Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that he "reprimanded" the Deputy Prime Minister Budimir Aleksić, "because of an oversight that apparently happened".
He told Nova M TV that he sent a message to all members of the Government that such old people will no longer be tolerated in the future.
Aleksić was on an official visit to Belgrade on Monday and Tuesday, and his cabinet informed the public about the meeting of his boss with the Minister of Culture there, Nikola Selaković, with a press release and an accompanying photo of the two without the Montenegrin flag. Although part of the public reacted violently on this occasion, the national flag was displayed, but Aleksić's cabinet did not provide the media with photos showing it until later.
"I admonished Vice President Aleksić precisely because of one such omission that apparently happened. It is reflected in the fact that in the announcement that went to the public, only an informal image from the plateau at the entrance to the Ministry of Culture of Serbia was highlighted. It was kind of strange that the other pictures where the Montenegrin flag was displayed to the end and Montenegrin symbols were also placed were not part of that announcement," said the Prime Minister in a statement to Nova M.
He also said that "things like this will no longer be tolerated in the future".
"I still do not doubt the evil intentions of Aleksić or anyone. I understand that the man is a Serb and that everything is fine. However, we are civil servants and we serve the state of Montenegro. We have to respect the symbols, show them adequately, which was the case in this visit. The mistake was on our side, I can say self-critically and even amateurishly. This is a message to all members of the Government, where things like this will no longer be tolerated in the future," Spajić said.
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović sent a letter to the members of the executive branch in which, as he said, he draws their attention to the necessity of highlighting state symbols during official and working visits, and to the observance of general protocol procedures on those occasions.
He stated in the document, which Vijesti had access to, that he was speaking to his colleagues "due to recent events related to the failure to display state symbols, during official and working visits by members of the Government."
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