Milović has had enough of other people's battles, Spajić has had enough of public outbursts

The announced initiative of the Head of Government and the Europe Now Movement (PES) Milojko Spajić on the dismissal of the Minister of Justice Andrej Milović as things stand now, in addition to PES, the ruling Democratic People's Party (DNP) should also support Milan Knežević and the opposition Civic Movement (GP) URA Dritan Abazović - "Vijesti" learned unofficially.

The other parliamentary parties did not tell the paper how they will vote when Spajić's request reaches the legislative chamber.

The "Vijesti" source from the DNP unofficially said that he assumed that the party would support Milović's dismissal, but that they were waiting for a concrete proposal in this regard. At the end of April, Knežević called for the dismissal of Milović, saying that along with the election of a new Minister of Justice, the reconstruction of the Government should also be carried out.

A source from GP URA told the newspaper that Spajić's initiative has not yet been discussed in the party, but that it is expected that they will vote for Milović's dismissal.

Spajić announced last night that he would propose the dismissal of Milović as soon as possible, accusing him of being with the head of state. Jakov Milatović launched a "coordinated obstruction" of the Government.

The Prime Minister announced this after Milović called him yesterday morning to propose his dismissal, claiming that Spajić is dragging the party, the Government and the state into the "abyss".

The Prime Minister said that he informed Milović of the decision to initiate the dismissal before the public appearance of the Minister of Justice.

"... Which makes his press conference... an ordinary show for the public," he added.

Milović's camp claims that this is not true, and Spajić did not answer the question of "Vijesti" when and where he told the Minister of Justice that he "thanks him for his cooperation".

According to the newspaper's unconfirmed information, Milović allegedly claims that he communicated with Spajić the last two times before his departure to the USA in mid-May and last Thursday, when a dispute arose over Milović's acceptance of a "technical" amendment to one of the "IBAR laws". Allegedly, Milović was guilty that Spajić gave the instruction about not accepting the amendment to the head of the parliament Andrija Mandić and not to him, so "ministers should follow the media to read the prime minister's instruction".

Spajić claims that the reason for his initiative is Milović's "earlier appearances in public".

"... To which I very clearly drew his attention, and at times he was ashamed of them", he said, adding that the initiative could not be submitted earlier "due to work on fulfilling the European agenda".

Spajić announced that he did everything for Milović, for his sake, but also for the sake of the 44th Government's reputation, "to work on ministerial activities, in accordance with the trust I showed him and the expectations I had of him".

"But Milović chose himself. In this way, he stood side by side with the President of Montenegro in an attempt to destabilize the integrity of the Government and thereby collapse the European path of Montenegro", he said.

At a press conference yesterday, Milović called on Spajić to propose his dismissal, saying that the time has come to "set political and institutional accounts" before the prime minister with his "toxic environment" drags everything to the "abyss" - as PES..., so the Government and the whole of Montenegro".

Milović claims that Spajić and the prime minister's chief of staff are him Branko Krvavac "illegally and illegitimately" removed him from the Assembly, i.e. prevented him from defending the "IBAR laws" in the parliament on Friday, all in order to, he says, "replace the minister with dignity with another person, who will be a key minister, a pushover, and who will brag unapologetically, but not about his work".

On Thursday evening, at an electronic session, the Government decided to represent the Deputy Prime Minister in Parliament instead of Milović Momo Koprivica, because the Minister of Justice accepted an amendment (of a technical nature) to one of the laws without the knowledge of the executive. That decision was supported by the ministers of the PES, the Socialist People's Party (SNP) and the minister Vladimir Martinovic (Democrats), while after the conclusion of the voting it was supported by the ministers Fatmir Đeka i Saša Mujović, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister Srđan Pavićević. The others did not vote.

Milović also claims that he was expelled from PES "manly and contrary to the statute", although, he says, "he fought uncompromisingly, in various shows, forums and debates, for those he trusted", who "betrayed" him. Milović wholeheartedly defended Spajić against the attacks of other parties in connection with the Do Kwon affair.

"... Send a proposal to the Assembly to remove me from the position of Minister of Justice, who worked diligently to obtain the IBAR (Report on the Assessment of Fulfillment of Interim Criteria) and unblock Chapter 23, and often defended you, both when it was indefensible and when others did not they neither dared nor wanted to," Milović urged Spajić.

At the press conference, the minister said that "independently and without prior consultations" he did not do anything, nor did he "enter into serious encounters and conflicts with the most powerful people of the security sector and the state without a prior agreement and plan".

According to the unconfirmed information of "Vijesti", Milović allegedly arranged with Spajić an attack on the head of the Special Police Department (SPO). Predrag Šukovića, and after the marathon session of the Security and Defense Committee in February, when no one from PES stood behind him, he felt betrayed. Also, according to the alleged agreement with Spajić, the Democrats' solutions in the security sector were attacked, which resulted in the election Aleksandar Radović for acting police director instead Lazar Šćepanović, the favorite of that party.

