You are reading a daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous weekend.
By Ljubomir Filipović, CdM observer
Fight against corruption or crisis PR?
The fight against corruption means primarily its prevention and punishment for it in real time. Investigations into the former government and former powerful people are not the job of this Government, but of investigative journalists, the civil sector, the Prosecutor’s Office and the police. Ministers just need to break down barriers and open the way for everyone to do research.
When someone asks Mr Dritan Abazović awkward questions, someone ends up in prison in a couple of days. The problem is that it seems that they can no longer manage to arrest people as much as the new Government produces new affairs. Unfortunately, in this confrontation, members of the National Council for the Fight against Corruption have managed to compromise themselves, because at the very beginning, they took the political side of the Government and uncritically supported the anti-European “prosecutorial laws”. Now they and the Government itself are trying to wash their hands of it.
We repeat for the hundredth time, no one sees any problem in prosecuting people for participating in corrupt activities, but the press conferences aimed at ministers and their assistants to brag about digging through the archives have become disgusting. Ministers and their assistants need to deal with current affairs, protect us from the pandemic, put the economy on its feet, prepare for the upcoming tourist season, make a draft budget and make sure that none of them steals now.
EU funds embezzled?
Deputy PM Dritan Abazović and State Secretary from his party, Mr Rade Milošević, pompously presented data on the embezzlement of European funds in the project of state border control. They also pointed out that the equipment procured at that time was not working, and that there had been no video surveillance at the border crossings for a year. The EU Delegation said that everyone expected credible and independent institutional responses to these allegations by Messrs. Abazović and Milošević. The Prosecutor’s Office reacted to their KZŠ, due to the accusations that the Prosecutor’s Office had not acted upon bribery reports.
The Tender Commission of the Ministry of Interior also reacted, as did the former minister Mevludin Nuhodžić, during whose term of office the alleged abuse took place, all in order to deny the allegations of Messrs. Abazović and Milošević.
Prosecutorial saga
The altercations between the Government and the Special State Prosecutor’s Office continue. Mr Abazović said yesterday that Mr Zoran Lazović would be fired, and he asked Mr Milivoje Katnić to resign. On the other hand, Mr Katnić stated his conditions in order to resign.
Congratulations on Serbian patriarch election
Although almost everyone kept silent about the Independence Day of Kosovo yesterday, the election of the new Serbian patriarch was an occasion for a barrage of congratulations and good wishes from our state officials. The congratulations of PM Zdravko Krivokapić were imbued with church discourse, and the Speaker of Parliament Aleksa Bečić also congratulated them. Messrs. Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević also joined the congratulations, and they may have the most reason to rejoice, because judging by some analyzes, this is a man close to their political mentor, Mr Aleksandar Vučić.
You can read who the patriarch Porfirije (Perić) is here. This outcome undoubtedly positively affects Mr Aleksandar Vučić, who consolidates his power in the country, which was significantly shaken by the appearance of bishop Grigorije as a possible rival in the next elections. If Grigorije, or someone else critical of Mr Vučić, became a patriarch, that would be a significant blow to his total domination in Serbian politics.
State of cohabitation
In accordance with the Constitution, Montenegro’s President Milo Đukanović requested the opinion of the competent parliamentary committee on the proposal to recall a certain number of Montenegrin ambassadors. While the Committee’s position is expected, Montenegro suffers damage due to the behavior of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the embassies in Beijing and the Vatican. Ambassador Miodrag Vlahović informed the public via Twitter that the writer and diplomat Gojko Čelebić had been sent to his embassy as the new chargé d’affaires.
Representatives of opposition parties met with the ambassadors of EU countries and it was pointed out at the meeting that numerous personnel solutions in the security sector, laws in the field of health, economy and education, manner and procedures of their adoption, as well as the behavior of the current government point to the fact that the new Government shows no sincere will for partnership in dynamizing reforms for EU membership.
Health system situation
The situation with the coronavirus does not improve even after the introduction of measures. The number of the sick and the deceased is not decreasing. The Chinese embassy reacted regarding the donation of 30,000 vaccines by the government of that country.
Professor Srđa Pavlović wrote a column related to the situation with health and vaccine donations. You can read it here.
Situation in Nikšić
Dnevne Novine wrote about the choreography during the handover of the DF electoral list in Nikšić. Unlike the previous elections, the DF will be decimated by the lack of support from Mr Daka Davidović, who has his own list, but also from the Real Montenegro in that city, because the entire board of that party supported Mr Davidović‘s list.
Serbian historian Aleksandar Raković says for Happy TV’s morning reality show called Battle for Nikšić, that “Montenegrins have a mental falconry”, that they are “all chairwarmers” and that Serbs are the ones who should make us a factory setting for the “new world” which Serbia creates at the territory of our country. And in order to achieve that, Nikšić needs to be won, with the victory of the coalition For the Future of Nikšić. And then they will fill us with staff from Serbia, because Montenegrins are defected, Mr Raković stresses.
Savagery in Berane
News of some savagery comes from Berane every day. First, there was stoning of the Kosovo bus the day before yesterday, and yesterday the breaking news was about the monstrous murder of a bear, and about two poor baby-bears that were left alone and went down to the very center of the town. Some people do not have a shred of conscience.
So much for today. We wish you a pleasant weekend and see you on Monday.
