Ivica Janović received the green light from the Parliament to become the director of the National Security Agency (ANB).
42 MPs voted for him.
As part of the "Appointments and Dismissals" item, MPs discussed the election of the Director of the National Security Agency (ANB) today in the Parliament.
The Chairman of the Committee on Security and Defense and MP of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Miodrag Laković recalled that the parliamentary body he heads had heard the candidate for the position, Ivica Janović, and that seven out of nine candidates were in favor of his appointment.
Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) MP Nikola Janović said he had no doubts about Janović's qualities and called on him and all MPs to work together on the new national security law.
"National security must not be a subject of political recruitment," he stressed.
Laković agreed with him, adding that we should work together on the law.
"As a committee, we have shown a willingness to open up many topics - even those that are complex because security transcends narrow party interests," he said.
His party colleague Dane Marković pointed out that previous convocations of the ANB did not fulfill their role, and added that Amnesty International criticized the institution, saying it suspected it of covering up attacks on journalists, and Freedom House accused it of lack of transparency.
"There are concerns about the abuse of counterintelligence powers and the EU report calls for reform of the legislative framework," he said.
He recalled that the ANB had an affair of wiretapping the ambassador, which the international community complained about.
"Mr. Janović visited the largest security services - Italy, the USA, Belgium," he said.
Social Democrats (SD) representative Nikola Zirojević said that the ANB is in bad shape, that it has been weakened in the last five years, and that, according to him, the only good director, Savo Kentera, was forcibly removed.
"Janović comes to the head of an institution that is facing numerous problems and challenges. These problems are best illustrated in the 'Tunnel' affair. Another problem is the foreign agents working in the ANB and the malignant influence they exert. The question arises as to how some people passed security checks, primarily Artan Kurti, who was previously convicted. Ivica Janović seems like a decent man. He seems to me to be Western-oriented and has the support of our partners, but it is problematic that he comes to the position without experience in the security sector. Also, the problem is that he is a close relative of one of our colleagues, and that is not commendable. These are the reasons why I did not vote for him on the Committee, but I wish him luck," he said.
Parliamentarian Kenana Strujić Harbić from the Bosniak Party (BS) announced that her party would support Janović, and that she had already voted for him on the Security Committee.
She added that the ANB is short 30 percent of employees, according to the systematization.
"Since I am a representative of the Bosniak People's Party and the Bosniak people, I ask the question of whether Bosniaks trust the services. I think that the services could have solved some of the problems we have been facing since the 90s. I hope that things will no longer be viewed one-dimensionally, but multi-dimensionally," she said, adding that she will draw attention to all anomalies.
Jevto Eraković (DPS) said that the ruling majority, including the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), supported sending soldiers on a mission to assist Ukrainian soldiers.
"Congratulations on coming to the positions we advocated. If positions and functions were the reason for you to vote, it was a big mistake not to have offered them to you earlier," he pointed out.
"You remember the postponement of parliamentary sessions where one of the members of the DF coalition simulated disagreement, a break was requested and after gaining seats, everything was covered up. And that was the situation with the election of the head of the ANB. That coalition believed that all functions in the security sector belonged to them. On the other hand, the other member understood it as an opportunity to justify the funds from Russia that arrived for their campaigns by installing its own staff, and now there was another opportunity, and some data sent to us by allies was again announced or the identity of secret agents of allied NATO countries was revealed, which was done by a former director," he said, adding that "Spajić's party" still won.
He added that the choice was influenced by family ties - he is the godfather of Chief of Staff Spajić, a relative of a PES MP and the husband of a PES official, the president of the board of directors of the public company "Morsko dobro".
"What is a big problem is that individuals who work for the interests of other states have been installed in the ANB, and the new appointments do not indicate that it will be any different. As a normal conclusion, we will not vote for the appointment of Janović as director of the ANB," he said.
Laković responded that yesterday there was talk from the DPS "that the vote would decide the future of the government," and that "without the DPS, the sending of soldiers to the EU mission would not be adopted."
He added that, since the formation of the ANB, five directors have not been from the security sector, and that the greatest abuses occurred when it was led by "professionals".