"We will see what the parliamentary plenum will say, how they will vote on my dismissal and how they will evaluate my previous performance and work. But we owe it to the members of parliament who elected us, but also to the citizens, to remove the illusions quickly," said Milović, announcing that he would formalize his initiative and send it to Spajić in writing as soon as possible.

The Government did not respond to "Vijesti" questions about Milović's accusations against Spajić, Krvavac and PES.

Milović, who said that he was Spajić's political backbone, was expelled from PES at the end of February due to the party's alleged dissatisfaction with his political actions and views. "Vijesti" then announced that one of the reasons for Milović's exclusion was the alleged non-extradition of its citizen to Turkey Biennial of Camgoza, which was decided by the minister. Members of the PES Presidency also allegedly reproached Milović for "reckless" statements, an attack on the security sector, that is, "behavior that harms the party".

However, Spajić did not then propose the dismissal of the Minister of Justice, saying that his position in the government will be open ahead of its planned reconstruction, "in accordance with the achieved results in the areas of the rule of law and European integration". According to the coalition agreement on power, the reconstruction of the Government, with the entry of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) and the DNP, is scheduled for the end of the year, but the two parties demand it in June.

PES announced after the messages of the Minister of Justice that it is calling on the Government to "accept the resignation of Mr. Milović", although he did not submit it.

That party stated that its competent authorities made a unanimous decision to exclude Milović after he "continually advocated positions that were not in agreement with the party, so in the end this scenario is quite expected and realistic."

"Decisions related to extradition procedures, advocacy of policies that are not close to the party that nominated him as a member of the Government, are some of the procedures that affected the status of Mr. Milović in PES... We thank Mr. Milović for the work and contribution he made in the election campaigns as an official of PES", the announcement states.

Milović allegedly never received an answer about the reasons for his expulsion from PES, and he believes that one of the possible reasons is his interview with Zagreb's "Jutarnji list", in which he assessed that the attack on Dubrovnik was a shame for Montenegro, which he allegedly did not like the pro-Serbian part of PES. Also, not his card Danijelo Živković during the election for the president of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) was not well received, as were some of his other statements.

Milović reacted to the messages of PES, saying that he did not submit his resignation to the Government, and that it is logical that it "cannot accept something that does not exist".

"This is about the competence of the Assembly, because I do not want to deprive the Assembly of the right to decide and citizens to hear both sides. IBAR broke the silence, now the period of truth is coming. We owe it to the citizens and Montenegro, I have nothing to hide," wrote X (former Twitter).

After Milović's speech, the Citizens' Movement (GP) of the URA assessed that after that, the only logical thing is for Spajić to resign and thus stop the "constant banter of the Government and the state of Montenegro".

"We are not interested in PES and their internal problems, but, as always, we stand up for the protection of the state. A government characterized by numerous scandals in half a year, in which the prime minister already has a problem with two ministers, Milović and (Minister of the Interior Danilo) Šaranović, the conditional support of the coalition partners and the results of PES that were many times worse in the elections in Budva and Andrijevica, all this shows that it is time for Spajić to resign, because he has completely lost all legitimacy", said the vice-president of GP URA yesterday Milena Vuković Sekulović.

She also said that Milović confirmed "what GP URA has been saying since the day when the 44th Government was formed" - that behind Milović's attacks on "SPO chiefs Šuković and SDT (Vladimir Novović) says Spajić".

Unsuccessful reconciliation attempt?

Spajić's close friend allegedly contacted Milović yesterday after the press in order to try to "reconcile", but while that communication was going on, Spajić's statement was published.

"They are offering everything for peace," said an interlocutor who claims that Milović rejected the offer.

"Vijesti" was unable to verify this information.

Bajramspahić: Grdinić, Jauković and Rudović most deserving of IBAR

For the fact that it will receive IBAR, Montenegro owes the greatest gratitude to the general directors Jelena Grdinić (Ministry of Justice), Momir Jauković (Ministry of Justice) i Neđeljko Rudović (Ministry of Culture and Media), said the civic activist Dina Bajramspahić.

She told "Vijesti" that their "dedicated work" gave Montenegro a chance to catch the last train to the EU, especially in light of the results of the European elections.

"We should remember these names and not allow the most valuable people in the administration, who are the bearers of the entire job, to be underestimated and pushed aside in the unhealthy struggle of political currents," the interlocutor underlined.

According to her, this does not mean that the adopted "IBAR" laws are without flaws, but she adds that it will be possible to fix these flaws.

"At this moment, it was much more important in the intensive communication with the EU to reach the minimum required to jump the step, so that we as a country could move on and close the negotiation chapters. Grdinić, Jauković and Rudović did the work that their predecessors had been delaying since the election 2020," claims Bajramspahić.

She says that Montenegro is far from being at an enviable level in Chapters 23 and 24, and that serious work lies ahead.

"But we should ask ourselves who will do the work if those who really work are the last on the list of those who deserve it," says Bajramspahić.