And then came Uncle Gabe…
You'll forgive me for breaking all journalistic rules by starting this column with an elliptical sentence that ends with three periods. And, I have to, as the famous Podgorica philosopher Šomi Roganović would say, because the circumstances are such.
In the coalition agreement on power, let's recall, it is written that the reconstruction of the Government of Montenegro is planned no later than the voting of the budget for 2025, which means - by the end of this year. It was stated that "in accordance with the consistent and complete observance of all provisions of the agreement", the Prime Minister undertakes to implement it.
The reconstruction of the 44th Government is very certain and no one will play by signing the agreement, said the President of the Assembly December 21 last year.
A day later, in a statement for Tanjug, Andrija Mandić specified that in a few months, after the New Year, the reconstruction of the Government should follow.
"We expect the coalition agreement to be respected, which states that in one year at the latest - that is, in October 2024, there will be a reconstruction of the Government", he said February 8 the President of the Parliament of Montenegro claiming that Prime Minister Milojko Spajić is ready to do it sooner due to the good results of the Parliament and the Government.
Mandić, answering questions after the Zeta Municipality Day celebration, asserted that Spajić proposed a phased reconstruction "where one part would be realized as soon as possible, and the other part after the summer".
"Perhaps now the whole work will be finished before the summer, so that the people who will strengthen the government and be the driving force can be fully established in those positions by the fall," said Mandić.
Rajo, then, February 19, said that "the reconstruction of the Government should take place by the summer at the latest, because the results in just three months are impressive".
Even Milan Knežević was not behind in announcing the "refreshing" of the Government of Montenegro with the imminent entry of ZBCG into Milojko Spajić's cabinet.
In the pre-holiday mood, December 29 last year, Knežević reminded that "the reconstruction of the Government is foreseen by the coalition agreement that we signed as members of the parliamentary majority, and I don't see why it should be made a taboo topic".
"If we agree with Prime Minister Spajić that the reconstruction will take place earlier, then it will happen," said the president of the Democratic People's Party in an interview with Portal RTCG.
At the end of January, he said that the "reconstruction of the government could happen in April or May", adding that the DNP should get the vice-presidential post. In those days, it was speculated that when the time came for the reconstruction, Maja Vukićević, a member of parliament from that party, would be proposed as the deputy prime minister.
Milan Knežević then, March 6, expressed expectations "that talks with Prime Minister Milojko Spajić regarding the reconstruction of the Government could begin in the next few days, which could happen as early as mid-May.
Knežević later stated for "Dan" that they would have initiated negotiations on reconstruction earlier, but they gave up "out of respect for everything that happened in the Europe Now Movement".
"After the latest events on the political scene of Montenegro, the exit of the President Jakov Milatović from the ranks of the Europe Now Movement, the expulsion of the Minister of Justice Andrej Milović from the party, the departure of councilors in Podgorica and the dissolution of the municipal boards in Podgorica and Bar and the events in Danilograd, we cannot ignore the current political moment", Knežević was perceptive.
Et cetera, et cetera, so that I don't bore you, dear readership, with more quotes and dates.
And, then Gabe came and more than clearly told Andrija & Milan & comp., but also the others who these days are being heroic about overthrowing the Government, not to touch anything and listen to Milojko.
Puff, puff, and it's over, as the prime minister would put it.
For Spajić, it may be over, but for the two eyes in the head of every Serb in Montenegro, it is just beginning because - "down hard, and up high".
No matter how skillfully this duo walked the thin Serbian-Montenegrin tightrope, that time has passed.
On the one hand, it is already obvious that the leading countries of the EU, primarily the French and the Germans, have decided that, if necessary, they will shovel Montenegro, if not into the Union, at least to the very entrance. The Europeans, at least that is the dominant attitude of the majority of the member states, desperately need someone, read Montenegro, who will be a shining example to the others that in the game of "carrot and stick" there really is a carrot.
Of course, temporary benchmarks, IBAR and closing chapters represent a dominant part of the rhetoric of almost all EU officials, but, it is often forgotten, the admission of new members to the EU was often a matter of purely political decision. Let's just think of Romania and Bulgaria, which before joining the European club on January 1, 2007, were in an even bigger gap than Montenegro is today in terms of fulfilling the criteria.
Montenegro's accelerated path towards EU membership, as well as entry into the Government, can easily be postponed from spring to autumn or even the end of the year. For Andrija and Milan, it would, however, be just one of those frogs that, on the way from DF to Montenegrin SNS, have to be swallowed, with more or less disgust.
However, they face a much more serious problem.
It's no secret that Aleksandar Vučić never really preferred Milojko Spajić. The Serbian president considered him a charlatan and, according to diplomatic sources, he was ready to prevent Milojka from participating in the parliamentary elections by forbidding him to be issued with a certificate of Serbian citizenship, which, Spajić, he did not even have at one point. The confirmation, however, arrived in Podgorica only after several not-so-pleasant calls from Washington, but the intolerance of the Serbian president towards the Montenegrin prime minister remained. And not only that, it increased every day inversely proportional to the praise that came from Europe and the USA at the expense of the 44th Montenegrin Government.
Praise and the European trip aside, that doesn't really interest Vučić much, but 450 euros minimum pension and the promised average salary of one thousand, well, that's already entering Vučić's territory, actually a minefield, because it's a direct blow to the soft belly of his political ego and the core of the Essenes propaganda machine.
That's how we get to Mandić and Knežević. Because, the question of the day is when the firman will arrive from the capital of the "Serbian world" with a more than clear message - Spajić must be demolished. In addition to the above-mentioned reasons, Vučić thinks quite logically, someone in Serbia can think of copying Milojko's recipe and, instead of ten years of fruitless patriotism with Vučić, come before Soraba with the "Serbia now" program, with minimal pensions, let's say from one thousand euros and double wages?!
Well, this is already a serious problem for Aleksandar Vučić, which he solves simply - by raising the combat readiness of the Serbian corps in Montenegro to the maximum level, with the ultimate goal - returning Milojko Spajić to Singapore.
At that moment, for Andrija and Milan comes that D-day and the political polygraph with only one question: are the Serbs - (Vučić's) Serbs or are the Serbs - Montenegrins.
And they both know that there is no cheating on Vučić's polygraph.
Bonus video:
