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Ten to Eight – Municipality of Zeta

Good morning! Does the separation of Zeta increase the chances that Podgorica will not fall into the wrong hands? The growth trend of Russian investments in the last two years has been recorded; the Law on Government is finally passed; CGO is reviewing the agreements concluded by Milojko Spajic; leaders of the Open Balkans in the enlargement campaign.

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Municipality of Zeta

The perception of a good part of the public is such that the DPS started the story about the Municipality of Zeta because of the desire for Podgorica to remain in the hands of progressive pro-Western forces. Golubovci and the rest of Zeta have been the target of a fierce campaign by the DF and the Church of Serbia in the last few years, and that has more than certainly paid off. With the independence of Tuzi, the demographic balance of Podgorica has been significantly disturbed, and it is probably calculated that with the independence of Zeta, that demographic and political balance would be restored. DF leader Milan Knezevic, as a proud resident of Zeta, is satisfied with this decision, but he criticizes it in a populist way in terms of the size of the territory he is dissatisfied with. Knezevic is not only a Great Russia and a Great Serbia supported, he is also a Great Zeta supporter. Democrats also backed the decision in principle. It remains to be seen how this will affect the elections that have already been called and postponed, because questions remain whether new elections will be called in potentially two municipalities and how this will affect the election results.

Montenegro must look for an alternative to Russian investment

Yesterday, CDT published information on how the number of investments from the Russian Federation had increased significantly since the political changes and before the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine. Putting this in the context of the fact that a good portion of foreign investment in Montenegro comes from countries classified as undemocratic authoritarian regimes, CDT warns of the potential corrosivity of this capital, and urges the government to develop a strategy to attract healthy investment.

Leaders of the Open Balkans in the enlargement campaign

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stated yesterday that the Open Balkans initiative would not stop, because, as he said, the future could not be stopped. He stated on Twitter that opponents of the initiative did not see or understand that it “promotes peace, cooperation, integration and accelerates the Berlin Process.”

Rama’s tweet is interpreted as a reaction to messages from Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, who said they saw the Berlin Process as the only comprehensive regional cooperation.

Djukanovic is visiting Kosovo, where he also received the keys to the city of Pristina, while Kosovo and part of Montenegro are currently the strongest opponents of the Open Balkans idea.

While the President of Montenegro is the voice of the part of the Montenegrin public that is against this initiative, Prime Minister Abazovic, who is its advocate, was invited to appear at the summit in Ohrid. The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, stated yesterday that it was probable that the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, would come to the upcoming Summit of the Open Balkans Initiative in Ohrid.

Finally, the Law on Government?

Will Montenegro finally start dealing with the architecture of the political system by passing systemic laws? According to Minister Konjevic, that will be one of the priorities of this government. Konjevic, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister for the political system and internal policy, tweeted yesterday: “I believe that by the end of June we can have a draft law that we will submit for public discussion. We also call on Parliament to pass the Law on Parliament”.

Spajic under the CGO’s scrutiny

The Center for Civic Education (CGO) welcomed the step forward in the part of transparency of the Minister of Finance, Aleksandar Damjanovic, who, as they announced, approved access to data on the fee of Duska Nedeljkovic from Belgrade for PR services to the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare while Milojko Spajic was the Minister. The CGO asked about the justification of these costs and asked for an explanation for Ms Nedeljkovic’s engagement.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst

 

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