Travel Europe: Montenegro will take a sure step into the Open Balkan!

By: Nevena Kovačević

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Despite the negative opinion of the Venice Commission, with the votes of 41 MPs of the old - new parliamentary majority, the unconstitutional amendments to the Law on the President of Montenegro
were adopted for the second time.

For weeks, parliamentary meetings were held which, obviously, only feigned attempts at dialogue, because there is no readiness for dialogue on the Montenegrin political scene.

MPs from the ranks of the Democratic Party of Socialists claimed they would support the election of one judge of the Constitutional Court, provided the unconstitutional Law on the President is withdrawn from the session's agenda.
The DPS, for who knows how many times, refuses to accept the fact that they are no longer in power, and that any conditioning by Russian-Serbian players only strengthens the maneuvering space for their anti-state activities.

How is it possible that part of the sovereignist parties still does not understand that the scenario of the state's disintegration was devised long ago, outside Montenegro, and that there is no more room for blackmail and political manipulation?

The Constitutional Court is, therefore, still in a blockade.

The Civic Movement URA, resorting to the cheapest political manipulations and switching of arguments, tried to justify the vote for the Law on the President, even though it was quite clear from the first vote that they would not back down from this act. And so, once again, the Constitution was trampled in the most unscrupulous manner and the rule of law was suppressed, just as it suits the pro-Russian Democratic Front, which longs for institutional chaos and the destruction of the constitutional order, but also Dritan's URA, which consistently carries out orders from Moscow and Belgrade.

After the end of the session, the all-day protest of citizens in front of the Parliament building culminated in whistles, breaching the protective fence, and the use of tear gas by the police. Unfortunately, we witness such scenes daily, and there is no end in sight. Reactions from European partners are piling up.

The messages are clear - political actors should reach an agreement on withdrawing the unconstitutional law, and a new call for candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court should be issued as soon as possible. Not even the cancellation of the Parliamentary Committee on Stabilisation and Association between Montenegro and the European Union has shaken the political leaders.

Although Vladimir Bilčík was completely clear, citing the adoption of the unconstitutional amendments to the Law on the President as the reason for the cancellation, the Prime Minister in technical mandate, very cynically, characterised this unequivocal message as a political assessment, while the President of the Parliament, Danijela Đurović, who was supposed to chair the committee together with Bilčík, stated that she believes he maintains ties with certain political actors in Montenegro, and that the decision to cancel is the result of political influence.

The leaders in power do not care about the messages from European partners that without concrete reforms there is no continuation of the EU path and that the leading position of Montenegro in the European integration process is jeopardised, nor about the results of the latest survey showing that 77.8% of citizens support Montenegro's membership in the EU.

Unlike the EU leaders, Western partners show a rather hypocritical attitude towards the events in Montenegro. Messages that it is necessary to focus on the well-being, benefit and security of citizens reflect the West's unwillingness to clearly distance itself from the decisions of the parliamentary majority and condemn anti-state and anti-constitutional moves.

And this is not the first time we have witnessed the contradiction of the international community, which Dritan Abazović uses to continue promoting the story of the Open Balkan and the support of partners for his policy. Supporting his theses is the statement of Gabriel Escobar, who told Radio Free Europe, among other things, that the position of the United States of America is that the Open Balkan is not contrary to the country's European obligations, and that it is an initiative that strengthens regional cooperation.

And Montenegro's entry into the Open Balkan is now certain. Although Abazović denied the information from Pobjeda that he could sign the decision on Montenegro's accession to this regional initiative in just a few days, this will, without a doubt, happen soon.

Ignoring the analysis of the Ministry of European Affairs on the advantages and disadvantages of the Open Balkan, which clearly argued the reasons why Montenegro should by no means become a member of this initiative, Abazović insists on the claim that it is very beneficial for our country. Abazović has repeatedly stated that he has a very affirmative attitude towards the Open Balkan, which he repeated today.

We knew, ever since his participation in summits dedicated to this initiative, that such a move would be impossible to avoid if the Government continued to function in a technical mandate. We knew, but it was obviously easier for us to believe that the followers of Putin's and Vučić's policies would, by some miracle, respect the recommendations of European partners.

No, we were not deceived, we just pretended not to see what was being prepared for us. The pro-Russian Democratic Front, whose leaders were convicted for attempting a coup d'état and whose MPs hope for a sharp increase in the number of inhabitants who will declare themselves as Serbs in the upcoming census, so that they can then proceed to change the Constitution, flag and anthem, now controls all processes in the state.
The fact that the DF dictates the direction of political action, which the Democrats and URA unquestioningly implement, is the worst scenario that could have befallen this state.

When Abazović completes the process of Montenegro's accession to the Open Balkan, which is the strategic and only goal of URA and SNP, the formation of a government led by Miodrag Lekić follows, which will, very likely, bring the leaders of the Democratic Front to key positions in the executive branch. And that will be the beginning of the end for Montenegro, and there is no second chance.

Clichés and pathetic statements will not help us, just as the silence of numerous representatives of the academic community and public figures, who behave as if the situation in the country is completely normal, will not help us. Montenegro and its citizens are victims of blackmail and political manipulations of actors who, in the struggle to survive in their chairs or return to power, have forgotten the future of the country and its vital interests.

Civic resistance is the only thing left, provided it is non-violent resistance that will not involve attacks on MPs, nor any kind of conflict, and which will show that we are not the same and that we want a civic Montenegro, open to people of all faiths and nations. Reasonable solutions and an honest fight for a better future and the preservation of a sovereign Montenegro are the only right path, from which we must not deviate.