How I helped Europe now

I smiled getting off the plane in Tivat (the first time I've been here in the last 14 months) and reading an article about myself in "Vijesti", written in such a conspiratorial tone: who is this mysterious man, Mr. Gavejn Tauler? This international adviser from the shadow of politicians around the world?

The reality, of course, is far simpler. I am a guy who has loved Montenegro for a long time - first Montenegro from imagination, and recently real Montenegro and Montenegrins.

I first became aware of your country thanks to one of my earliest heroes, Alex Devine. Devin founded my school, Klejesmor, in 1896. His mother was Montenegrin, and the Daily Chronicle sent him to the Balkans in December 1912 to report on the First Balkan War as a correspondent. There he fell in love with this country. During the First World War, he collected huge funds for refugees, for Montenegro, giving Montenegrin children free places in his school.

Later he organized aid for Montenegro and Montenegrin refugees, in 1920 he was the president of the British Committee for Aid to Montenegro. He was a great lobbyist for that country and campaigned for it to be represented at the Versailles Peace Conference. He wrote countless books about Montenegro, its tribes and customs. Montenegro has never had a greater friend.

When I had the opportunity to visit Podgorica, I took it.

I have spent my life working in, and writing about, politics and culture. In July 2020, I read an article in Njuzvik that was hard for me to believe.

The claim made in the article, that Milo plans to essentially close down the main church in the country ahead of the parliamentary elections, was astonishing.

That's why I called my friend George Cottrell, whom I knew was stationed in Tivat, and asked. He suggested I come and see for myself. The first covid blockade lasted, so I am with the engagement from the side The Daily Telegraph i magazine Criticism contacted the Montenegrin embassy in London, got permission to travel in two days and flew there.

On that trip, I met, among others, Miloš Nikolić and leading figures from the Orthodox Church, and was impressed. Even better, traveling across the country reminded me why my childhood mind loved the place from afar. People, landscape, food and wine grabbed my soul.

A few months later, I helped the Montenegrin embassy to organize a series of interviews with Krivokapić and Jakov Milatović in London.

Since then I have returned many times, both as a journalist and as a tourist. So, being one of the few journalists with a long-term interest in this country, with new elections on the horizon and my experience of fighting elections in Britain and elsewhere, I was naturally interested.

In that state of mind, and having heard about the newly formed party Evropa nad and Jakov's involvement in it, I arranged a meeting in a cafe in Bokeška with him and Filip Ivanović, to see if I could use my experience to help. It was clear that Jakov had forgotten about our brief meeting in London. Although we have different attitudes towards the European Union, the meeting went well, after all - what is good for Montenegro is different from what is good for Great Britain. For me, the broad political platform presented by Milatović and Ivanović was exciting and forward-looking, a real chance to help Montenegro escape the eroding poverty of the Đukanović era. Later I was invited to engage in Europe now, but for free.

I returned again in the fall, when I met Spajić for the first time, observed local elections and gave free media advice, the trip was financed by my journalistic work. I was then joined by Harry Parslow, another friend who used to work with me on creating content for social networks.

It was both fun and successful, Jakov won the elections in Podgorica, and now Europe did well in Danilovgrad and other places.

After that success, Parslow and I returned during Spajić's unsuccessful presidential campaign, when we received a small contract from Europe Now to provide strategic media advice for that campaign. My team of freelancers recorded a dozen video-spots, until Spajić retired, and Jakov took over that role, winning the presidential elections.

We continued to provide media advice and recorded several videos for the parliamentary campaign, but it was clear that the internal Europe team no longer wanted our support. Parslow returned to his global recording career.

And me? I spent the next month traveling the country, indulging my love of vineyards, history, ancient churches and your crumbling collection of monuments from the Yugoslav era. Strangely, I'm back in the country for the first time since the parliamentary elections, so I was surprised to see people writing about me when I got back. I overlooked the questions of "Vijesti" journalists. But I hope they have been answered now.

The author is a media and political consultant