Good morning! It is more important than ever that we strongly embrace the Zelenaski movement (*Greens – opponents of the unification of Montenegro with Serbia after World War I, named after green ballots) and its symbolism. Without the tradition of the Christmas Uprising and the sacrifice of the Christmas Uprisers, there would be no independent Montenegro today. That is why it is important to clear up some things about that tradition, especially in light of the neo-Bjelaski trends (Whites – *supporting the unification of Montenegro with Serbia, named after white ballots) that the DF and the Democrats are forcing. The former openly, the latter treacherously.
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Why is green flag important?
The first thing we need to understand is that false history will get us nowhere. There are no written or pictorial sources that confirm the myth that the Gaetusa (*Montenegro’s green flag) as a flag existed before it was used by members of the independence-supporting movement in the early 1990s. In the 1990s, members of the Liberal Alliance used the design of the Christmas Uprising monument donated by the government-in-exile, and based on it, they made a flag that we rightly proudly display alongside the state flag. The emblem and coat-of-arms from the monument, which are today on the green flag, also contain the royal tricolour flag, which was misused by the unionist neo-Bjelaski movement and thus made a good part of people feel disgusted with it.
Therefore, the Zelenaski movement, later the federalist movement, inherited and founded the uncompromising idea of Montenegrin independence, all at a time when it seemed that history had rejected both that idea and Montenegro.
The Bjelaski movement, which advocated the abolition of Montenegro and Greater Serbia within Yugoslavia, was opposed to this movement, and was complicit in the crimes of the Karadjordjevic regime in Montenegro. Therefore, the Bjelaski movement, even in its modern form, cannot be a Montenegrin state-building movement, because it is based on the idea of extinguishing the Montenegrin state.
The DF and the Democrats are the bearers of that neo-Bjalski movement, and they have proven it many times. You will remember that today’s Minister of Defense Dragan Krapovic sponsored and attended the celebration of the centenary of “unification with Serbia” in 2018, as the mayor of Budva during that period. Look at his attitude towards the defense of the country and the chaos he is making in the defense system. It becomes clear that he is still pursuing his anti-state agenda. We in Budva remember how he threw stones at cars celebrating independence on the night of 21 May 2006.
The Zelenaski movement had its twists and turns. Especially those who, naively and no doubt with good intentions, ended up in arms with the fascists in 1941. However, their collaboration with the occupiers cannot smear the traditions of the Zelenaski movement from the period of annexation in 1918. If for nothing and no one else, then because of Savo Celebic, who was its member and participant in the 1919 uprising, and during the Second World War he was a partisan, eventually becoming a general of the People’s Liberation Army.
Savo Celebic is the author of the Poem about Scepan Mijuskovic, who was executed by the father of Nikola Kalabic, gendarme and executioner in Montenegro between the two wars. Mijuskovic is just one of the victims of the regime of Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, whom Mandic celebrated in Cetinje the other day.
It is important to mention this and recall that Montenegro was built on the foundations of the statehood of the first Slavic kingdoms, Petrovic’s Montenegro, on the Christmas Uprising, on 13 July, and in the 2006 referendum.
Events that we should remember, but not celebrate, are the Podgorica Assembly, the St. Peter’s Day Assembly, the foundation of the FRY, and 30 August 2020. These dates are the dates of success of backward and anti-Montenegrin ideas in Montenegro.
If we were lucky today, the green flag would be the symbol of the Montenegrin army because of those officers who remained loyal to the state when the state was extinguished by the ideological ancestors of Dragan Krapovic. Dragan Krapovic, who today commands our army. The army of the country against whose independence he passionately fought.
That’s it for today and this week. See you again on Monday.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
