Some top state officials did not congratulate citizens on Independence Day, while some opposition officials celebrated it in a restaurant associated with fugitive police officer Ljubo Milović, which is the best indicator that neither the government nor the opposition behaves in a principled manner, nor does it practice what they say while criticizing each other.
Thus, analyst Stefan Đukić commented for "Vijesti" on the celebration of Independence Day at the "Grahovac" restaurant, owned by the brother of a suspended police officer accused of organized crime, as well as the fact that, on the other hand, the Speaker of Parliament and leader of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Andrija Mandić did not even congratulate the citizens on this holiday.
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In the footage posted on the restaurant's Instagram account, it can be seen that the head of the DPS Councilors' Club in the Capital City Assembly, Andrija Klikovac, was at the celebration. Some media outlets reported that the president of the Municipality of Šavnik, Jugoslav Jakić, was also at the celebration.
Klikovac and Jakić did not answer questions from ''Vijesti'' about whether they were at the celebration, which included the song ''Sude mi'' by Croatian artist and right-wing politician Miroslav Škoro, performed with controversial singer Marko Perković Tompson. The song is allegedly dedicated to Croatian general Ante Gotovina. Škoro publicly explained that his song was dedicated not only to Gotovina, but to all Croatian generals in The Hague.
Answering the question of what is more controversial, the celebration in a restaurant connected to a fugitive police officer or the singing of songs by Škor and Thompson and those glorifying quislings, Đukić points out that DPS officials knew where they were coming from, and that they may not have been familiar with the repertoire in advance.
"I think this is the first problem. Everyone who comes to a place like that knows where they are coming from and who invited them. So they did it consciously. Later, what song was it and so on, if they didn't participate in it, we can't attribute premeditation to them," says Đukić.
Members of the Kavača clan met several times at the Grahovac restaurant and, among other things, celebrated the murders of members of opposing criminal gangs. Milović has been unavailable to Montenegrin authorities since July 2022, after the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) issued an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of being part of the Kavača criminal clan's drug cartel led by Radoje Zvicer.
According to data from the Central Register of Business Entities (CRPS), the owner of the restaurant is the company ''Diamond Pak'', registered in Podgorica in the name of Dragan Milović, brother of Ljubo Milović.
"Grahovac" became known to the wider public after the leader of the Kavčani gang, Radoje Zvicer, his associates from the Montenegrin police, Petar Lazović, Milović and Nebojša Bugarin, and the clan's mercenaries from Belgrade, Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković, met and took photos in that facility.
The six of them are seen in a photo provided to Montenegrin investigators by Europol after the once-protected Sky app was decrypted.
Police repeatedly searched the restaurant “Grahovac 1858,” searching for Milović. Officers of the Special Police Department (SPO) searched his family home, the restaurant, and ancillary buildings for hours in March 2023, on the orders of the SDT. The searches also took place in August 2024, and three months ago, on February 5, 2025.
The police announced at the time that the "Grahovac" catering facility was searched in order to locate Milović, "and searches were also carried out of facilities used by people close to him."
"On this occasion, no objects or traces were found that originated or could originate from a criminal offense," the police pointed out.
After the search, Dragan Milović, brother of Ljubo Milović, spoke out through his legal representative, claiming that he is the owner of the house and restaurant “Grahovac 1858”, and not his brother Ljubo. He states that no automatic weapons were found in the house, but rather semi-automatic weapons with a permit, and that the construction machinery was not found in the buildings he owned, but on the neighboring plot.
Milović, as a police officer, worked for a monthly salary of 800 euros, and correspondence from Sky showed that he had 48 million euros available in just one account.
Thompson's songs are sung while the Chetniks are condemned
Speaking about singing songs by controversial Croatian musicians Škor and Thompson, while criticizing the "other" side for glorifying the Chetnik movement, Đukić points out that "nobody is interested in principle."
"Regarding the increasing appearance of Thompson's songs, especially those that glorify war crimes and criminals, it's from the same people who will say a song is unacceptable the day before, and then they'll play their own," he said.
He also referred to the fact that those who resented the glorification of the Chetnik commander (Pavel Đurišić) sang songs praising the commander of the quisling Lovćen Brigade, Krsto Popović.
This, he says, is the best indicator that the value is not anti-fascism or the fight against collaboration with the occupier, but rather the value that "our people can do this, theirs cannot" and then it will be expanded with some other explanations.
