Montenegrin writer Miodrag Popović and former diplomat Miodrag Vlahović clashed today in a hotel in Podgorica, "Vijesti" has learned.
Several eyewitnesses told "Vijesti" that Popović allegedly physically attacked Vlahović, which Popović denies, and Vlahović stated that "Popović only tried to push him."
The incident happened shortly before 13:XNUMX p.m., when Vlahović pulled up a chair and sat down at the table where Popović was already sitting with three friends.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", then Popović stood up and started insulting and pushing Vlahović, who was sitting motionless.
Popović told Vlahović to leave in an ugly tone, he left several times and returned to the table.
"While Popović gripped his shoulder more roughly, Vlahović did not react," said an eyewitness, who watched the incident in the hotel.
Popović told "Vijesta" that it was not true that there was a physical attack, but that it all ended in a verbal conflict.
"I was sitting with academician Vukić Pulević and journalist Danilo Dar Burzan. The man sat down at our table without asking. I said that I didn't want to sit at the same table with him. Everything ended with that verbal conflict. After that I got up, paid for the drink and left," Popović said.
The former minister of foreign affairs and former ambassador of Montenegro in Washington and the Vatican told "Vijesta" that he did not touch anyone and that he did nothing wrong.
He claimed that Popović did not hit him but only tried to push him.
"I get a chair and sit down to talk with respected friends with whom I have been sitting for almost 12 years. Then I experienced Popović's inappropriate reaction, full of bad words. I consider the event to be completely irrelevant information for informing the public," said Vlahović briefly.
Officials of the Podgorica Security Center were informed about the incident, and in a telephone conversation they informed the former diplomat about the possibility of filing a criminal complaint.
Vlahović did not file a complaint against Popović.
Popović is the winner of the Njegoš Award for the novel "Man without a Face", which in 2017 stirred up the public due to the decision of the international jury, because many believed that it was "a kind of cultural scandal and that the Njegoš Award was degraded".
Popović is also a former boxer from Cetinje.
He is the founder and editor of the publishing house Open Cultural Forum and the magazine Ars.
The long-time politician and diplomat left the MFA last year dissatisfied because he was offered an "unsuitable job".
In February of last year, after being impeached, Vlahović changed the lock and no one could enter the embassy premises, including the temporary chargé d'affaires.
Vlahović claimed that he did everything according to the rules of the service, and that in that way he protected property and employees...
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18 Februar 2021.
Vlahović replaced the lock at the embassy, Pajović did not return the stamp and card
In 2019, Vlahović, along with ambassadors Nebojša Kaluđerović and Željko Perović, were disciplined because they paid a 600-euro misdemeanor fine imposed on the suspended Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Mirna Nikčević for posts on her Facebook profile.
In mid-April of this year, the Administrative Court annulled the decision of the Disciplinary Commission of Montenegro in the case of Vlahović, whom the Ministry of Internal Affairs labeled responsible for serious breach of official duty because he paid the fine Nikčević with Kaluđeroviž and Perović.
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