Friday, January 10 - For the weeping relatives, friends and fellow citizens of the thirteen murdered Cetinje residents, it was like a slap in the face, just a day after the seventh morning...
Or, without like, mocking both the murdered and the mourners...
And there's a lot more that can be said about what happened, but it can all fit into two words...
A defeat of humanity, that's the least that can be said for what the Speaker of the Parliament Andrija Mandić did on Wednesday.
And now here are the missing words to indicate what is more devastating in both of these.
The fact that, in spite of the dead and living citizens of Cetinje and in the days of mourning, he gave Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević a painting of the chapel on Lovćen...
Or what he did in Mojkovac, in defiance of all of Montenegro...
Victoriously celebrating the suicidal attempt of the Montenegrin army in 1916, in which the army died on the spot, and the state succumbed to serious wounds two years later...
* * *
Saturday, January 11 - A lot can be said about Andrija Mandić, except that he is not unknown. That is why this weekend's refresher course is not intended for him, but for those whom he, as the leader of New Serbian Democracy, has been leading to the wrong side of history for fifteen years.
And that side of history is based on truth just as much as his politics are based on democracy...
And that is why not only the gift of a picture with a red bow, but also what was said on that occasion, is a display of spite towards both the capital and the state.
Because it is not true that the head of the Montenegrin parliament gave the Serbian prime minister a painting from the endowment of the Montenegrin bishop and ruler Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, a chapel from 1845/46, which he dedicated to Saint Peter of Cetinje...
In that picture is the endowment of King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Alexander Karađorđević from 1925, a chapel dedicated to St. George...
It is also not true that Njegoš's endowment was demolished by Austro-Hungarian artillery in 1916, because it was only damaged at the time.
It could have been repaired, but the government of the Kingdom of SHS demolished the chapel in 1925.
And in the same year, she built a "more beautiful and older" one on Lovćen. And for that occasion, she brought stone from Venčac, near Topola...
That, without going into too much history, is just part of the reason why Mandić's gift to Vučević is appropriate for Vučević and the state of Serbia...
For Cetinje and Montenegro, it is not only inappropriate, but also offensive because it symbolizes the violent abolition of Montenegro, the overthrow of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty and the abolition of the Montenegrin Church, which (even) under Bishop Rade was autocephalous...
So much for the latest brotherly gift with a red ribbon...
* * *
Sunday, January 12 - Now let's renew the material about the gift from the last century, the presentation of which was then accompanied by thousands of black not ribbons but scarves...
And about the commemoration of the 109th anniversary of the Battle of Mojkovac.
- Montenegro has no one closer than Serbia. This is also symbolized by 1916, when the Montenegrin and Serbian armies fought together against the then occupier - this is how Andrija Mandić assessed it.
And that could somehow be swallowed if he had gone to Mojkovac as the president of the NSD, the party that represents part of the Serbs in Montenegro.
If Serbia is really closest to its leader and his followers, that is their problem.
But the state of Montenegro is not only geographically close, but also has other neighbors: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo.
Mandić, like all other state officials, is obligated to speak this truth publicly as long as he is the president of the state parliament.
And what is the truth about the Battle of Mojkovac, the Commander-in-Chief will explain it to him better than I can:
- Although in vain, the battle was won, we saved the Serbian army from ruin - this is what serdar Janko Vukotić said in his last message to his heroes on January 10, 1916.
There was no internet back then, but couriers were replaced relatively quickly...
And word reached the north about the disaster that more than 280 Austro-Hungarian cannons had caused on Lovćen and the surrounding area...
During that time, the frozen and starving Montenegrin army near Mojkovac managed to clear the way for the Serbian army to escape to the south.
And only then was she informed that Montenegro had lost Lovćen, Cetinje and - itself...
And I know that Mandić and his people won't believe me now...
But maybe they want the prime minister of a country they consider a brotherly country...
Here's how he answers the question of why Montenegrins died at Mojkovac:
- They protected the retreat of the Serbian army through Montenegro and Albania and enabled the preservation of the army of the Kingdom of Serbia!
