The Democratic Front (DF) officials Predrag Bulatovic and Slaven Radunovic welcomed the European Union’s sanctions against Russia in December 2014 in Brussels. Having that in mind, they might also be declared persona non grata in Russia, Dnevne Novine writes.
Russian officials have not disclosed if the Russian list of undesirable citizens of Montenegro includes some DF officials. However, if Russia is consistent in the “reciprocity of sanctions” such a possibility is not excluded, DN adds.
The newspaper recalls that on 1 and 2 December 2014, the ninth meeting of the EU-Montenegro Parliamentary Committee for stabilisation and association was held in Brussels. It unanimously adopted a declaration which, among other things, “welcomes the coherence of Montenegro’s foreign policy with the European Union, as well as the fact that Montenegro has already opened negotiations on chapter 31 – Foreign, security and defence policy”.
Thus, Montenegro’s joining the European Union sanctions against Russia was de facto affirmed.
At the session in Brussels, in addition to Ranko Krivokapic (SDP), Milutin Simovic (DPS) and Danko Sarancic (SNP), the members of the delegation of the Montenegrin Parliament included two prominent DF members – Slaven Radunovic and Predrag Bulatovic. Radunovic and Bulatovic’s parties are now vigorously pushing for the abolition of sanctions against Russia.
DN points out that this example shows that DF’s political roaming has no limits.
The first round of the EU sanctions against Russia was introduced in March 2014.
In December of that year, disastrous consequences of the sanctions to Russian economy were already well-known. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at the time that sanctions and the 30% decline in oil prices cost Russian economy €140bn in 2014. Until that time, the Russian ruble fell by 50% against the dollar. Therefore the Russian central bank increased interest rates from 10.5% to 17%, which was a great burden to the citizens of Russia.
Bulatovic and Radunovic were in Brussels exactly at the time when the Russian minister announced losses Russia suffered due to the sanctions. However, they had no doubts about “welcoming compliance of Montenegro’s foreign policy with the European Union”, ie supporting sanctions against Russia. Can Russians forgive and forget that?
It was only in February 2016, after a failed “camping” in front of the Parliament building and failure of the idea of a violent toppling legitimate government and a few days before their first trip to Moscow for “consultations”, that DF announced its request to abolish sanctions against Russia. As Moscow’s support was becoming more generous, DF’s demands in this respect were becoming louder.
