In the first days of January 2026, the "prime minister's flying tourists", observing Montenegro from the sky, instead of a network of roads under construction and "one large construction site", could see overflowing rivers, flooded and cut roads, flooded properties and roofs of houses above water, destroyed and flooded bridges, cars in water, and everything that heavy rains can cause.
During the holidays, Christmas, many households could not afford to celebrate in their family homes, while the majority of the "supreme" authorities spent the 8-11 days of the holidays and in between the holidays, mostly on vacation, as befits their cronies. If they nail a little representation, it is not controversial, because they can be. Their voice was not heard regarding the natural disasters, while one of the general secretaries explained to us that "the situation is not catastrophic". This statement did not help those who were evacuated from their flooded houses in Danilovgrad, Nikšić and some other municipalities, nor the tens of thousands of passengers who were unable to travel on Montenegrin flooded and destroyed roads. Only the mayor of Podgorica visited the flooded areas in Podgorica and showed himself to be a caring host of the Capital City. No crisis headquarters at the state level, nor in most flooded municipalities! They would have behaved the same way if the situation had been "catastrophic"!
In addition to the affected households, their relatives and neighbors, the burden is always borne by the protection and rescue services. These are our dear firefighter-heroes, who six months ago extinguished fires in Montenegro, and then, literally, were forgotten by state and local governments, which did not fulfill the promises made to them this summer about "technically equipping firefighting units". Those promises disappeared in the fires that these brave people extinguished. The municipalities of Nikšić, Ulcinj, Tivat and Kolašin did not pay the firefighters the variables for the exhausting fight against the fire element (vijesti.me). According to their Professional Union and the Board of Firefighters of the Municipality of Nikšić, they are grateful to the citizens of Montenegro, who always support them and appreciate their work and, as they say, "do not envy those who, under the spotlight, stood out on various stages".
One gets the impression that state and local leaders are deliberately "playing deaf" in order to more easily circumvent the obligation to pay compensation to affected households for natural disasters. And not only that. Architectural barriers, which have been endangering the same areas for decades, should and should be removed, such as the construction of an appropriate bridge on the Komarnica River and many similar projects throughout Montenegro. They have also recently been uninterested in the ecological pollution of Pljevlja, and the media is full of them when they are bickering with each other. However, it is better to listen to silence than to listen to their false promises!
Citizens have become accustomed to the practice that the Government and local governments should not touch the budget, because compensation for citizens of the burned areas for 2025 has not yet been paid, just as the back wages of workers of factories that went bankrupt have not been paid. The parliamentary majority was persistent in defending the position that the amounts for child benefits, social benefits, "social housing"... and the like should not be increased, but they were very unanimous about increasing allocations for political parties. The Government does not hide that part of the VAT is being milked from inflation, which they themselves partly caused. The floods, in this context, suit them, because almost the entire Montenegro uses bottled water, on which VAT is paid at 21 percent, which is an endless shame! Many people have lost their health, homes and/or furniture, the flooded land is polluted and cannot be cultivated for at least a year, and drinking water is necessary for the maintenance of bare life! Instead of vulnerable families being supplied with food and bottled water by the state and/or municipalities, merchants and tax collectors are looking forward to making money at the expense of the needy?! The published list of the rich tells us how the retail chains are doing!
In coastal cities, very expensive, spectacular, multi-day New Year's concerts were organized, including destroyed drones over Budva, while the north of Montenegro, so to speak, did not feel the magic of the New Year holidays, except for individuals who went down to the sea or Podgorica. Perhaps for the first time, there was no dedicated TV program for those 450-500 thousand citizens who celebrated the New Year in their homes. They "delivered" the atmosphere from the coastal squares and various reruns of shows from previous years to our homes. Honor to all the show stars, but that's not it! We have seen enough reruns, by God, during these 11 days!
It was similar with the use of days off during the New Year and Christmas holidays. As I mentioned above, many used 8-11 days off, among which politicians, as well as state and local administration, were at the forefront. Institutions and services of vital importance - health institutions on duty, and protection and rescue services and the police, were working at full capacity. Where there is work in shifts, in factories, which are almost nonexistent, workers had to work. And bakers gave their workers days off on January 1 and 7, while newsagents worked without a single day of break?! It is difficult to imagine, let alone understand, such discrimination against people who work in unimaginably difficult conditions?! We wonder what newsagents sell that citizens cannot survive a day without?! No one can go to the press, if all daily newspapers published a triple issue on December 31! If it is about cigarettes, then it is about excise taxes!
Let's be human beings!
Bonus video:
