The president of the Democratic People's Party, Milan Knežević, says that no one from that party was aware of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić's intention to sign an agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
"Later, our representatives in the government were informed about this initiative," he explained in an interview with Newsmax Balkan.
When asked how they voted, he explained that there is no voting in the Government, but rather that opinions are expressed.
"Since there was a framework agreement, my colleague (Deputy Prime Minister Milun) Zogović and my colleague (Minister of Transport Maja) Vukićević voted for that framework agreement, and for this agreement that followed, my colleague Vukićević dissented, and my colleague Zogović voted for the agreement, because he thought it relied on the basic agreement that was adopted. However, today we had a new conclusion from the Government, where the entire legal procedure and the assessment of the entire agreement were transferred to the Parliament, and in this way at least one mystery was eliminated. Until this morning, we did not know whether this would be within the competence of the Parliament to decide or not, and we considered that to be very problematic," said Knežević.
According to information from Vijesti, Vukićević did not vote for the agreement at the Government session that followed the agreement that Knežević said was a framework - a proposal for the basis for conducting negotiations and concluding an agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism and real estate development between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
Knežević said that a serious public debate should be held in parliament before it is put on the Assembly's agenda, so that a decision can be made in the right way, predominantly in the interest of our country.
The journalist recalled that MANS expressed doubts about the legality of the procedure, claiming that it allows state land to be sold or leased through direct agreements behind closed doors, without tenders or public calls.
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"That's what's written in the agreement, and that part is problematic for me. If you're excluding part of the most important legal regulation, then it's necessary for us to get an explanation why that's the case. We also have a problem with the fact that the lease should be for 99 years, and according to the State Property Law, I don't think that exists as a legal possibility," Knežević pointed out.
He says that Spajić, after returning from the UAE, should talk to the leaders of the parliamentary majority or "leaders of political life."
"I don't want it to be thought that DNP is against any investments, especially investments that could affect the development of Montenegro over a long period of time. We want to have our doubts cleared up before we make a statement - why is domestic legislation being avoided, why would it be for 99 years, that is unacceptable to me... We are becoming a colony of certain corporate and consortium interests. We want to see which courts would be competent in the event of a dispute, what interest would the local population have," said Knežević.
Asked why the procedure was so expedited, he says that is a question for Spajić.
"I expect someone from the Democratic Party of Socialists to speak out, at least the honorary president of the DPS, and say whether he supports this or not, and that would help me with some clarifications, which I hope I will also get from the Prime Minister."
"We will not accept the Concessions Law as proposed"
When asked how the DNP would vote when the issue of giving the airport under concession comes up, Knežević said that he would not accept the proposed Law on Concessions in its current form.
"The concession fee is changing, which was 70 percent in favor of municipalities and 30 percent in favor of the state, and now it is 80 percent in favor of the state and 20 percent in favor of municipalities, that would be disastrous for the Municipality of Zeta."
He says he expects support from his coalition partner, New Serbian Democracy, and believes that DNP should also be supported by others in power - the Democrats and the Europe Now Movement.
"Our ministers have withdrawn their opinion, I appeal to my colleagues from the parliamentary majority not to do this, I fear that there will be serious radicalization in the Zeta and Tivat areas."
He says he is ready to "protect the interests of the area, at the cost of radicalization," with the citizens.
"Whether it will be a blockade of the airport, whether we will seize planes, we will see. If someone thinks that Zeta should continue to be some experimental area for raising money, with the least amount of money going to that municipality, then they are in a big problem."
Knežević said that the DNP will, based on how their colleagues from the parliamentary majority react to the Concessions Law, treat other legislative proposals coming from the Government. "With as much strength as we have, we will protect the principles to the end."
Sign a military-technical agreement with Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia
Knežević said that Montenegro should sign a military-technical agreement with Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia.
He believes that this should be done following the recent declaration signed by Croatia, Albania and Kosovo.
"This agreement is directly directed against Serbia, and immediately after that against Montenegro. I believe that this should be our imperative. This story that we are a member of NATO and that no one will touch us - both Croatia and Albania are members of NATO, why are they doing this now? Where is the largest military base in Europe - the Bondsteel base in Kosovo and Metohija. We are now pretending not to see that military alliances are being formed against the Orthodox in the Balkans, such as these color revolutions that started in Georgia, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, and now Republika Srpska," Knežević said in an interview with Newsmax Balkan.
Plenković and Đukanović are "sabotaging the EU path"
He claims that Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, together with former Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović, "is participating in the game of sabotaging Montenegro's European path."
"Andrej Plenković, together with Đukanović, contributed to the fact that Chapter 4 was not closed, he contributed to Andrija Mandić, Aleksa Bečić and me being declared persona non grata. Everything that (Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan) Grlić Radman is saying now is actually ventriloquism by Andrej Plenković," the DNP leader believes.
"Vučić would never use weapons against the people"
Knežević reiterated the claim of the Serbian authorities that an attempt at a "colored revolution" is underway in that country, and that the demands of the students in the blockade have been met.
He claims that "the deep state that is currently in the EU" is trying to carry out "colored revolutions" because Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that he would not recognize Kosovo's independence and impose sanctions on Russia.
Speaking about the protest of students and citizens on March 15th in Belgrade, he says that he has not seen "any basis, neither expert nor lay, that supports the claim that a sound cannon was used there."
"Later, I informed myself and saw that using a sonic cannon would have serious consequences for the health of citizens. I see that the FSB and FBI have been called in to investigate... Aleksandar Vučić would never use weapons against the people, nor would he shed blood in any way to preserve his position in power."
He says that Vučić himself told him that he would never use a sound cannon against citizens.
Knežević said that he supports the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and respects the Dayton Agreement, but that Republika Srpska should be equal to the Federation of BiH.
He is convinced that RS President Milorad Dodik will not surrender, after an order was issued to issue an international arrest warrant for him.
He said he was defending Dodik and "his right to express his position and defend the Dayton Agreement," and appealed for an agreement to be reached.
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