The Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms will open a case, ex officio, due to an offensive comment made by the first man of Pljevlja Dario Vranes (New Serbian Democracy) sent the day before yesterday to the director of the Center for Investigative Reporting of Montenegro (CIN-CG) Milka Tadić Mijović - that institution told "Vijesti" yesterday.
Commenting on Tadić Mijović's statement to "Vijesti" about his latest nationalistic outburst, Vraneš took to Instagram, quoting Njegosha, with several smileys, wrote: "Tell me, grandma, are you a witch? I am, prince, there's no point in hiding it."
Asked to clarify what he wanted to convey, or rather say about Tadić Mijović with his post, i.e. Njegoš's verses, Vraneš replied to the editorial staff yesterday morning that he had no comment and that he had stated everything in the quote.
The leader of Pljevlja and an official of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) said earlier this week that the Podgorica Assembly, which annexed Montenegro to Serbia in 1918, was legitimate, and that "Montenegrin separatists, despite undoubted testimonies, dispute this."
"It is up to us to defend the truth," he added.
Commenting on these assessments, Tadić Mijović told the newspaper on Tuesday that Vraneš's moves were expected, and that he inherited "everything that is not a civic and libertarian anti-fascist Montenegro."
"He glorifies the invaders and chauvinists, and those who occupied our country in 1918, and it seems that he would also storm Prizren. He can, but alone, not with our children. They are going to Europe, not after Vranes," she underlined.
Tadić Mijović also stated that it was clear "what these prisoners of dangerous ideology, to whom the Chetnik criminal (Paul) Đurišić hero".
"We saw what this ideology brought us not only during World War II, but also in the 1990s... I hope that Montenegro has learned its lesson, and that Vraneš and those like him will be just a short episode in this interregnum in which there is everything on the political scene...", she concluded.
NGO representatives and civic activists yesterday requested, due to the message sent to Tadić Mijović, the initiation of appropriate proceedings against Vraneš before the competent institutions, and from his coalition partner, the Prime Minister Milojko Spajić (Europe Now Movement), to urgently facilitate the dismissal of the President of the Municipality of Pljevlja.
Vranes announced last night that he had no intention of offending anyone, not even Tadić Mijović. He claims that his response to her was "exclusively political in nature, not personal."
"Although I responded to the barrage of insults that Ms. Milka Tadić Mijović made on the show 'Načisto'... with a quote from Njegoš's 'Gorski vijenac', I would like to sincerely apologize to all members of the fairer sex who may have experienced that quote in a way that was not the intention of its citation," said Vraneš, whose statement was published on the NSD Facebook page.
PEJOVIĆ: PUSHING THE LIMITS OF UNTASTE
Opposition MPs strongly condemned Vranes' message yesterday. The president of the special parliamentary group, Jevrosima Pejović She told the list that personal attacks on women are resorted to when political, historical, or common sense arguments are lacking.
She pointed out that this time, the line of bad taste has been pushed even deeper, because, she claims, the public official is using "'arguments' from the Middle Ages."
"I remind all officials, who have nothing else to offer society except hatred, that we are the great-grandchildren of the witches they could not burn and that we will 'sweep' them from the public scene. Maybe then they will find the time to finally read Njegoš," said Pejović.
Member of Parliament from the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Zoja Bojanić Lalović She assessed that Vraneš's insult was not a surprise, considering, as she stated, his previous attitude "towards civilizational values." This, she said, is a logical consequence of his derogatory and conflicting attitude towards the state and its fundamental values.
"Therefore, I would like to emphasize that condemnation and reprimand are an understatement. Condemnation is a minor act - state institutions should have sanctioned this behavior a long time ago," she said.
Twenty female members of the Parliament, out of a total of 23, announced last night that they strongly condemn "the inappropriate and humiliating words that Vranes addressed to Milka Tadić Mijović."
"Public office implies responsibility, role model and the obligation to foster a democratic culture of dialogue. Therefore, we expect the President of the Municipality of Pljevlja to issue a public apology," reads the statement, which was also signed by one of the three NSD MPs - Bojana Pican, as well as the only MP from that party's closest coalition partner - Jelena Kljajević from the Democratic People's Party.
They did not initial the statement. Jelena Božović i Milica Rondović from NSD, as well as Jelena Nedović from the Europe Now Movement (PES).
DON'T MISS IT
NGOs AND ACTIVISTS: DENY HIM SUPPORT
Vranes's comment was also condemned by numerous NGOs, as well as civic activists. The Executive Director of the Human Rights Action (HRA), Tea Gorjanc Prelevic She told "Vijesti" that Vraneš was primitively misusing Njegoš's verses to "insult Tadić Mijović in a pathetic way, who did not personally insult him in any way, but rather pointed out the dangers of his aggressive nationalist policies."
"That's not a surprise from him. Vranes, by the way, does not hold civilized values, which include respect for women, but his coalition partners, PES, would have to prove their European orientation by ceasing to support him," she said.
Civic and NGO activists (about twenty of them) harshly condemned Vranes' comment in a joint statement, assessing that it was the latest in a series of provocations "with which he denied fundamental democratic values."
"Vraneš's comment on CIN-CG director Milka Tadić Mijović, whom he called an 'old woman' and a 'witch', abusing Njegoš's verses, disqualifies him as a legitimate participant in any debate according to democratic standards, let alone as a holder of public office," they underlined, adding that Vraneš's obvious goal is to "destabilize Montenegro and distance it from the EU through continuous aggressive nationalist provocations."
"We expect Vraneš's coalition partner, Prime Minister Spajić, president of the Europe Now Movement, to urgently ensure the removal of Vraneš from the responsible position that he is abusing to the shame of the citizens of Pljevlja and all of Montenegro," they said.
The statement also states that publicly targeting women as "witches" is not a mere insult, but a deeply rooted misogynistic pattern...
CEDEM: SANCTIFY VRANES
The Center for Civic Education stated that the vocabulary used by Vranes represents a crude attack on women, is inappropriate for a democratic society, and encourages bigotry, gender stereotypes, and intolerance.
They called on the relevant institutions and political actors, especially Vranes' coalition allies, to take measures "so that public functions are performed by people who respect public communication standards, gender equality and European principles."
The Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) also strongly condemned, as they said, the misogynistic, offensive and inappropriate comments of the first man of Pljevlja.
"Such targeting is unacceptable... It is even more devastating that such a form of public reckoning and belittling is taking place in a political context in which the NSD and its officials are allegedly advocating for Montenegro's European path," the NGO said in a statement.
CEDEM called on the competent authorities to take appropriate measures and initiate proceedings "that will result in sanctioning this behavior."
CONTINUITY OF PROVOCATIONS
Vraneš often sends messages and takes actions that some in the public claim are contrary to the interests of Montenegro, calling them provocations. Among other things, he proposed that the church holiday, St. Petka's Day, be celebrated as the municipality's day, and he marked Serbian Statehood Day with a ceremonial academy on February 15 last year in Pljevlja.
In August, the local government in Pljevlja changed the road signs in the city center, so instead of signs showing the distance from major world metropolises, they installed road signs written in Cyrillic with the distance from Belgrade, Banja Luka, Prizren, and Knin.
Vujović: I have no doubt that PES will continue to support Vranes
President of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and one of the leaders of the European Union Ivan Vujović, said yesterday that all there is to know about PES is that it supports Vranes.
"I have no doubt that even after the new outpouring of nastiness... they will continue to strongly support him. Vraneš would not be where he is, he would not separate Pljevlja from Montenegro, nor would he spread hatred every day, if it were not for those who voted him into the position of mayor," Vujović wrote on the Iks network.
Bonus video:
