New Montenegrin Reality: Racing in Loyalty to the Serbian World

Written by: Nevena Kovačević 

Only a few days have passed, and Montenegro's Prime Minister in technical mandate Dritan Abazović has already changed his stance on the departure of Montenegrin ministers of justice and finance, Marko Kovač and Aleksandar Damjanović, to the celebration of the unconstitutional Day of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka.

Namely, Abazović had earlier essentially defended the ministers, claiming that they, although public officials, have the right to a political stance, and that he sees nothing controversial in their trip to Banja Luka. Contrary to these claims, during last night's appearance on TV Vijesti, Abazović characterized the ministers' presence at the January 9 celebration as a scandal and preparation for elections, adding that the Government does not recognize that date.

Nevertheless, the Prime Minister still hasn't explained to us how it is possible for ministers to spend money from the state budget for the purpose of a trip to Banja Luka, if that visit was not approved by the Government.

In a well-known relativizing manner, he announced that Kovač will return 200 euros to the budget, presumably estimating that this sum will compensate for the damage done to the state's international reputation, as well as the new humiliation of neighbors and friends, victims of genocide and their families.

And just a few days ago, the Prime Minister was calling for applause for Minister Kovač for going to Potočari, thereby hypocritically equating the attitude towards the victims of genocide with the attitude towards those who committed that same genocide, and to whom his ministers applauded during the celebration. However, it is not unusual for the Prime Minister to change opinions between one media appearance and another. He also spoke about the visit of the presidents of six Montenegrin municipalities and municipal assemblies to the session of the Committee for the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region of the Serbian Parliament.

We remind you that the presidents of the municipalities of Nikšić, Berane and Mojkovac, and the municipal assemblies of Danilovgrad, Tivat and Herceg Novi, were guests on December 13 last year at the mentioned session of the neighboring country's parliament, whose formal topic was "The Position and Perspectives of Serbs in the Region," where, led by the leader of the far-right opposition party Zavetnici, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, and MPs, they reported on events in Montenegro, past achievements and plans for the upcoming period.

Thus, we could hear which of the local officials of the Democratic Front immediately after taking office placed the tricolor in their cabinet, in which municipalities Cyrillic became the official script, and how much progress was made in improving the position of endangered Serbs, to whom Montenegro, as those gathered stated, caused more harm than any other state.

Also, from the president of the Nikšić municipality, Marko Kovačević, we heard expressions of gratitude to their 'motherland' Serbia, the only state that recognized their right to be Serbs, as well as the usual praises for the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, whose donations financed numerous projects in Nikšić, including the renovation of the sports hall in the school in Nikšić's Župa, which is not attended only by 'Serbian children'.

Quite expectedly, forecasts followed regarding the results of the upcoming population census in Montenegro, given that the participants of this gathering believe that the number of Serbs in Montenegro after the census will be much larger.

The Zavetnica, among other things, said that Serbia, respecting Montenegro's sovereignty, will carefully monitor the population census, and that as long as Herceg Novi is in Montenegro, Serbia has access to the sea. The Serbian world has obviously begun serious preparations for the census, but also for the upcoming elections, and new 'aid' from the state budget of Serbia is being negotiated extensively. We have listed only part of the manipulative lies that could be heard during the gathering, which represents an unprecedented disgrace to the state. And while this conduct of local self-government leaders, media representatives and NGOs from Montenegro provoked sharp reactions from part of the Montenegrin public, the Prime Minister believes that subservience to another state and unquestionable violation of the Constitution and state sovereignty deserve only a public reprimand.

So - a public reprimand for the new shaming of the state by reporting to another state, violating Constitutional principles, municipal statutes and abusing the positions they hold. The Prime Minister advised the municipal presidents to follow the example of the President of the Budva Municipality, Milo Božović, who did not attend any gathering of this type.

Knowing that the Prime Minister avoids difficult topics, we believe he did not watch the recording of the session, and therefore missed the fact that the Zavetnica read a public apology from the representative of the Budva Municipality because, due to urgent and previously planned activities, they were unable to attend the session.

The Prime Minister's leniency towards such shameful outbursts once again proves that the race in loyalty to the Serbian world is more active than ever, and the competition is fiercer than ever. We should probably also applaud the local officials who go to Belgrade with information on what has been done towards the final realization of the idea of the Serbian world, hoping that future meetings will include representatives of Serbs from other countries in the region. Some kneel before Dodik, and others before the Zavetnica.

Some applaud Putin and the perpetrators of genocide, and others applaud Vučić and the Serbian authorities. They divide our children into Serbian and the other kind, change the anthem and teach us that all Montenegrins are Serbs, all in a well-ordered and pro-European, above all civic state, and they bear no responsibility for it, because, obviously, both the Government and part of the local authorities are working on the same task, while the region, and Europe, laugh in our faces.

The hypocritical astonishment and patriotism of URA and Democrats will remain only at the level of Twitter posts, because - someone from the majority has to pretend to be Europeans and civic-minded. And as hypocritical as their outbursts of patriotism are, equally hypocritical are the criticisms of part of the sovereignists who voted in Nikšić for the decision on the city's patron saint day.

Because - granting legitimacy to the parade of clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church on the city's patron saint day, in a secular state, is as disastrous and unconstitutional as the subservient reporting to another state. And when it seems to us that we have hit rock bottom, there are countless unquestioning followers of the Serbian-Russian world to show us that the abyss into which they are pushing us is nowhere near the bottom.

They, as we see, do not choose means to achieve the sinister plan of dismantling Bosnia and Herzegovina and re-annexing Montenegro to Serbia, because the ideas of the nineties do not wane, only the executors change.

And since we are in such a hurry to hold elections, because the previous ones obviously taught us nothing, let us ask ourselves whether there are really enough wise and politically conscious individuals in the state to oppose their intentions and the new normal they are pushing, or are there many more who are ready, as before, lulled in their comfortable armchairs, to watch where bad policies, aimed at political and financial profit, and not at the state and citizens, have led us.