Montenegro Under Attack

By Ljubomir Filipović / CdM

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Good morning! Montenegro experienced the culmination of a hacker attack on its information infrastructure on Friday, Herceg Novi woke up on Saturday morning in another country; while the government is in an unprecedented political crisis, the prime minister is cruising on the Bojana River and dancing his head off at festivals.

As I was leaving Montenegro for Kosovo on Friday, at a gas station in Rožaje, the worker asked for my patience while issuing a receipt, as their systems were under hacker attack. Many of us encountered similar experiences in various places that day. In addition, for a few days, there had been an alarm in the state administration due to possible attacks and data theft. We still don't know the consequences of the attack, we are receiving conflicting information, whether some data was lost or not. The National Security Agency stated that Russian services are behind this attack. NATO also reacted. Some private agencies have issued instructions on online behavior to prevent future attacks. In one sentence, the advice boils down to not opening suspicious emails and suspicious links.

While we await more information from the government about who carried out the attacks, when, and how, and until we get a concrete damage assessment, we can ponder how competent the people protecting us from such threats are. Given the dominance of parties in staffing public administration, I fear we are not far behind in this regard either.

Patriarch's Visit or Demonstration of Force?

On Saturday morning, Herceg Novi woke up covered in Serbian flags and billboards welcoming the Serbian Patriarch to "Serbian Boka". The fake ambassador did not miss this opportunity to provoke, although his presence was ignored on the Serbian embassy's page and its social media posts. The Patriarch took pictures with party employees at the airport, and then went by speedboat to Herceg Novi. Last night, the prime minister also organized a dinner for him.

The Patriarch's visit served Andrija Mandić and other Serbian politicians and public figures to continue promoting a narrative aimed at disintegrating Montenegrin identity and statehood. Emphasizing that Boka is not Montenegro and that nothing but Cetinje and the four nahije is Montenegro, is part of the communication strategy of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro and is very dangerous for the already damaged social cohesion in our country.

The Phenomenon of Serbian Television

DPS, GI 21. Maj, and the Capital City of Cetinje reacted to a report by Pink Television, broadcast by Serbian host Jovana Jeremić in the morning program, which dealt with the recent tragedy in Cetinje and spread disinformation about the tragedy. The Electronic Media Agency also reacted. 21. Maj also called for the suspension of Pink TV broadcasting for one year.

Earlier, both I personally and 21. Maj proposed sanctions against individuals from Serbia for precisely this kind of activity. I think Jovana Jeremić, along with many others from Serbia, has long qualified for a ban on entering Montenegro as a minimum. Instead, the Municipality of Budva is paying for her vacation in Budva, and Budva Riviera is using her as a model for promoting its hotels.

That's all for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.