By Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM observer
Good morning. You’re reading a daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous day.
The latest Nikolaidis’ column ‘Zdravko & his viruses’ was published yesterday.
Prime minister’s weakness
If you remember well, at the beginning of his mandate, the Prime Minister made fun of Mirko Cvetkovic, the former prime minister of the Serbian government, known for being a rubber tree and not having power and authority at all. Apart from an apparent physical resemblance, the Prime Minister shows every day that his role in the government is very similar to that of Cvetkovic in Serbia at the time. He’s being backed solely by Marko Milacic, because he found a job for Milacic’s wife. But to be frank – the PM’s authority is largely questioned because of the Cetinje issue and the failure of police to act. According to some media allegations, the PM tried to dismiss the Head of the National Police, Mr Brdjanin, but didn’t succeed in it. Now Milan Knezevic of the Democratic Front demands dismissal of the Internal Affairs Minister, Sergej Sekulovic. Let’s put aside everything important when it comes to this government – the obedience to the Serbian Orthodox Church, SPC, and Serbia, foreign impact, nepotism, corruption, blocked institutions – and note that this government is being inefficient. In all matters except for those ordered by the SPC.
Rally in Podgorica
A peaceful protest was organized in Podgorica, in front of the government’s building, yesterday. The people gathered because of repression and torture over the Cetinje residents and the registration of Cetinje monastery as the possession of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral.
Time for sending reports
The autumn is coming and it’s time for submitting reports. The progress on the road to the EU, Freedom House is writing about the state of play when it comes to the democracy – we shall see how the international community is going to evaluate the work of the new government. Is Montenegro going to make progress or regress? Are the reports going to affect the mood of Montenegro citizens in terms of the EU integration?
Even though Brussels convinces us that everything’s going to be okay, Paris, for example, voices some discouraging messages.
Croatia’s care
The Croatian government is seriously monitoring the situation in the region, and I hope it’s preparing to react. International organizations are also reacting, and our diaspora has become active together with the Bosniak and Albanian ones. The statements of Croatian officials in important addresses like this one of Minister Grlic-Radman in Luxembourg are very important.
Energy system crisis
When I wrote last week that we might face an energy crisis, after some experts in that field shared with me their views, the party-backed staff in EPCG waved their hands. Yesterday, I read an interview with the director of the Pljevlja Coal Mine, telling that without TPP Pljevlja, we would be in a serious trouble. If Montenegro’s strategy is to rely mostly on solid fuels, then let’s agree not to make fun of ourselves anymore and delete the adjective “ecological” from the Constitution. It’s fairer.
Russia-NATO relations terminated
After some measures taken by NATO, there are no more basic conditions for joint work, said the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, noting that the decisions will take effect on November 1. Lavrov said that in response to the revocation of accreditations for eight associates of the Russian Mission to the Alliance, Russia will suspend the work of its permanent mission to NATO from November 1 and withdraw the main military representative. In addition, as of November 1, Russia is suspending the work of the NATO communications military mission in Russia and revoking the accreditations of the Alliance’s representatives.
That’s all for today. Until tomorrow.
