Montenegro gets the largest government so far, pro-Russian DF and Bosniak Party will also have ministers

(Patria) - The parties of the pro-Russian Democratic Front (DF) and the Bosniak Party have become part of the Government of Montenegro, after the Parliament voted today for its reconstruction.

The pro-Russian parties were given two vice-presidential and three ministerial positions, while the Bosniaks received one vice-presidential and five ministerial positions.

With this, the government has a total of 32 members, making it the largest in the history of parliamentarism.

The reconstructed, 44th Government of Montenegro consists of:

- Aleksa Bečić, Vice President of the Government for Security, Defense, Fight against Crime and Internal Policy;

- Filip Ivanović, Vice President of the Government for Foreign and European Affairs;

- Budimir Aleksić, Vice President of the Government for Education, Science and Relations with Religious Communities;

- Milun Zogović, Vice President of the Government for Infrastructure and Regional Development;

- Ervin Ibrahimović, Vice President of the Government for International Relations and Minister of Foreign Affairs;

- Saša Mujović, Minister of Energy;

- Bojan Božović, Minister of Justice;

- Slaven Radunović, Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property;

- Simonida Kordić, Minister of Tourism;

- Maja Vukićević, Minister of Transport;

- Damjan Ćulafić, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North;

- Dragoslav Šćekić, Minister of Sports and Youth;

- Naida Nišić, Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Dialogue;

- Filip Radulović, Minister of Maritime Affairs;

- Mirsad Azemović, Minister of Diaspora;

- Damir Gutić, Minister of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography;

- Admir Šahmanović, Minister of Mining, Oil and Gas;

- Ernad Suljević, Minister of Regional Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations;

- Milutin Butorović, Minister without Portfolio.

The reconstructed Government has a Prime Minister, 24 ministries and seven vice-presidents, of which five are solely in the position of vice-president, and two also cover the position of vice-president and minister.

In his address to the deputies, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that today Montenegro is the most reconciled in its history.

- This government is a guarantor of stability and maturity. We are an indicator of how Serbs and Albanians, Serbs and Bosniaks, Serbs and Montenegrins - all can live and work together. We will be a beacon for the entire Balkans - Spajić said.

Commenting on the entry of pro-Russian parties, opposition Democratic Party of Socialists MP Andrija Nikolić said that this is a government run from Moscow and Belgrade.

- The head and brain are in Moscow. The head of this government is (Parliament Speaker) Andrija Mandić, and that is why there are no ethnic Montenegrins in it - added Nikolić.

Namely, these are parties whose policy is contrary to the official policy of Montenegro, which is the most serious candidate for joining the European Union.

These parties advocate for lifting sanctions against Russia due to the aggression on Ukraine, do not recognize Kosovo's independence, are opponents of Montenegro's NATO membership, deny the genocide in Srebrenica, and support war criminals Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić convicted in The Hague.

This is the first reconstruction of Spajić's government formed at the end of October last year.

The government was then supported by 13 deputies from the recently disbanded DF, Andrija Mandić's New Serbian Democracy and Milan Knežević's Democratic People's Party, on the condition that they enter it this year.

Besides supporting Putin, their leaders have close political relations with the presidents of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik.

Official Washington has repeatedly warned and expressed concern about parties and leaders who actively oppose Euro-Atlantic values being in power. A similar stance has been communicated from European institutions.

Nevertheless, the Parliament of Montenegro elected Andrija Mandić as its president at the end of October 2023, which was supported by deputies of Spajić's Europe Now Movement.