"And then people ask themselves why a broader front among citizens cannot be mobilized against certain negative phenomena. Well, it can't be because citizens are not stupid, they see that reactions exist depending on who is targeted. If we can sneak something onto our political opponent, then we will problematize the event. If we can't, or if it doesn't affect our political ally, then we pretend it doesn't exist," believes Đukić.
Referring to the fact that Thompson's performances have been banned in many European Union (EU) member states, such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Slovenia, and that DPS advocates for Montenegro's membership in the EU, Đukić assesses that there are no principles in the political class.
"None of these representatives of the political class, whether they are actually politicians or close associates from the civil sector, media, etc., share any values in principle... The same was the case with the story about Pavle Đurišić about ten days ago. The same is true now with this. It's just a matter of opportunity and situation," he believes.
A video clip made at the “Radovče” restaurant in Podgorica appeared on the social network Facebook last week, in which the Chetnik duke and war criminal Pavle Đurišić is seen and heard being praised to the tune of the song “Đurišić, young major”. Previously, in early May, the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Joanikije, called Đurišić a “great hero”.
“If you occupy certain positions, then you also assume certain responsibilities”
Commenting on the fact that Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić and ministers from the former Democratic Front (DF) did not congratulate Independence Day, Đukić points out that the position also requires responsibilities.
"If you hold certain positions, then you also take on certain responsibilities. You may not like them, but you have to fulfill them," he says.
Representatives of the parties of the former DF that are part of the government were not even at the reception marking Montenegro's Independence Day, hosted by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić. This continued the practice of their absence from this official event.
A gathering place for the people of Kavča, where murders were celebrated
The people of Kavkaz often gathered in "Grahovac", and the now fugitive policeman Ljubo Milović once organized a celebration of the murder of their, as they called him, enemy from the Škalja clan, Alan Kožar.
The murder of Kožar was celebrated with lamb on a spit, harmonica, šenlučen, an arsenal of weapons on the table, nationalist shouts, songs...
Several hundred messages were exchanged via Sky that day by police officers Milović and Lazović with the head of the Kavača criminal clan...
The party at Milović's restaurant was held seven days after Kožar and his friend Damir Hadžić were killed on Corfu on July 23, 2020, and on the day the family of the murdered jackal took possession of the coffin with his body on the border with Albania.
After informing Zvicer and Lazovic that the lamb was being turned, Milovic began recording songs and sending them to the group.
The head of the tavern, commenting on the lamb on the spit, states: "How can it not, when you take off the chapar every day", to which Lazović explains that Milović is asking for it.
Along with the patriotic songs he sends to the group, the voice of Ljub Milović is heard:
"Let's legitimize ourselves - Ljubo Milović is for my brothers. So let them arrest us. Let them do what they want. Let them open the phones," emphasizes that policeman, who a little later receives an answer from Lazović.
"Come on, Turk," Milović shouts, and Zvicer tells him: "There's an officer with a sharp saber next to Grahovac, come on, whoever is Montenegrin..."
Milović then commissioned the song "Who passed through Cetinje last night" for the leader of the organized criminal group, the Kavački clan.
"From Gorčilo, brother, and from Bob Jabučanin. Long live my brother. Both you and Junior," says Milović and forwards a photo of the guests from the celebration to the group chat, and after the voice messages, he also sends a text message:
Kovačević's speech "on the Turks"
The President of the Municipality of Nikšić and MP from New Serbian Democracy, Marko Kovačević, gave a speech in Grahovac in mid-June last year, which led the Higher State Prosecutor's Office to open a case for the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred.
During the commemoration of the 166th anniversary of the Battle of Grahovac, he said that "those who do not want to be like brothers, but rather resemble Turks, will be treated like Turks." He later clarified that his speech at Grahovac "was in the context of the battle that took place there between Montenegrins and Herzegovinians on one side and the Turks on the other" and that it had nothing to do with the Muslim population in Montenegro.
The Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica has asked the Administrative Committee of the Parliament to lift Kovačević's immunity, but this has not yet been put on the agenda of that parliamentary body.
Kovačević's case was also mentioned in the initiative to remove the Speaker of the Parliament, Andrija Mandić, which was submitted by the opposition because they hold him responsible for the fact that the lifting of the immunity of the NSD MP is still not on the agenda.
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