In the recognizable spirit of current Serbian-Montenegrin relations, on Saturday, at the Belgrade Hilton Hotel, BIA agents detained Ivan Vuković. A few hours later, the MP, vice president of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), and university professor will be deported as a "security threat" and banned from entering Serbia for the next year.
The background to this event is a classic Vučić thriller with elements of science fiction. It started with "a criminal clan from Montenegro who, through a group from Kraljevo, is trying to something to do" and "empty apartments in which something "And that's so logical because, as the Serbian president would say, "look who supports the colored revolution on Saturday, from Albin Kurti, the Croatian Home Guard, to Kavački and this other clan from Montenegro."
And then, on Saturday, as the student protest progressed, Marko Parezanović became increasingly nervous. He wandered around Brdo, waiting for some "Skaljarca" or "Kavčanin", "Ustasha" or at least "Kurtijevac", but in the end he had to settle for the unfortunate Vuković. The former mayor of Podgorica, by all accounts, was not, as the students would say, "pumping". He was accompanied by a family member and, as far as is known, of his subversive activities, he only took photos with students in front of his hotel and posted a post on the X network, with the message "Always with students".
Some would say - what kind of state, what kind of "security threat"? But in this Serbian-Montenegrin story, the key question is why Vučić decided to take such an unusual step towards a citizen of another country.
Instead of a direct answer, it might be better to list the reactions here, which seem to provide the best answer as to why Serbia decided to exercise strictness on a Montenegrin parliamentarian on the day of a major protest.
After the news of Vuković's arrest, Filip Ivanović, Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, was the first to speak out. As stated, "in a conversation with my esteemed colleague Marko Đurić, I was informed that the Member of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr. Ivan Vuković, is at large and is on his way to Montenegro". Instead of at least politely asking for an explanation, about a possible diplomatic protest or, God forbid, a demarche, let alone a demarche, mutual respect was expressed, right?!
Prime Minister Spajić had a similar position, almost justifying the actions of the Serbian authorities because MP Vuković, like Milan Knežević, "interfered in the internal affairs of another state." Putting Vuković and Knežević on the same level is, to say the least, disgusting because "Bruce Lee from Zeta", like Vučić's other Montenegrin epigones, by participating in SNS party rallies, celebrations and celebrations, and according to this criterion, they are not interfering in the internal affairs of another state, but are also directly participating in Vučić's propaganda activities. And no one is arresting them for that.
The DPS didn't exactly open its mouth to protest Vuković's arrest either. And why would they? They also welcomed this mistreatment of their own vice president, as yet another proof that they are the only true and sincere fighters against the Greater Serbian aggression. They don't even mention Vučić because, in fact, Šešelj ordered Vuković's arrest?! Quite understandable, since a dominant part of the DPS's political habitus is based on spreading fear of Vučić's "Serbian world". Losing such a trump card would displace this party from the comfortable, for them, situation in which they have been floundering for a decade, into some other reality in which they would have to deal with some other Montenegrin problems instead of waging war with real and imaginary Chetniks.
The ex-DF members followed the protest in Belgrade, mostly with indicative silence, reminding Vuković & comp. that it was DPS that once banned numerous Serbian national luminaries from entering Montenegro, from Bećković to Vlado Georgiev. This conspicuous silence is, above all, the result of fear, not so much for Vučić's shaken position, but for their own positions built on Vučić's selfless help, political, moral, but also material, in the fight for, you know, the rights of the Serbian people in Montenegro.
The true scale of this scandal could only be seen in a realistic international context if we were to relocate this or a similar action by Serbia to another European capital and the possible arrest of a member of the Bundestag or a British parliamentarian. The comparison is perhaps exaggerated because, for God's sake, we are talking about "two eyes in the head", and not about some Swabians or Englishmen, but at the same time it illustrates the incomprehensible complacency that the current government in Serbia often practices in relation to Montenegro.
And so, while Montenegro was amused by Vuković's misery, with visible fear, hope and caution, it became clear why so many eyes in Podgorica were on Belgrade and the student protest "15 for 15" on Saturday.
Quite understandable, because Vučić, as an ally, but also as an opponent, has become an indispensable part of the local political scene over time, a factor that largely defines not only the party's, but also the state's strategy. From the reactions to Vuković's arrest, or from their absence, it is clear who, why and with what expectations awaits news from Belgrade, but also what Montenegro can expect in the future from the government personified by Aleksandar Vučić.
That is why the arrest of Ivan Vuković in Belgrade is only a paradigm of the schizophrenic, almost incestuous relationship between the two brotherly states. And, perhaps even more, it indicates the importance for Montenegro of everything that is currently happening in Serbia.
Bonus video:
