You are reading a daily contextual review of the news that marked the previous day.
By Ljubomir Filipović, CdM observer
My English friend coined a name for the Balkan state apparatus full of uhljebs (good state position catchers) and called them by one name – Uhljebistan. That is what Montenegro reminds me of these days. We could start from the official who most loudly promised us the fight against uhljebljenje (getting good positions in state bodies and companies) and a transparent approach to personnel issues – Mladen Bojanić – who installed yesterday the spokesman of the Democrats, once DF’s young hope, Mr Nikola Rovčanin, at the head of Montenegro’s power supply company, EPCG, and Mr Milutin Đukanović, a fierce admirer of Kremlin and a fighter for the Serbian World, at the head of the EPCG’s steering committee.
The same happens in other departments as well: While the former mayor of Berane, Mr Dragoslav Šćekić, is cleaning the Health Fund for the newly hired, Minister of Defense Olivera Injac is suspected of illegal employment.
(NOT)healthcare
While Minister Jelena Borovinić Bojović is visiting Belgrade, where she is arranging alms for a dysfunctional periphery into which she and her colleagues have turned us into in a short time, Mr Miraš Dušević reminds us in this excellent review of what the Minister has done illegally so far.
Meanwhile, new rules have been passed, envisioning significantly stricter measures in 13 Montenegrin municipalities. Some municipalities have been singled out, but as with previous measures, citizens complain on social media that they can’t understand well which measures apply certain areas.
After being accused of embezzlement in the Medical Chamber, and after scandalous behavior during the takeover, where there was almost a physical confrontation, epidemiologist Milena Popović Samardžić has demanded a public apology from SDP MP Draginja Vuksanović Stanković for accusations that she was the organizer of a criminal group. We remind you that during the election campaign and from the beginning of the pandemic Ms Popović Samardžić was a fierce critic of the National Coordinating Body and the former authorities and that now she rarely has anything to say.
Fake wreath placement
Yesterday, PM Zdravko Krivokapić marked on his Twitter profile the 22nd anniversary of the beginning of the NATO intervention in the FRY by hanging a picture from the campaign of August 2020, on which he laid a wreath at the monument to children from Murino, victims of the 1999 bombing. Some media and mime pages spread misinformation that the laying of flowers by the Prime Minister was yesterday using this picture, even though people in short sleeves can be seen on it. The Digital Forensic Center of the Atlantic Alliance has warned of the same misinformation published on Vijesti TV.
Yesterday, DF activists were also prevented from laying a wreath to soldiers killed in 1999 in the barracks in Podgorica.
VukšićLeaks 4
Control hearing of the Deputy PM Dritan Abazović and acting director of the National Security Agency (ANB) Dejan Vukšić in connection with a possible violation of the Law on Data Secrecy is scheduled for 31 March, the Parliament of Montenegro has announced. After the ANB head allegedly blamed everything on his subordinates in the service yesterday, MP Nebojša Medojević reacted, saying that Mr Vukšić was responsible, and that part of the responsibility was borne by the Prime Minister.
Russian connection
Yesterday, Deputy PM Dritan Abazović received in his office a member of the negotiating team for vaccines from Russia, Mr Sergej Boljevic, who announced 200,000 vaccines from Russia on Vijesti TV, where he has been promoting Sputnik V for several months, and PM Krivokapić‘s visit to a parade in Moscow on 9 May.
Meanwhile, a cold shower arrives from Russia. Namely, the chairman of the Russian Duma, Mr Vyacheslav Volodin, says that Montenegro is in a catastrophic state and that he can’t recommend Russians to come to our country to spend the summer here.
All this is happening while our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Đorđe Radulović, is in Brussels and says that he supports the double approach to Russia by NATO. You can read what this means here.
Oil
Both after the protests of green organizations and after URA’s stunts, oil exploration in the Montenegrin offshore starts today. The first political criticism came from the local Ulcinj leadership. The Ulcinj speaker of parliament Hadži Sulejmani said that he was witnessing with concern the announcement that exploratory drilling in search of oil and gas would start in the Montenegrin offshore. “I share the uneasiness expressed by environmental organizations, individuals and many citizens on this occasion. I am surprised that the Government, i.e. the Ministry of Capital Investments, has not yet published all the contracts related to this work. The public has the right to know”, he said.
Ambassador’s corner
In an interview for RTCG, the British Ambassador Karen Maddocks has stated that the opinion of the Venice Commission on the set of Montenegrin judicial laws provides good guidelines that the Government of Montenegro should follow in order for the country to continue its path towards the EU.
Yesterday, the Ambassador of France Christian Timonie and the first counselor at the embassy Laurent Goncalves visited the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (CPC).
The French ambassador was interested in the state’s attitude towards the CPC, and the problems it encounters in its relations with other churches.
Such more concrete actions by diplomatic representatives can help curb the destructive energy on whose wings this Government has achieved an election victory.
That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
