What Aleksandar Vucic is doing to us!

Good morning! The regime-backed GONGO from Serbia, the Centre for Social Stability, has released a propaganda piece that, amid a barrage of disinformation, resorted to crude insults targeting Montenegrin women. Here’s a closer look at the people behind that organisation, the involved in the project and the reactions it has sparked in both Serbia and Montenegro.

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What Aleksandar Vucic is doing to us!

The headline is deliberately sarcastic, meant to underscore the sudden shock and newly discovered patriotism of certain people in Montenegro – the very same individuals who, five or six years ago, mocked the warnings about structures linked to the regime in Belgrade that, during and after the so-called “magnificent religious processions” spread hatred and poisoned Montenegro’s public sphere.

Back then, Zeljko Ivanovic had no fear of Serbian nationalism, while Aleksandar Dragicevic stood shoulder to shoulder with its proponents on Sinjajevina in opposition to the “evil NATO.” Monitor celebrated meme-inspired “serdars” as the pinnacle of free and sardonic thought, while Jovan Markus got a job by the government. The portal run by a university rector and co-owner of the Serbian House, funded by Aleksandar Kavcic – pardon, Vucic – spread “love” between Serbs and Montenegrins.

That idyll was disrupted only by the “rabid Montenegrins,” the alleged political wing of the Kavac crime gang, and the supposed “defenders of cocaine trafficking and smuggling.”

That now feels like a distant past. Meanwhile, some things have become much clearer. In Montenegro, Aleksandar Vucic’s influence appears reduced to “Pipun” and “Metodije,” while the self-styled Montenegrin tricolour has effectively been narrowed down to the political project of Vladislav Dajkovic – increasingly referred to by locals as the “Dajkobojka.”

The Centre for Social Stability is a typical Serbian GONGO. They make little effort to conceal it. On their Twitter profile, they openly say they’re funded through Serbia’s state budget. One of their members even serves as a minister – for European integration. It’s a familiar group of “analysts” regularly appearing on pro-government media outlets to defend the government.

This year, they decided to ride the anti-Montenegrin wave by producing a so-called “documentary” about the independence referendum. Apparently, they’ve finally come to terms with the fact that Montenegro broke away and that the religious processions didn’t result in the country being brought back under Belgrade’s umbrella, even if, in the aftermath of the August 30 counterrevolution, such an outcome no longer seemed entirely impossible.

Partly through luck, partly due to a strong backlash from the protest-minded public, and partly thanks to the engagement of Western allies, those ambitions ultimately failed to materialise.

A considerable number of people now understand what is really at play. Even Andrija Mandic, in private, reportedly refers to Vucic’s loyalists as “ćaci.” Meanwhile, part of Belgrade’s opposition-minded intellectual public is finally beginning to grasp that Montenegrins exist as a distinct identity and are not simply synonymous with Serbs, which, of course, doesn’t mean there are no Montenegrins who identify as Serbs. Gradually, more and more people in Serbia are coming to understand that mutual respect doesn’t require sameness.

Strong reactions came from Miodrag Pizurica, an MP from the Europe Now Movement (PES), and independent MP Maja Vucelic. Meaningful responses also arrived from Serbia, including from Borko Stefanovic.

Equally encouraging is the fact that institutions have finally reacted, launching proceedings against Vucic-aligned propaganda outlets from Serbia and their local partners.

This new surge of propaganda from Serbia has only strengthened my intention to revisit the Initiative for a Law on Harmful Foreign Influence, a legal framework through which the state could respond to and transparently sanction such activities in a strategic way.

If the state took this issue seriously, individuals from the Centre for Social Stability would be on a sanctions list already, banned from entering Montenegro and, should intent to destabilise the country be proven, facing asset freezes within the state’s territory.

But it requires both a state-oriented and strategic approach – not just reactive policymaking.

That’s all for today. Enjoy the rest of your day.