After Dodik, Mandić also gave up on Vučić. Although the head of parliament still has not publicly announced that AV is over, AM is showing with his actions that he no longer wants to play the role of a mustard pot in which to dip a hot dog for anyone arriving from radical Serbia. From Vučić to Vulin. And Šešelj. I am not Milan Knežević or Goran Danilović, nor Dajko or Marko. The leader of Nova is not publicly announcing this either, but it is more than obvious that for months now Andrija Mandić's policies have not gone hand in hand, as they used to, with those of his brothers and SNS satellites from the ZBCG coalition.
It's been a long time since Mandić seemed as fulfilled and happy as in the photos and videos from the USA. Although Pinki did not see Donald, and although he missed meeting with some of the high-ranking State Department officials, Mandić was not angry. Moreover, he used every opportunity to emphasize that "the citizens of Montenegro expect a lot from the Trump administration" for the simple reason that "cooperation with the United States of America is of particular importance to us"! He sold his faith for dinner, Vulin would say. Or something similar, again from the handsome Njegoš - honor and disgrace live forever!
So nowhere is that Mandić from 2020 from receiving the saber and decorations. When, inspired by Vulin's speech, he said that all those who, like him, responded to the call to defend their homeland in 1999, "should be proud". And not to be ashamed that for two decades they were suggested by others, who, as the former Andrija concluded, "called for desertion and worked for the NATO alliance".
It turns out that 2020 will be remembered not only for the fall of DPS, but also for the rise of Mandić. Historians and chroniclers will tell how something similar happened to Mandić in 2020 that happened to Đukanović in 1997. That he lost his mind and left Mašan, along with the collector, in Botun. With Milan Knežević and Aleksandar Vulin.
That's how things stand according to Vulin himself. Which means Vučić too. Because while the wounded leader of Serbia has been awake for weeks about oil and Putin, not knowing how to save the country from bankruptcy without angering the boss from Moscow, Mandić easily broke through. Not only by flying to distant and centuries-hated America, but also by voting in the Parliament to send Montenegrin soldiers to the NATO mission in Ukraine. The symbolic support for Kiev was used as an excuse by official Belgrade to write off Mandić not only for this but also for all previous steps and attempts to free himself from the Black Hand mantra and ideology. Vulin forgot the saber and medals, the moving anti-NATO speech, in which he emphasized the chivalry of the former Andrija who "in 1999 was with his people and his country", which "deserved our respect and that we repay him in this way".
Shame and disgrace from the same Mandić, Vulin believes today. With the remark that he feels "disgust, not surprise", due to the fact "that the New Serbian Democracy gave the decisive votes" for Ukraine. Mandić and the other brothers and sisters from NOVA are for Vulin "Serbs in need", while Milan Knežević and a certain Dobričanin are "Serbs worthy of their ancestors". With the already mentioned conclusion that "honor and disgrace live forever", so let Andrija be seen.
Something similar, Mandić understood long before 2020 or 2025. That it was necessary to break with the truly anti-Serbian policy that had thrown Serbia from the head of the column of Eastern European and communist countries back in 1989 to the back, through four wars, numerous crimes, one genocide, and the loss of part of its territory. Namely, a few years after the referendum, Andrija, if WikiLeaks is to be believed, visited the American embassy and rationally considered Montenegro's position in regional and geostrategic processes. Including its membership in NATO. We cannot be vocal in favor of membership because of the voters, but let Montenegro join, we will not raise an uprising.. Something similar to this was said in confidence by Mandić to Ambassador Mur. What remained from that time, and Andrija's first attempt to break it into his brain, was the idea that, as part of the necessary changes in the party, the attribute "Serbian" should be removed from its new name. And that New Democracy should be born. The "Black Hand" raised a hook and a hoe from the party base, according to the system we want Russians and let alone Serbs, so this adjective was nevertheless retained in the name of New.
Mandić's next step in trying to distance himself from the anti-Serbian policies of Vučić and Šešelj, who were, in truth, Milo's comrades-in-arms more than his own, was to invite diplomat Miodrag Lekić to return to Podgorica from Rome and be the presidential candidate of the DF. He saw Lekić as a bridge that was supposed to turn him away from Belgrade and Moscow and lead him towards Rome and Washington. But, although it was close - nothing came of Andrija's attempt to renounce his own political and ideological past. When the DPS, with the help of the same West, stole Lekić and pushed the weak Vujanović as president, the "black hand" saw a chance to return Mandić to factory settings. To get him off the evil path towards Rome and Washington, Vulin would say. And he turned to Moscow, which means official Belgrade.
Thus, Mandić sank into the mud and tragedy of Russophilia and the red Orthodoxy of Vladimir Putin and his services. Unlike Vulin, he did not wait for Naryškin, the head of the FSB for foreign intelligence, to chair some Russian institute, but for years he repeated the comical narrative of "us and Russians 200 million". And he received sabers and medals from the same black-robed Vulin. Only to one day wait for AV to personally present him with some new medal. Without a saber. Although before that, the head of Nova let Knežević, Dajković, Milačić and the like roam the squares of Serbian cities, playing pranks and giving support to the SNS and the wise leader.
When the invisible stealth of the monument to Pavle Đurisić flew into Montenegro, with the idea of starting a bigger fight or even a smaller war - Mandić did not let himself be fooled. Even the closeness with the newly minted Metropolitan Metodije, and Ostojić's personal support for various election campaigns of the DFva, did not push AM to defend the character and work of the Berane Metropolitan. And neither did Đurišić. In parallel with all the aforementioned events, a narrative began to spread in the corridors that Mandić, unlike Knežević, did not want to tie his political fate to the fallen Serbian autocrat. "Vučić without an alternative", sounds similar to the dilemma that tore the DPS apart in 1997, which was: Yugoslavia without an alternative!? Or with an alternative.
That's why Vulin is crying. And not because of Ukraine. And that's why Knežević immediately confirms his loyalty: he and his party will never vote against Vučić and Putin. He doesn't say it exactly like that, but that's the essence of his message that neither he, nor anyone of his, "will never vote for any anti-Serbian or anti-Russian decision". Makes you cringe. That's why it's clear why for Vulin, Mandić and his comrades from Nova are "Serbs as needed", and MK, some Dobričanin and the rest of the Dajkovićs - Serbs worthy of their ancestors. And not disgrace and shame.
Although the aforementioned Vulin "farewell" to Mandić and Novi does not come from his head, it does not mean that the AV boss will repeat a similar statement. I do not believe that he will incite his propaganda dogs from Belgrade and Podgorica to bark at Mandić. Because, after Dodik and Andrija, Vučić himself has lined up for Donald's mercy. The General Staff, tens of thousands of square meters in the very center of Belgrade, is not enough, and much more significant, the renunciation of the decade-long narrative of a holy war, worthy of ancestors, against the criminal NATO alliance. If the Epstein files do not bring down Trump, then Vučić will probably be in Washington, where he will say, like Mandić the other day, that Serbs "have great confidence in the Trump administration" and that "cooperation with the United States of America is of particular importance."
If it is yet to be seen for the Serbian leader, it is already clear for our vojvoda. He has chosen a side. And if he remains in power, he will not, like 10 or 15 years ago, return to factory settings. Instead of the "black hand" and Naryshkin, Mandić will turn to the charms of the MAGA movement. If he has some attractive location to give to Trump's son-in-law or sons - here comes Andrija in the Oval Office. While Vulin, Knežević, Dobričanin and the other pipuni, from Red Square, cry out how shame and disgrace live forever. Thinking of Andrija, not Milo.
Bonus video:
