“It would be illogical for Russia to provide support for the protests now, since it has many times emphasized that the violent overthrow of the government is unacceptable”, writes Kommersant.
In its article titled “Coup thwarted – riots stopped at the entrances to Parliament” on the front page, the daily writes that protests in Podgorica, which the opposition announced as “peaceful and democratic”, “turned violent” and that after demonstrators attempted to storm the Parliament, the police dispersed the crowd.
The newspaper reminds that one of the leaders of the Democratic Front (DF), Slaven Radunovic, posed an “ultimatum” from the improvised stage across from Parliament, that he will not be responsible for future events, if within ten minutes DF deputies are not allowed in the Parliament.
The deadline for the ultimatum has not yet ended, and demonstrators, as if by command, started to break the barricades. Several people with hoods started breaking the fence, others threw stones, torches and Molotov cocktails at police. Law enforcement responded with specialized means – stun grenades and tear gas, the paper said.
Kommersant adds that until the publication of the ultimatum and the attempted breaking into the Parliament, the protest was peaceful and the number of demonstrators was smaller than organizers planned, regardless of the fact that they brought activists free of charge from all around the country.
“With the help of DF, thurt be told, arrived the activists of nationalist organizations from Serbia as well, such as Dveri, which likes to brag about their relations with Russia”, the daily writes, adding that the leader of the Movement for Neutrality, Marko Milacic, also sent a mass of accusations and insults from the stage, “who is also a correspondent from Montenegro for the Belgrade branch of Russian agency Sputnik”.
Kommersant added that the investigation should answer the main question – whether there was an attempt of violent capture of state institutions, which, as stated, is a serious crime in every country.
“In Montenegro, as well as in other Balkan countries, many tend to see in Podgorica potests “a hand of Moscow” – a local media a few days ago came out with the headline “Russian hand over Montenegro” on its front page”, the daily added.
From this article, Kommersant quotes the assessment of analyst Dusan Janjic that “there is no doubt that DF protest is directed against NATO” and that “the role of Russia is huge here”.
This thesis became popular after the recent statement of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that “Euro-Atlantic integration does not lead to the consolidation of society or its flourishment”.
