Montenegro remained silent on the decision of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) to introduce the death penalty by hanging for Palestinians convicted of murdering citizens of that country at the beginning of the week, although condemnations of Tel Aviv's move came from many of the most important addresses in Europe, including the European Union (EU), whose foreign policy Podgorica claims to follow.
This continued Montenegro's silence - or more rarely - silent announcements regarding Israel's actions. Instead of clearly condemning the country's actions, Montenegro has concluded (or agreed to sign) several agreements with it in the last three years, such as the one from January this year - when the Montenegrin parliament signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Knesset.
"Vijesti" interlocutors say that Podgorica has several reasons to express a critical stance towards the adoption of the death penalty law, which, among other things, stem from the country's membership in the United Nations (UN) and its position as a candidate for EU accession. They add that, even if this were not the case, Montenegro should react, referring to its own Constitution.
The editorial team asked the Prime Minister's offices Milojko Spajić, the first man of the Assembly Andrije Mandić, president Jakov Milatović and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović - how they view the adoption of the controversial regulation, which some call racist. The Prime Minister's office unofficially referred the paper to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MVP), but that department, as well as the office of the head of state, had not responded to the inquiry by the time this issue of "Vijesti" was published.
However, today, following the publication of the text from the printed edition on the "Vijesti" portal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed the editorial staff to the publication of that department on the "Iks" website (March 31), which states that Montenegro, "as an unwavering advocate of the universal abolition of the death penalty, resolutely opposes the death penalty under all circumstances."
"We are deeply concerned by the adoption of this legislative proposal by the Israeli Knesset committee, given the long-standing moratorium that Israel respects in practice. Montenegro reaffirms its firm commitment to the fundamental principles and values of human rights," the announcement states.
However, Ibrahimović's department did not send this announcement as a statement to the email addresses of the portal and the newspaper "Vijesti", nor did it publish it on the Ministry's website.
On the other hand, Mandić's office said that the head of parliament "does not accept participating in anti-Semitic campaigns."
"Dear President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandić appreciates your desire to prove yourself as a young and talented journalist, but does not accept participating in anti-Semitic campaigns," they stated.
Although Montenegrin officials are full of talk about how Podgorica is fully aligned with EU foreign policy, this does not appear to be the case on this issue. European Commission spokesperson Anuar El Anuni announced on Monday that Brussels had condemned Israel for passing the law.
"The death penalty law in Israel is very worrying for us in the EU. This is a clear step backwards - the introduction of the death penalty, coupled with the discriminatory nature of the law. This is a clear negative trend with regard to Israel's obligations to respect human rights," he told reporters in Brussels, Politiko reports.
The foreign ministers of Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand issued a joint statement on March 29, the day before the law was passed, calling on the Israeli government and Knesset to suspend the plans, saying they were particularly concerned about the de facto discriminatory nature of the propio. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the law "another step towards apartheid", while the Palestinian presidency condemned the law, calling it racist and a violation of international humanitarian law.
The Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, which is on a non-residential basis, and the representative office of that country in Podgorica did not respond to the question of "Vijesti" - how they view the statements that the law is racist, discriminatory, and represents a violation of international humanitarian law.
Champagne and a noose
The Israeli parliament on Monday, by a vote of 62 members (out of 120), including the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adopted a controversial law that introduces two different trial processes - one for criminal courts in Israel, the other for military courts in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory illegally occupied by Israel. The latter operate under Israeli military rule and try only Palestinians living there.
The law was proposed by lawmakers from the far-right Jewish Power party (Otzma Yehudit), with the support of lawmakers from Netanyahu's Likud party and the conservative Yisrael Beitenu party. Jewish Power leader and national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, was one of the most vocal advocates - he wore a gold pin in the shape of a loop on his jacket, and he "celebrated" the passage of the law by opening champagne in the Knesset.
Palestinians in the West Bank convicted of terrorism in military courts will face the mandatory death penalty or, as the text of the law states, "... his punishment will be death, and that punishment only," Deutsche Welle reports.
The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem stated before the law was passed that their military courts have a conviction rate of around 96 percent, "mostly based on confessions obtained through coercion or torture."
In theory, the Israeli Supreme Court could still amend or overturn the law. The death penalty was abolished in Israel in 1954 for “ordinary” crimes and in peacetime, but it technically remained permitted for crimes against humanity or against the Jewish people, as well as in certain circumstances under military law. In the rare cases where death sentences had previously been imposed by military courts for acts related to terrorism, they would have been commuted to life sentences on appeal. The last death sentence was imposed in late 1961 and carried out in 1962, on a Nazi war criminal. Adolf Ajman.
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However, following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 - after which, according to numerous international actors, Israel is committing genocide in Gaza - the parliamentarians there renewed their initiative to reintroduce the death penalty for Palestinians convicted in Israeli military and criminal courts.
According to UN data, from October 7, 2023 to March 25 of this year, Israel killed nearly 73.000 Palestinians in Gaza, of whom about 21.000 were children. In the occupied West Bank, over 1.000 Palestinians were killed, of whom 233 were children.
