You are reading a daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous weekend.
By Ljubomir Filipović, CdM observer
If the councillors of the Berane parliament persisted in their intentions, this would be the name of a street in Berane. After the first attempt to cover up and divert attention from Mr Nebojša Babović of the Democrats, and from URA on Twitter, public pressure forced local and state officials to distance themselves from this decision of the local Street Naming Council. After that, the Democrats and URA clearly said that they would not support this name, because for them Mladic is a war criminal, while the Municipality of Berane and its mayor (for legal puritans, the president of the municipality) Dragoslav Šćekić said that they were doing it because the legal conditions were obtained for such a thing. In other words – not because Ratko Mladic is a criminal, but because he is still alive. Reactions to the announcement of the possibility of naming a street in the north of Montenegro after Ratko Mladić came from various addresses.
The HRA and CGO responded in a joint statement, detailing why this must not happen: “Mladić is responsible for killing about 8,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica, the youngest of whom was only 11, and also for persecuting civilians, Muslims and Croats, throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina, for shelling and sniping of Sarajevo citizens for three and a half years, as well as for taking UN hostages. He was convicted in the first instance for ten of the eleven counts of the indictment. He was not convicted, they add, only on charges of being responsible for genocide in six Bosnia-Herzegovina municipalities during ’92. (Prijedor, Sanski Most, Ključ, Kotor Varoš, Foča and Vlasenica)”.
The CDT says that if that happened, “Montenegro will definitely erase itself from the map of civil and enlightened societies, and join the ranks of pro-fascist societies that celebrate criminals”.
Ms Ana Pisonero, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, pointed out that glorifying war criminals cannot be a European value. Political adviser in the Helsinki Commission of the American Congress, Mr Robert Hand, also recalled why this is a problematic move.
Mr Reuf Bajrović, co-chairman of the American-European alliance based in Washington, saw “the beginning of the process of annulling the independence of Montenegro” in this announcement.
A group of activists and intellectuals, including myself, wrote to the Chief State Prosecutor’s Office about the more frequent and increasingly blatant manifestation and celebration of extreme right-wing and fascist ideas, as well as the spread of hatred.
Judgment overturned
After the Court of Appeals overturned the judgment of those convicted of the 2016 coup, a series of reactions in the country and the world continued. Mr Nebojša Medojević reprimands government officials and some coalition partners for not expressing their satisfaction with the annulment of the judgment, more precisely, he told them to at least “pretend to be happy”. Mr Janusz Bugajski, an associate of the Washington-based NGO Centre for European Policy Analysis, told the Voice of America that the decision of the Court of Appeals is among several disturbing recent events in Montenegro aimed at increasing the influence of Belgrade and Moscow.
KZŠ in Vučić’s style
Mr Dritan Abazović is increasingly showing that his political and leadership role model is Mr Aleksandar Vučić, and in addition to having taken for himself Mr Vučić’s functions and titles, and in addition to playing the role of arrester and saviour, he continues to organize meaningless press conferences. The first was, if you remember, about sending DHL to Mr Vučić, and this one was now about the alleged connection between the Udar portal and the former National Security Agency (ANB) leadership. In the 10th minute of the conference, the journalists had to remind Mr Abazović what the topic of the conference was, and Minister Vladimir Leposavić got tired before the end and left the conference earlier. Social media users laughed at Mr Abazović because the only thing he did with this conference was about what the phantom Udar portal published and what most of us considered nonsense, has now been made official as credible intelligence. It includes the fact that one of the alleged associates of the Serbian services in Montenegro is he himself.
Former Defence Minister Predrag Bošković, who himself has been accused by Mr Abazović of taking part in the Udar affair, reacted to this and said he would explain to him what the Defence Minister was doing at the ANB only when he told him who had offered him €21m. Mr
I must admit that Mr Nebojša Medojević made an excellent observation of Mr Abazović‘s speech, when Abazović said that anyone who played with the reputation of the ANB and the reputation of the state would be a legitimate target for him. If Medojević left the conspiracy theory and the DF and devoted himself to such topics, the PZP could return to its former sovereignist and reform path, and leave the URA to now dance as pro-Serbian partners play.
Other government problems
The government continues being criticized by the EU regarding the announced changes to the Law on Prosecution. The head of the Delegation in Podgorica, Ms Oana Cristina Popa, also talked about it directly with the Prime Minister.
As we approach the deadline for temporary financing of the administration, economic analyst Predrag Drecun warns that failure to pass the budget would do political harm to the Government.
He also comments on decisions on child allowance and minimum wage.
Nikšić elections
The Serbian (all-Serbian) public is very interested in the elections in Nikšić. It is no longer about a single bloc. The seams are cracking and dividing the unique lithium bloc into two nationalisms – the one of Mr Vučić, and the one of the church. Belgrade-based Danas did an interesting report on the events in the town under the Trebjesa hill. On the same topic, I was a guest in the Argumenti talk’show with Mr Saša Klikovac, Mr Srđan Perić, the vice-president of the Nikšić DPS, Mr Marko Burić, and the DF MP and the alleged mayor candidate from their coalition, Mr Marko Kovačević.
Mr Vojislav Šešelj, a Hague convict and Chetnik duke (disputed), supported the DF in the elections in Nikšić.
Unhappy and happy families
Professor Olivera Komar from Faculty of Political Sciences commented for the CDM portal on the Prime Minister’s statement that only families with children can be happy, as well as that small families are selfish, giving that statement a clear ideological context.We remind you that this is just one in a series of politically incoherent comments by the Prime Minister and his followers on the topic of family and gender relations.
So much for today.
A new text will be ready for reading tomorrow at the same time. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
