You are reading daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous day.
By Ljubomir Filipović, CDM analyst
Prime Minister in Brussels
President of the Government of Montenegro, Mr Zdravko Krivokapić, is in his working visit to Brussels, where he had meetings with the President of the European Council, Mt Charles Michel and NATO Secretary General, Mr Jens Stoltenberg. His meeting with Mr Stoltenberg was very interesting, as PM expressed firm intention of this government to fulfill its duties in the alliance. In the pre-election period and shortly after elections, PM wasn’t as open towards NATO cooperation as he is now. However, yesterday he hedged from his earlier statements regarding sanctions for Russia and recommended others in the region to improve their chances of joining the EU with NATO membership.
Former PM and deputy DPS president, Mr Duško Marković, expressed his content with the fact that statements of the new PM have proven the correctness of DPS policy when it comes to NATO.
Former Defense Minister, Mr Predrag Bošković, reminded that the prime minister’s support for the alliance would be seriously tested the moment participation of the Montenegrin armed forces in NATO mission in Kosovo was on the agenda.
Amnesty for 2016?
Montenegro’s Minister of Justice was a guest on Duško Knežević’s TV where he announced the possibility of adopting the Law on Amnesty if Mr Milan Knežević and Mr Andrija Mandić are convicted for taking part in 2016 events. He also harshly criticized court proceedings.
This media performance of Mr Leposavić was the subject of mounting criticism. DPS member, Ms Marta Šćepanović, asked for the dismissal of Mr Leposavić. SD spokesman, Mr Nikola Zirojević, pointed out that such an act of the minister was a sort of pressure on the court while LP members announced the possibility of initiating the procedure of the verification of the confidence in the government.
Encouraged by the action of the Justice Minister, Mr Milan Knežević, likely to be new member of the Council on National Security, said that he would not go to jail voluntarily.
Although I don’t believe Mr Leposavić would have political support for this law, by making this statement he crossed the lines of stable relations between different government branches, trying to impose the will of executive power over judicial.
Winter repertoire of the circus in Budva
If it wasn’t sad and dangerous, it would be funny. We’ve reached the situation that attacking opposition politicians in Budva is normal. After DPS councilors left the municipality hall, functionaries of the new government tried to stop them in a violent way.
Fake government session?
SDP member, Mr Raško Konjević, published yesterday on his Twitter account documents proving that the famous bureaucratic anti-dating of the government session was carried out indeed. The proof is the notice of the Government’s secretary general, who is sending the contentious information to minister for a consent. To make things simpler, according to Mr Konjević, and Mr Medojević too, prime minister’s cabinet is trying to correct procedural mistakes which may bring into question the constitutionality of the entire process by faking the session that never took place, judging by this documentation. If the Government fails to provide any explanation for these illogicalities, they risk entering the zone of criminal liability.
These were the topics we selected for today. Until tomorrow.