Lekić: Three reasons for criticizing the law
Former head of Montenegrin diplomacy Miodrag Lekić, told "Vijesti" that he believes that Montenegro should adequately, in a diplomatic style and language, express its critical stance towards the introduction of the death penalty by hanging - a law that will apply only to Palestinians. He assessed that there are at least three reasons for Montenegro's stance.
"The first would represent a principled defense of universal and fundamental human rights and a clear condemnation of discriminatory policies and state actions towards some form of apartheid - as is often assessed in the democratic public of Europe," Lekić pointed out.
He states that the second reason for the critical stance is solidarity, including the obligation for Montenegro to align itself with the positions of the UN and the EU, which have clearly condemned the law, while the third, according to him, stems from respecting the joint statement of the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Germany and Great Britain, who condemned its content as "discriminatory" even at the draft stage of the law.
"Such important issues are not found in the current chapters of European integration, which seem to be seen here as the only horizon of foreign policy," Lekić underlined.
He said that the most important chapter, although unwritten, is called the seriousness and maturity of the state, and that it is reflected, among other things, in the principled stances for the defense of democratic rules on the domestic and international level. Lekić states that the existence or absence of such seriousness will be evaluated in the most important and decisive phase for EU accession - the political and state decisions of the member states.
"... It is inevitable to note that the official Montenegrin side is silent about many things in the domain of diplomacy and foreign policy, including direct state interests such as the territorial integrity of the country...", the interlocutor assessed.
Šaranović: The Constitution says what to do
Nikola Šaranović, assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Donja Gorica, told the editorial staff that the maneuvering space of Montenegrin foreign policy has long been described by two concentric circles - Euro-Atlantic and European integration.
"The first, wider circle was closed with NATO entry in 2017, while the second, narrower circle is set to close a decade later. Both circles limit Montenegro's sovereignty in the field of foreign policy. This is due to Montenegro's 'allied' and 'candidate' foreign policy stance," he explains.
However, Šaranović noted that international circumstances are changing and that both the EU and its members, as well as candidates for membership, are being tempted, adding that this supranational organization is also a "community of values" that represent the principles of its foreign policy.
"Thus, the EU Treaty stipulates that its action on the international scene is based on the principles that inspired its creation, development and enlargement, and which it seeks to promote in the rest of the world: democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the UN Charter and international law," he said, adding that the Union seeks to develop relations and build partnerships with third countries that share the aforementioned principles, and encourages multilateral solutions to common problems, particularly within the UN framework.
The interlocutor said that, even though it does not have candidate status and the obligation to comply with the aforementioned values and principles, Montenegro has its own Constitution, which stipulates that the state cooperates and develops friendly relations with other states based on the principles and rules of international law.
"The contrast between these principles, or values, on the one hand, and the pogrom in Gaza with the inquisitorial law for the West Bank, on the other, makes any further comment superfluous, except for the conclusion that it is not to be expected that the Montenegrin Parliament will terminate the memorandum of cooperation with the Knesset due to the threatened death penalty in the West Bank, if it was concluded amidst the suffering of 70.000 people, 20.000 of whom were children in Gaza," concluded Šaranović.
After Hamas' terrorist attacks on Israel, Montenegro repeatedly emphasized that the state "has the right to self-defense," and also voted at the UN to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza. However, it has never explicitly condemned Israel's crimes.
Member of the Social Democratic Party Nikola Zirojevic At the end of July 2024, he withdrew from the parliamentary procedure a draft resolution condemning Israel's crimes in Palestine, saying that parliamentary leaders were obstructing the process and that he did not want the resolution to be voted down because it would not receive support due to the use of the word "condemnation", which is controversial to some.
BIRN wrote in early August last year that Montenegro had approved the export of military equipment to Israel, but that the deal was halted due to the Turkish embargo.
The media outlet stated that the Ministry of Economic Development, with the consent of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Interior, issued two licenses in March and April 2024 for the export of weapons to Israel during the military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
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Lekić: Montenegro had to criticize a lot
Miodrag Lekić said that during the recent wars and violence in the Middle East, Montenegro failed to adequately take a position.
"I am thinking of nuanced positions of appreciation for the complexity of the conflict in the Middle East and understanding of Israel's specific position in that region since the establishment of the Israeli state. But with a very clear condemnation, especially of the last two years of Israeli persecutions, murders, according to many, of genocidal dimensions, ultimately ethnic cleansing of a people, namely the Palestinians."
Lekić also noted that the war and violence in Lebanon, with its many victims, deserve critical evaluations, including the ban on holding a Christian mass for the Latin Patriarch Picabala on the eve of Easter in Jerusalem, which also caused major reactions in European countries, including America.
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"We probably also know and appreciate the fact that Jerusalem is a holy city equally for the three great monotheistic religions, namely Jews, Christians and Muslims."
Lekić said that the sometimes stated approach that Montenegro is small and that as such it will not resolve international issues and crises is nothing more than an attempt to provide an alibi for sometimes inadequacy in conducting a serious and unified state policy on the international-diplomatic level.
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