NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 17, 2017

Q: Montenegro’s special prosecutor accused two Russians and 12 other people of plotting a coup that included plans to kill the country’s former prime minister. Tiny Montenegro was once part of the former Balkan nation of Yugoslavia. Where is the Balkan region in southeast Europe?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The prosecutor said the two Russians were military secret service operatives backing a plot last October that was designed to keep Montenegro from joining . . .

A. Austria-Hungary

B. NATO

C. Ottomans

D. Serbia

B. President Trump last week signed U.S. ratification for the republic's accession to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). All 28 NATO members must ratify Montenegro's accession for the country to join the military alliance. Washington was among the last to do so.

Q: Russia denies any role in an alleged coup plot but strongly opposes NATO’s expansion in Europe and the nations that once made up Yugoslavia. Which of Montenegro's neighbors was NOT part of Yugoslavia?

A. Albania

B. Bosnia and Herzegovina

C. Croatia

D. Serbia

A. Albania was not among the nations created by the breakup of Yugoslavia which sparked a decade of bloody, ethnically-based wars that lasted until 2001. States created from Yugoslavia are: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia. All but Serbia have joined or want to join NATO.

Q: Montenegro has population of 650,000 and a military of only 2,000, but it is strategically positioned on the Adriatic Sea on the western side of the Balkan Peninsula. What sea on the eastern side of the peninsula is also bordered by Russia?

A. Balkan

B. Baltic

C. Bering

D. Black

D. The Russians maintain a large naval fleet in the Black Sea which connects to the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosphorus and Dardanells straits. The Adriatic Sea is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean and separates the Italian and Balkan peninsulas.

Q: The site of centuries of warfare, the Balkans have been long divided over ethnicity, language and religion. Which religion is NOT common on Balkan Peninsula?

A. Sunni Islam

B. Orthodox Christianity

C. Roman Catholic

D. Zen Buddhism

D. The Balkan region is a meeting point of Orthodox Christianity, Islam and Roman Catholic Christianity. Eastern Orthodoxy is the majority religion. Zen Buddhism is common in East Asia.