Milivoje Katnić can sometimes sting like an onion planter.
He says that it will be a "difficult and dark" year ahead. And then, on the same day, Aleksandar or Saša Sinđelić appears to him with a changed statement, instead of waiting for the results in the form of a guilty verdict for the coup d'état, which he expected in a few weeks.
He also says that he is sorry that they "fooled" this people into protesting instead of "cultivating a little land, planting onions or something else".
Katnić could have brought accusations of a weekend revolution or euphoria of the Milo fell on Facebook type, however, the fact is that opposition voters now have much more reason for optimism than they ever had before. And Katnić knows that.
Danijel Server told TV N1 that "we all see how Đukanović will probably retire from the political scene...", only to be sprinkled with ashes for domestic purposes in Pobjeda that "now there is no room for Đukanović to retire".
In both statements, Server raises the issue of the lack of a pro-NATO alternative, which former British diplomat Sir Ivor Roberts did not see as a problem. In an article for the influential portal Politico, Roberts promotes Duško Marković as the heir to the throne, while the editor of the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe, Dragan Štavljanin, in a text that, according to Đukanović, was ominous, which was transmitted by the Voice of America, raises the question of how the long-term the head of security "who certainly has good judgment and trump cards".
Such toasts to the heirs to the throne are not forgiven - from the Berlin one to Igor Lukšić to the Moscow one from 1964, to Aleksandar Ranković, who is close to Marković by profession.
Marković recently said that he expects to pass the highway next year because he watched it a lot from the helicopter. He doesn't have to worry about watching the highway from a helicopter for a long time, if his political sword remains in its sheath. He will probably drive in a private car, if Đukanović overtakes all this by some chance.
Because, as Štavljanin noted, in the case of Montenegro, the key question is not who will be in power, but how to enable essential reforms. Or, whoever is in power in Montenegro must cooperate with Washington and Brussels.
In a short time, Đukanović went from one of the pillars of defense against Russian influence in the Balkans to the longest-serving European ruler with numerous mortgages in the Western media.
He ascended the throne of Podgorica three decades ago when the president of East Germany, Erich Honecker, stepped down from Berlin. It is in Berlin that the Montenegrin president will be hosted by German protocol colleague Frank Walter Steinmeier in a few days, which is part of Đukanović's attempt to reduce political damage.
It seems that the time of Trabant democracy, rooted in the Balkans and resurrected in some former members of the Eastern Bloc, is passing in Montenegro.
Mass party conversions, in the form of the allocation of 100 new access cards, are certainly not encouraging, nor have they yielded results, especially in Tuzi. DPS seems to be entering a phase that is closer to religious. I guess, as the end of absolute rule approaches, people start to believe in the Almighty more and more.
And to get closer to the end, there are many, many signals.
The head of British diplomacy, Jeremy Hunt, is not our Srđa Darmanović to whom some NGO will send an open letter. Nor is Duško Knežević naive to disclose his letter to Hunt in the situation he is in, without the approval of British diplomacy. At the same time, in the letter, he expresses, for the opposition public, which is either indifferent or on his side, the unpopular position that "he does not want the departure of Đukanović to bring instability, weaken the Government" because "he is convinced that the politicians in the DPS are fully capable of leading the country ".
Djukanović was recently awarded the "King David European Award" by the European Jewish Association. Practically simultaneously, First Lady Melania Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo presented the State Department's "Courageous Woman" award to Olja Lakić, a journalist from Vijesti, which Đukanović claims is a media mafia.
A rhetorical question - what do you think, for example, about the authorities in Tanzania or Burma, from which two out of 10 women in the world received this prestigious award. Well, the Americans think the same about the Montenegrin authorities. And those in Tanzania and Burma who support the efforts of their activists.
Or, that message in light of the protests and the "Envelope" affair from the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk: "It is of fundamental interest for Montenegro that all problems be clarified...".
For Tusk, protests are "part of the normal functioning of a democratic society", while Commissioner Johannes Hahn authorized the head of the Delegation to the European Union, Aiva Orav, to talk to the organizers of the protests.
Thus, in addition to the government and the opposition, Brussels also gave legitimacy to the resolution of the crisis to the Independence Square. And as much as this fact does not please Đukanović, it certainly does not please the opposition leaders either. Nor were they pleased that, without notice or knowledge, they were invited to boycott the parliament and that a crucial protest would be held on March 16.
That's why the answers arrived. Like the one from Andrija Mandić that "the fact that the Serbian people of Montenegro, as always, are leading in this fight cannot be hidden." Or reminding the SDP that things still have to end with a vote in parliament.
If you sincerely want to replace Đukanović and DPS, then there is no place for surprises, orders, vanity or moralizing about the role of Duško Knežević. Whoever cares about morality should go to the Church, not to politics, as Zoran Đinđić would say.
It remains to be seen what Knežević will announce by March 16 or that day. If some compromising material is not disclosed, as he promised, he will become a tragicomic character.
To begin with, the organizers of the protest could clarify with the DF what their plans are in the event of a conviction against Mandić and Milan Knežević, which could lead to radicalization and the destruction of the democratic and civil image of the rebellion. Especially if they are sentenced to sentences of more than five years in the first-instance proceedings, which allows the regime to immediately take them to Spuž.
Maybe that's why Katnić talks about a "difficult and dark year ahead of us".
But he must have made a mistake in one. Here the land is tilled and the onions are sown.
You just have to wait for the time when the feathers are plucked and the head is removed. So, "take it easy".
Bonus video:
