Milo and Vučić again in the same machine

A lot of bile has been spilled between Aleksandar Vučić and Milo Đukanović in the last few years. Both of them tried in their own way to create the impression in the public that they are arch-enemies, and not as close allies as they were until yesterday. There was no other way, because the stake is high. Milo defends the Montenegrins from Serbia, and Vučić defends the Serbs in Montenegro from Montenegro, and both of them, should we say, defend themselves and their own position above all.

Essentially, the problems faced by Đukanović and Vučić are not exactly related, but the goal and the opponent are common.

In some other circumstances, Milojko Spajić would not have posed any serious problem to this well-coordinated duo, nor would anyone else who was not hardened to politics based on authentic Balkan rules. After all, both Krivokapić and Abazović felt this on their own skin, each in their own way. Spajić had already gotten pretty dirty on that Milovo-Vučić fire. He still hasn't forgotten the humiliation he was subjected to, along with his selfless contribution, with the fact that I have or don't have Serbian citizenship, and he knows what he can expect from these two. That is why it is understandable that Milojko, until his trip to Germany, tried to navigate between Balkan Scylla and Charybdis. Has this equilibrism come to an end?

Before answering this dilemma, it should be remembered that it seemed to Milo and Aleksandar that everything in Montenegro was going according to their wishes and goals adapted to the newly created situation.

It would, of course, have been much better for both Đukanović and Vučić if Andrija Mandić had made it to the second round of the presidential elections and lost to Đukanović honorably, with a bit of slurring and fuss that he had been stolen, but hey, he's there.

Đukanović accepted the defeat with dignity, and Vučić immediately switched to another track.

After Milatović's epic wine tasting and the entry of pro-Serbian parties into Miloj's Government, the president of all Serbs was sure that he was served another Montenegrin political set on a plate or, since he prefers wine, in a decanter. In his world, the Serbian one, this meant that he could once again let Escobar and Hill, Macron and Solac know that the stability of the Western Balkans was in his hands. In addition to Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro is also on offer, so let them see if they will still bother him there with some Banjsko or nonsense like alleged election irregularities.

Đukanović was not dissatisfied either. Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević were placed in the ruling majority, and it is known that his favorite political maxim is - when the going gets tough, Rajo and Pipun? Everything, therefore, went more or less according to plan. Yes, there were some arrests and Sky chatter here and there, but all within the expected limits.

Milo was also satisfied that Vučić was doing his part of the job in his own way. The Serbian president did not stop at Jakov Milatović's visit. This was followed by Mandić's presence at the celebration of the victory of the Serbian Progressive Party in the parliamentary elections, then Knežević in Dodik's embrace on Republika Srpska Day, Milet's three fingers and the tricolor in the Montenegrin parliament...

Both Vučić and Đukanović enjoyed the fruits of their joint actions, watching sweetly how Milojko Spajić was roasted on the quiet fire of the decision on the admission of Kosovo to the Council of Europe and the future vote in the UN on the resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica. The Milos are asking for co-sponsorship for the resolution, and Vučić is threatening so much that Vasilije Čarapić is still holding his hand up so that Belgrade can see how reserved we are regarding Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe.

The less they said, the stronger Vučić's and Milo's alliance became, and then, rather unexpectedly, things got complicated.

In the interview with Antena M, many could not recognize "that" Milo Đukanović. He cut with a razor left and right, mentioned blood feud and "revenge mentality", even criticized the West because it does not understand Montenegrins or what is really happening in Montenegro. Milivoje Katnić and a group of citizens gathered around the Montenegrin Helsinki Committee were most pleased with this, for Milo, unusual rhetoric. They understood that the reason for Milo's mood was, first of all, the arrest of the former SDT, and action was taken immediately. Open letters, daily harsh announcements, some media close to the DPS write that "Katnić is teaching a lesson from Montenegro", protest gatherings are organized and what not.

Milo obviously didn't tell them either what was the real reason for his hitherto rarely seen nervousness, even anger. And then, on Tuesday, at 13.29:40 p.m., the government's XNUMX-MNE landed from London to the Podgorica airport, in which there was one, the only passenger, none other than Duško Knežević, the man Milo would least want on the soil of Crna at this moment. Above.

Despite the firm promises of the British, and not only them, instead of peacefully spending his retirement days in London, Knežević and his "blue bag" shaved in Milo's yard.

On the other hand, Milojko Spajić was first in Paris, and then in Berlin, to interpret Article 4 of the Brussels Agreement, the Franco-German plan and the Ohrid Annex, which clearly state that Belgrade will not oppose Kosovo's membership in any international organization. And if Aleksandar Vučić initialed or accepted all of this in one way or another, then there is absolutely no reason for Montenegro to vote differently from its European allies.

Then it was the turn of the resolution on Srebrenica filled with numerous promises from the economic sphere and an accelerated path to the EU to the extent that the deadline for admission was shortened so much that the president of the European Committee of the Bundestag, politician Anton Hofreiter, bid with 2026 as a possible date of admission. new members of the European Union.

If that's the case, fine then, Spajić muttered, which was quite enough for Milan Nič, a German expert on the Western Balkans and NATO expansion and a member of the German Council for Foreign Affairs, to announce that Montenegro would not be a co-sponsor, but that it would vote for it in the UN. resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica.

By the way, Spajić told Vučić directly that regional tensions and Belgrade's interference are a "constant issue", but "media perception is exaggerated".

As expected, Vučić reacted immediately through his spokesmen Dodik, Mandić and Knežević, with the already familiar rhetoric. Spajić answered him from the mouth of Jakov Milatović, who quite clearly called the crime in Srebrenica genocide.

Milo Đukanović has not yet directly announced the sudden arrival of Duško Knežević, but he, like his ally from Serbia in this story, is preparing Spajić a warm welcome for his return to Montenegrin reality, wanting to prove, above all, to the West that he is further, as a counterweight to Vučić, indispensable in the assembly of the Montenegrin political mosaic and that this with the extradition of Knežević is a big mistake of the British.

There are many dilemmas, but the basic question for Milojko Spajić, Jakov Milatović and the ruling majority is, to return to the phrase from the beginning, what is the national interest of Montenegro at this moment. Not Serbs or Montenegrins, not Vučić or Đukanović, but the state of Montenegro, which cannot be just a simple sum of the interests of national entities. In fact, it can, but then there will be no Montenegro.