karadzic had been telling the world as
he was orchestrating the Bosnian Genocide). He also stated that Kosovo and Bosnia-
Herzegovina should be territorially divided so that large parts of the countries would be
annexed into a Greater Serbian state (articulately laying out Milosevic’s core political
ideology). Finally, he stated that the key to achieving these Serbian ultranationalist and
expansionist political objectives would be a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy so that it
was aligned with the same policies that Milosevic, Karadzic, and Mladic had pursued in the
Congress of North American Bosniaks www.bosniak.org Canadian Division
P.O. Box 651 cnab@bosniak.org P.O. BOX 56073
Skokie, IL 60076 Stoney Creek, ON, L8G 5C9
 1990s and which today have effectively been inherited by their political successors Milorad
Board of Dodik, Tomislav Nikolic, and Vojislav Kostunica. The article so succinctly and articulately
Directors stated and so fully encompassed the main political policies and objectives of the Serbian
Haris Alibašić ultranationalist far-right parties from the time Slobodan Milosevic came to power to the present
President time that it could justifiably be called the Greater Serbian ultranationalist manifesto of our time.
On June 9, 2009 the Congress of North American Bosniaks responded to Mr. Montgomery’s
Ferid Sefer Op-Ed article (http://www.bosniak.org/cnab-response-to-william-montgomery-in-new-york-
Vice President
times/) with a statement that rebuked Mr. Montgomery for his outspoken advocacy of political
Sanel ideologies that are founded on ethnic and religious hatred and that if they were to once again be
Babić sanctioned by Serbian state institutions would invariably lead to more bloodshed in Bosnia-
Secretary Herzegovina and neighboring countries – in effect leading to a new and very serious crisis in the
Balkans. The fact that these incendiary statements were made by a former American diplomat
Uzeir Ramić
Treasurer with strong connections to the region raised serious concerns that the United States was shifting
its long standing foreign policy in the region to favor policies espoused by radical
Hamdija ultranationalist Serbian politicians, parties, and political movements. Since then it has –
Čustović fortunately for the people living in the region - been revealed that that Mr. Montgomery was not
Spokesperson
heralding a shift in official U.S. policy and was apparently making these statements on behalf of
Aldina a radical, ultranationalist, and malignant strand of Serbian politics with personal motives in
Muslija mind.
Amir If the media reports are accurate, it would be unfortunate and regrettable that a former American
Makarević
diplomat has chosen to become a paid public supporter and mouthpiece for a menacing political
Dževad ideology that has led to violence and genocide in the recent past and is still intrinsically
Burić genocidal and chauvinist in nature. Mr. Montgomery is reportedly being paid substantial sums
of money to actively work against U.S interests by allying himself with Serbian political parties
Haris
Šuko
and movements that are at their core opposed to the policies and values of the United States of
America.
Kemal
Hamulić Mr. Montgomery’s alleged associations with radical and ultranationalist political movements
that have a proven track record of instigating and supporting violence and genocide against non-
Mirsad
Smajić Serbs as well as the reports that he is handsomely paid by them to make his misleading and
dangerous statements should raise concerns about the motives and intended consequences of his
Rusmin statements, comments, and actions. We call on the U.S. State Department, and EU
Topalović representatives to critically question and be wary of Mr. Montgomery’s statements, actions,
Semir Đulić
comments and accounts as they try to formulate new strategies to ensure the successful
integration of the countries of former Yugoslavia into Euro-Atlantic structures and with it the
long term peace, reconciliation, democratization, and economic prosperity– the very hopes,
aspirations, and policy ideas that Mr. Montgomery is seemingly paid to speak out against.

Sincerely,

Hamdija Custovic
CNAB Spokesperson

Congress of North American Bosniaks www.bosniak.org Canadian Division

P.O. Box 651 cnab@bosniak.org P.O. BOX 56073
Skokie, IL 60076 Stoney Creek, ON, L8G 5C9