Miloš Pižurica (PES) said that the opposition emphasizes family ties with Vasta officials, and does not see them with some opposition officials, adding that "Montenegro is small".
He called on the DPS to congratulate Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, with which they have an agreement, on Russia Day. Pižurica announced that the PES would vote for Janović.
Eraković congratulated Russia Day, but added that the agreement it signed in 2011 with United Russia was a big deal for them at the time, but that the German SPD also signed it at the time.
Pižurica responded that they never withdrew it, but that they had an agreement with Milorad Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, and that they had sold valuable companies and parts of the coast to the Russians.
Eraković called these claims "manipulation and substitution of theses."
Aleksandra Vuković Kuč (DPS) said that "experience has taught us not to trust anyone before experience."
"Montenegro is in a state of emergency. The security framework is the weakest link in the system," she said.
She added that she hopes that Janović will return the ANB to normality and force the National Security Council to meet more often.
"You entered the security services after many checks, and that meant that the person entering them had to be moral, highly professional and law-abiding," she said.
She announced that the ANB had recently identified religious extremism, but also called for checking whether it existed "in an organization that brought these people to power."
"The essence of the ruling majority is based on an organization that sows national and religious hatred," she pointed out.
Duško Stjepović (Democrats) assessed that Montenegro needs vetting, which implies purging personnel from the security sector.
"Mr. Janović will have our positive opinion," he announced.
Oskar Huter (DPS) said that today, on Russia Day, the former DF voted in favor of Montenegrin soldiers training Ukrainian soldiers to kill Russians.
He added that the media reported that Janović had Croatian citizenship, and that if he acquired it after 2006, he should lose his Montenegrin citizenship without the force of law.
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and BS MP Mirsad Nurković said that "all members of the Islamic faith, BS, and the Islamic Community are ready to help in combating Islamic fundamentalism."
Jovan Vučurović (NSD) said that Janović has a difficult task ahead of him, and that the institution he is heading, as well as those that preceded him, "worked to eliminate and persecute political dissenters."
"It is time for Montenegro to get an institution that will benefit its citizens, not any party - neither DPS nor NSD," he stressed.
He criticized his colleagues from the ruling majority for failing to reform the ANB.
"I would also like to remind you that the infamous Seventh Directorate was one of the most important parts of the ANB... which is also revealed through the activities of the Inquiry Board, and I think that on Monday we will receive confirmation that its deadline was extended for a reason," he said.
He added that every previous government had politicized the ANB, and that members of the DF were wiretapped at a seminar in Petrovac, but also told Janović that he must determine who burned documents from the agencies after the elections on August 30, 2020.
DPS leader and MP Daniejl Živković stated that his impression is that, of all sectors, the security sector has been the most ruined in the last five years.
"Four directors of the Police Directorate (PD) and four directors of the ANB have been changed... Today, the security sector is managed by people without life and professional experience," he said.
"I claim that certain sectors of the security sector are managed from Belgrade. I claim that this is an extension of the Zemun clan that has business in Serbia and is entering Montenegro," he pointed out.
He added that "the way the purge in the security sector is being carried out will have consequences."
Democratic MP Boris Bogdanović assessed that "if the ANB surrenders to interests and not to the truth, then we do not have a state, and the leaders of the security sector are chosen by the underworld."
"We cannot forget what kind of security sector we had when the institutions were occupied. But the occupation does not end when we elect the Chief of General Staff or the Director of the ANB or change the laws. That is why what the Director of the ANB did deserves attention, and he delivered the truth about individual police officers. That is why we give full support and hope that the same vetting and checks will be carried out in the ANB," he said.
He added that "the decision of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Director of the Police Department to suspend officers is being criticized from various circles."
"This is happening in a state that has arrested and prosecuted two directors of the Police Department, the chief special prosecutor, the president of the Administrative Court...", Bogdanović pointed out.
He asked "whether Montenegro should mourn for officials who collaborated with terrorists, smuggled drugs, and allowed Veljko Belivuk and Marko Miljković into the country."
"Honorable police officers, soldiers, ANB agents - we are doing this for you," he stressed.
Boris Mugoša (SD) said that the opinion of the Assembly is not binding on the Government.
After the break, the deputies voted to elect Janović.
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