And what would have happened if there had been no Battle of Mojkovac?
- There would have been no Corfu, no Thessaloniki Front, no victory in 1918 - that's what Miloš Vučević said.
And no, I agree about the winners, but not the losers.
Because Austria-Hungary suffered decisive defeats on some larger fronts and in fiercer battles...
Mojkovac enabled you to be defeated in 1918 - Montenegro...
* * *
Monday, January 13 - That, due to the hidden pages of history, that year and century later instigates inter-ethnic - to put it mildly - misunderstandings between Serbs and Montenegrins, is entirely expected.
Due to the refusal of the majority of Montenegro to face the 1990s, it was realistic to expect both the earlier regular hate speech and its extraordinary escalation after the fall of the former regime...
But that such a carom would be created by a mono-ethnic and mono-religious government in Budva exceeded even the expectations of political opponents, both at the local and state levels.
Mikijelj and Jovanović almost got into a fight.
Councilors from the ZBB, DCG and PES coalition took to the podium and prevented the parliamentary session from taking place.
Supporters of the winner occupied the hall and council seats.
Voters of the "Budva Our City" list stormed the mayor's office.
Hostage crisis, some councilors captured.
The state should declare a state of emergency in Budva...
And that's just some of the headlines published just a day or two after the two-day Christmas festivities...
And it wouldn't deserve space in this column if it weren't for one little thing...
Due to a drastically more polite rebellion in the state parliament, Andrija Mandić is regularly punishing the deputies.
In Budva, ZBB tolerates violent behavior by its party cadres, both former and current. PES, as usual, doesn't know where to strike...
A Democrat?
Well, like in the good old days when they had no opinion on anything controversial, they have once again chosen the position of OSCE observer...
* * *
Tuesday, January 14 - And only now do I see how optimistic I was when I wrote that Budva would face elections, not if and when, but before spring...
And I was still questioning myself, fearing that I was early with that spring...
And the God-fearing parties of the previous government not only didn't last until Christmas, but they couldn't even get together in November...
The month that kept them united for years because of the battle of the Serbian army for the liberation of Budva, which never happened...
Uh, I'm getting off topic, but now I have to be nationally sensitive, it wasn't the Montenegrin army that liberated that city, but the Austro-Hungarian army that retreated due to defeat on major fronts...
Even the recently concluded elections could not free Budva from the ruling coalition... The fourth in four years, the third in the last two, and the second after six months consumed by negotiations on the formation of the local government...
This is not news, at least not to those who followed the pre-election dialogue between the former parliamentary brothers. Which began with Persianization and ended with insults:
- Your father is Sveta Marović's business partner.
- Let the citizens see how this guy behaves. He's been to my house over fifty times, you know. And he ate at my table. And he knew everything then, and who my father was...
- You explain that illegal object.
- Explain your apartment, when the market price was around 2.000 euros per square meter and he paid 700 for it.
- Your father was the assistant director of the Waterworks, and he did not come to work for 19 years.
- Don't cry!
- Don't talk about snobbery!
And they didn't, they switched to fist dialogue...
* * *
Wednesday, January 15 - I did hit it hard, but only the laptop key was damaged by my fist...
Is this realistic? Ambassador Judy Reising Reinke has provided full support to the acting director of the National Security Agency, Ivica Janović.
Based on what?
I don't know, maybe it was his impressive biography that recommended him:
Ivica Janović graduated from the Higher Maritime School in Kotor.
He was a sailor and sailed on MSC ships.
He is a private entrepreneur with no experience in the security sector.
He is the brother of PES MP Tonći Janović.
He is the husband of Zvezdana Barac-Janović, the president of the Management Board of the Marine Reserve.
He is the godfather of Branko Krvavac, the head of the prime minister's cabinet.
Yes, I don't think anything good about their foreign policy, but I really didn't expect this kind of embarrassment from the USA...
For as long as I can remember, only Montenegro has prepared itself a council, by handing over Do Kwon to Washington...
If only he had been kidnapped, at least we would have continued to enjoy the illusion that we live in a sovereign, independent and legal state...
Bonus video:
