It reports only to its citizens

The visit of officials of the Democratic Front (DF) to the Serbian Parliament is not disputed, but their appearance in it as leaders of Montenegrin municipalities and local parliaments is, therefore, it is unacceptable that they use it to account to anyone other than the citizens they represent.

This is what the political theorist told "Vijesta". Predrag Zenović, commenting on the participation of local officials from the DF in mid-December at the session of the Committee for Diaspora and Serbs in the region of the Serbian Parliament, where, among other things, they presented the results they achieved after coming to power.

The session where the position and perspective of Serbs in Montenegro was discussed was attended by the presidents of the municipalities of Nikšić, Berane and Mojkovac. Marko Kovacevic, Vuko Todorovic i Vesko Delic, and heads of assemblies in Danilovgrad, Herceg Novi and Tivat, Velimir Djokovic, Ivan Otovic i Miljan Marković.

Delić and Todorović announced at the session that they had returned the tricolor to the cabinets and the city, Otović said that Herceg Novi always had a "clear sign of a Serbian city" and that they always looked at Serbia as the motherland, while Djokovic suggested that on one of the in the following sessions, they will meet with representatives of Serbs from other countries.

Kovačević pointed out that Serbs in Montenegro have a special sentiment towards the Principality and the Kingdom of Montenegro, and that they realized that today's Montenegro is not that country, but that Serbia has most of the elements that were important to them from the past.

Zenović states that good-neighborly relations in the region include the cooperation of the diaspora and mother countries, and that this is not disputed, but that it is the capacity in which the representatives of the DF attended the session in Belgrade.

He explains that local self-governments are an expression of the European, emancipatory attitude towards the central, national government, rooted in a long tradition of autonomy and freedom of cities, and that therefore anything that can resemble accountability, i.e. that local government representatives report to anyone but citizens, is unacceptable. those municipalities.

"The cooperation of local self-governments is good, in the European context it is more and more cross-border, a project and a roadmap for the development of the European identity and the European idea, but by favoring cooperation that is exclusively ethno-national, the sense of unity that every country must possess in order to face problems and to the challenges of a political community", points out Zenović.

He says that he does not think that the reputation of the state or the municipalities has been damaged by the visit or the messages, but he adds that he believes that officials have an obligation to justify it to the assemblies and fellow citizens.

Asked how he explains the fact that only DF officials were in Belgrade, the interlocutor replies that he believes that this is in accordance with the policy and program of that political alliance.

"In the first place of the New Serbian Democracy. It is legitimate that as a national party of Serbs in Montenegro they are on a visit related to the Serbian diaspora, but as representatives of that political group and members of the Serbian people in Montenegro," Zenović underlines.

Political analyst from Belgrade Cvijetin Milivojevic he told "Vijesta" that with the coming to power of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Aleksandar Vučić institutional cooperation with Serbs in the neighborhood, through the Assembly of the diaspora and Serbs in the region, was relegated to the background, and that the SNS began to cooperate "vertically and horizontally" directly with some police officers or parties.

According to him, this is especially the case in Montenegro.

"Thus, at one point, the story was imposed on the public in Serbia that you have two politicians from Montenegro who actually represent all Serbs in Montenegro. That's how the story is spun. It is obvious that this policy, which had a good intention, that Serbia takes care of the cultural, national and other rights of its people living in other countries, turned into something else, into a kind of politicization. So we could watch some politicians from Montenegro come to Serbia to support Vučić's party before the elections. We have also seen that the aid that goes to the Serbs in the region actually goes to the parties that are close to the SNS", underlined Milivojević.

The opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Social Democrats (SD) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) reacted violently to the messages of the local officials, judging that the cause was the overthrow of the constitutional system and violation of the territorial integrity of the state, and that the officials of the DF showed a vassal relationship. and tried to present the people in Montenegro as a people with a complex of inferior values.

The DPS announced an initiative to dismiss six leaders of Montenegrin municipalities who, as the party said, "abused public office with an inappropriate, subservient attitude in the state institution of Serbia." The DPS said that the Club of Councilors European Team for Nikšić has already submitted a proposal to the local parliament for the dismissal of the president of that municipality, Kovačević.

On the other hand, Kovačević announced that he will file a lawsuit against DPS councilors and members of the party's Nikšić committee for violating the freedom of expression of national and ethnic affiliation.

The SDP asked the Democrats, the URA Civic Movement and the Europe Movement now whether they will urgently raise the issue of responsibility and dismiss those who "obviously serve interests from the budget of Montenegro and submit reports to another state".

President of the Municipality of Tivat Željko Komnenović (The people are winning), he told "Vijesti" that he saw nothing objectionable in the fact that the head of the local parliament, Marković, participated in the work of the Committee in Belgrade. By the way, on December 13, Marković issued a press release about it.

"I personally did not participate in it, nor was I invited to the session, so I see no reason to comment on anything special about it. If Mr. Marković believes that this participation contributes to the betterment of all the citizens that he represents as an official of the Municipality of Tivat, and among whom are the people who vote DF, I don't see anything particularly problematic in that. This is all the more so since numerous other Montenegrin public officials from the ranks of other nations have participated in the work of similar bodies of parliaments and governments of neighboring countries, so no one has so far raised any particular issues about it," he pointed out, adding that as the leader of Tivat, he would respond to receive a similar invitation from, for example, the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia, because a large number of citizens of Croatian nationality live in Tivat.

"Vijesti" tried to get a comment on this topic from Democratic officials who are in coalition with the DF, but they referred to yesterday's announcement by the MP Dragan Krapović, who said that for him and for the Democrats, only Montenegro is their motherland.

"Montenegro is our homeland, our cradle and our grave, and with all our neighbors, and in the first place with Serbia, we want to build friendly and fraternal relations, as we have been doing for decades and centuries building family, kinship, godfather and friendship ties between the citizens of our friendly and brotherly countries", he said.

Officials who have come under fire from the public have issued statements.

Delić said yesterday that the "orchestrated but unsuccessful attack by representatives of the former regime and the media close to them" showed the continuation of the negative action of those who want to discriminate against people in Montenegro based on their national affiliation, in this case, the Serbian people.

He stated that most of the media from Montenegro and Serbia covered the session that took place almost a month ago, but that the "hysterical outbursts of Đukanović's intellectual quasi-elite" started only the day before yesterday.

"It is very important that the mercenary quasi-elite from the ranks of the DPS-SD-SDP accept that the time of persecution, harassment and intimidation is in the past, and that the Serbian people and their representatives in Montenegro are persistent in their intention to continue the process of liberation and abolition of all forms of ideological discrimination" , he added.

Kovačević pointed out the night before last that the reaction to the news that is almost a month old, which no one hid, indicates the clear action of those who want to discriminate against people in Montenegro based on their ethnic affiliation to the Serbian people. On December 13, he announced on his Facebook account that he attended the session.

The leader of the Nikšić Municipality stated that those who criticize the visit to Belgrade "in these disgusting ways" have the same awareness and intentions "as those who tried to kill a Serbian boy in Kosovo and Metohija at Christmas."

At the end of 2021, the municipality of Nikšić received two million euros from Serbia in aid for the reconstruction of streets, landscaping of neighborhoods, parks...

In addition to DF officials, the session in Belgrade was also attended by a former deputy of that association Emilo Labudović, president of the Serbian National Council Momcilo Vuksanovic, editor of the IN4S portal Gojko Raicevic...

The session was chaired by the President of the Board Milica Djurdjevic Stamenkovski, from the right-wing party Zavetnici, who assessed that the Serbian people in Montenegro "have been living hard for a long time", that the leadership of Serbia respects the sovereignty of Montenegro, but that they cannot accept that "our people in Montenegro are abroad".

Zenović: Political influences are unacceptable

When asked what is the interest of Serbia with sessions similar to the one in question, Zenović answers that all countries suffering from the "Trianon syndrome" need to influence their national diaspora through the actions of the motherland.

"Especially in the context of resolving the Kosovo issue, the relationship between Pristina and Belgrade, which is heading towards an epilogue of its own, Serbia's need for the consolidation of the national corps becomes stronger both as an internal legitimation and as a foreign policy strategy. I believe that cultural and economic cooperation are legitimate forms of political activity of the motherland and that they can only contribute to better relations in the region. Political influence, however, from whatever address it comes from - is neither democratic, nor legitimate, nor acceptable", he emphasizes.

Silence about Vuksanović's involvement in the Council of the Government of Croatia

The president of the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) Adrijan Vuksanović has been a member of the Council of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for relations with Croats outside Croatia for many years as a councilor, former deputy and former minister. In this way, even though he is a public official, he helps in creating part of the policy of the government of a foreign country towards members of the Croatian minority in Montenegro.

Namely, according to Croatian regulations, the Council of their Government is an advisory body "which provides assistance to the Government in the creation and implementation of policies, activities and programs in relation to Croats outside the Republic of Croatia". So far, no one on the Montenegrin public scene has questioned Vuksanović's participation as a public official in that body of another state.

In 2015, member of the HGI Presidency and chairman of the board of that party in Tivat, Ilija Janović was a candidate on the electoral list of a coalition of right-wing parties in Croatia. Later, he was also the vice president of the Municipality of Tivat.