They buy non-resentment with "ignorance"

Why are the highest officials and ruling parties either silent or mutely reacting to the statement of the head of the MCP about Pavle Đurišić;

Organizations in Montenegro have a very situational approach to issues of anti-fascism and revisionism, and reactions arise depending on who is the subject of revision, what movement they are from, what nationality they are... says Stefan Đukić

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Without direct condemnation of the statements of the heads of the MCP: Joanikije and Milatović, Photo: Metropolitanate of Montenegro
Without direct condemnation of the statements of the heads of the MCP: Joanikije and Milatović, Photo: Metropolitanate of Montenegro
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

In a society where there is no moral authority, and state bodies are silent in the face of historical revision and selective public voices, high-ranking officials choose passivity so as not to offend anyone.

This follows from the response of a civic activist Stefan Djukic to the question - why the highest officials (heads of state, parliament and government) and the ruling parties, who are considered close to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), are either silent or react indifferently to the message of the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Joanikia, that he is a Chetnik commander and a war criminal Pavle Djurišić was a "great hero of invincible character".

After Joanikije made this statement last weekend, the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic (Europe Now Movement - PES) the President of Montenegro spoke about this "shyly" and vaguely three days later Jakov Milatovic he did it in a similar way yesterday, and the first man in parliament Andrija Mandic (New Serbian Democracy) has not yet commented on the messages from the head of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral.

Stefan Đukić said that organizations in Montenegro have a "very situational" approach to issues of anti-fascism and revisionism, and that reactions occur depending on who is the subject of historical revision, which movement they are from, what nationality they are, etc.

"In such a society, in which there is no recognizable actor who would be bothered by both Đurišić in the words of the metropolitan, and the mural Krst Popović in Podgorica, and a monument To Yusuf Čeljaj in Gusinje, and inscriptions with the name Osman Rastoder "In Petnjica, state authorities are silent, they are pretending to be mute...", he assessed.

The interviewee said that "they can do it" because they know that there is no one with the moral authority to demand a reaction, since, he explains, the reactions of those who are vocal depend on each case - "somewhere they are harsh, somewhere they relativize, complicit in the revision or pretend they don't exist."

"Of course, the president of the state, as well as other high-ranking state officials, should occupy that space and react to each of the above and many other examples, but they simply do not want to hold grudges against anyone, to clash with anyone and just wait for this to pass and another topic to come up," said Đukić.

Djukic
Djukicphoto: TV Vijesti

President Milatović did not give a direct response yesterday regarding the statement JoanikiaInstead, he stated that he thought he had said it all by organizing (yesterday's) "magnificent celebration (on the occasion of Victory Day over Fascism), with the aim of promoting anti-fascist values ​​and achievements on which modern Montenegro is based."

"The fight for freedom, the fight for justice, for equality, but at the same time the fight for the restoration of our statehood at that time within the framework of the Yugoslav community, are the foundations of what the heroes of the anti-fascist struggle in Montenegro left us," he said.

Milatović said that, in this regard, his position is completely clear.

"I can speak with words and actions, and I leave it to everyone else, of course, to judge that," he added.

When asked whether Joaniki's statement was an attempt to change history and whether he condemned it, the head of state replied that he thought he had said everything, "precisely with all his positions and his statements when it comes to anti-fascist values ​​and anti-fascist achievements on which modern Montenegro is based."

"So my positions on this are very clear," Milatović concluded.

Prime Minister Spajić also made a similar assessment, saying that he does not support messages that have the potential to reinforce already pronounced divisions in society, and adding that such statements have no place in modern Montenegro.

Spajić stated that Montenegro is a secular state and that it advocates the separation of church and state, church and politics, church and history, religion and history, and religion and politics. He said that everyone should deal with their duties: statesmen - state affairs, local governments - local projects, church dignitaries - faith and religion, and historians - history. According to him, if everyone deals with their own affairs, "the state will progress at an unprecedented speed."

Yesterday, the offices of Milatović and Spajić did not respond to "Vijesti" why the president and prime minister did not explicitly condemn Joaniki's statement, but rather the reaction to it was mild and without a firm commitment, nor whether they consider the messages of the head of the MCP to be historical revisionism and whether they condemn them.

Unkind assessments of Joaniki's messages also came from some of the ruling parties, while most of them did not speak out. President of the PES Women's Association Jovana Dragović, stated on Monday in the show "Colors of the Morning" on Television Vijesti that "the divisions into Partisans and Chetniks after 80 years can only be appropriate for those who ruled on those divisions for 30 years."

The Democrats told Vijesti the same day that they do not comment on the positions of religious communities, adding that they have not done so before. They said that this is a matter of the autonomy of the MCP, and that they "deeply respect the principle of separation of religious and state structures."

Joanikije served a liturgy on May 3 at the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Lijevče Polje, in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity of Republika Srpska, where he said that Đurišić's heroism in the battle there "can be compared to the heroism of Pavle Orlović", and that, "attacked by combined enemy forces", he "suffered a temporary defeat".

"He lost a good part of his army, the greatest and most beautiful heroes who can be compared to Miloš Obilić, Kosančić Ivan, Toplice Milan"...right here, in a place called Razboj, and our bloody thug life has lasted for centuries, since Kosovo, the field of blood...", he announced.

Historian employed at the Archives of Serbs in Zagreb Milan Radanović, told "Vijesti" on Monday that Joaniki's statement represents an unacceptable rehabilitation of a historical figure who played a very negative role during World War II in Yugoslavia and Montenegro, and whose mention still causes resentment among many residents of Montenegro, but also beyond.

They also fell silent about Porfiry's recent messages from Moscow

Top officials and ruling parties did not react even at the end of April when Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije, during a visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that the church's position "regarding Kosovo and Metohija, Republika Srpska and Montenegro" also depends on Russia's position.

"I believe and feel that our position regarding Kosovo, Republika Srpska and Montenegro also depends on the position of the Russian state, the Russian Federation on a global level. My wish, and the wish of the majority in our Church, is that in the future, if there is a new geopolitical realignment, we will be close to that Russian environment," he stated.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to this statement, assessing that it was an inappropriate interference in the internal affairs of Montenegro.

In 2023, Milatović reacted to Porfirije's statements regarding identity issues in Montenegro. In October of that year, in anticipation of the census, the president, responding to the patriarch's call to the citizens of Montenegro to express their Serbian identity at every opportunity, stated that he emphasized the importance of respecting the freedom of every individual to declare their national, religious and any other affiliation, without pressure.

He then called on religious leaders, parties, national councils, the non-governmental sector and the media to respect this freedom in their actions.

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