You are reading daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous day.
By Ljubomir Filipović, CdM analyst
Address and support
The Prime Minister-designate revealed today his address for the Parliament’s session on Wednesday. It mentions seven pillars of the government’s policy and promise to turn Montenegro into Luxembourg in the next four years. The Freedom of Religion Law won’t be withdrawn, but will be amended.
Former MP, Mr Srđan Milić and Mr Budimir Aleksić of the Democratic Front (DF) have told Dan daily that a new law should be passed. The Democrats call on dialogue, while Mr Miloš Konatar of the Civic Movement URA says that the best would be to amend the disputed articles and “relax the Serbian Orthodox Church”.
The Socialist People’s Party, SNP, bodies and the Democratic People’s Party, DNP, have decided to back the government of Mr Zdravko Krivokapić. The SNP did not elaborate on their decision and provided a few general remarks, while the DNP called it [govt] “a government of Mr Krivokapić and Mr Abazović”, and stated their expectations.
Even though the Movement for Changes, PzP, run by Mr Nebojša Medojević, announced they were going to back the composition of the new government, he has never ceased to “undermine” the PM-designate.
Mr Vladimir Pavićević of the bloc ‘Peace is Our Nation’ is frequently criticizing Mr Krivokapić and his government. Now he says that only God can save it, and that the PM-designate is inefficient and doesn’t keep his word.
Božović, Brnabić and Várhelyi
Reactions on the decision to expel Serbia’s ambassador show no signs of abating. EC spokeswoman, Ms Ana Pisonero Hernandez, could not comment on Mr Várhelyi’s tweet, but called on refraining from actions that might jeopardize the Serbia-Montenegro friendly relations. Mr Tonino Picula, EP rapporteur for Montenegro, reacted as well, but his view was somewhat different from Mr Várhelyi’s. The Government of Montenegro refused to take the advice of Commissioner Várhelyi, supported by Mr Milačić and Mr Joković.
Twitter users condemned Mr Várhelyi’s tweet, but political parties also commented on the statement of the Serbian PM who supported Mr Božović’s views on 1918. Ms Marija Blagojević of the Social Democrats, SD, told the behavior of Serbia was reckless and expressed hope that Mr Várhelyi would realize he had made a mistake. Mr Ivan Vujović of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, told that the EU Commissioner should have worried more about Ms Brnabić’s behavior than the expulsion of Ambassador Božović. The Bosniak Party shared the same views, and the Liberal Party reacted as well.
While the Serbian diplomat, Mr Srećko Đukić, condemns Mr Božović’s behavior, Mayor of the Municipality of Berane supports him and sees nothing wrong in it.
Degradation of values
The panel discussion on patterns and the degree of discrimination in Montenegro for 2020, organized by the European Union and the Council of Europe, in cooperation with CEDEM, revealed some shocking data on discrimination against marginalized social groups in Montenegro. One third of Montenegro citizens does not want to live in the same country with LGBTI people, while almost 43 per cent of them believe that these people should not have the same rights as all other citizens, suggests the study of the European Union and the Council of Europe, conducted by the Center for Democracy and Human Rights, CEDEM.
The change of the political climate in Montenegro has greatly contributed to these statistics, and will contribute to it even more. This is not obvious only for those who don’t want to see it.
That’s all for today. Until tomorrow.
