Knežević: The coalition with the NSD has no future if they do not support the initiative for Kosovo, I will be Prime Minister after the 2027 elections.

Democratic People's Party (DNP) leader Milan Knežević said he expects New Serbian Democracy, partners in the "For the Future of Montenegro" coalition, to support his initiative to withdraw recognition of Kosovo. He said that otherwise it would be redundant to talk about any future of their coalition.

In an interview with Euronews, Knežević also said that he expects the support of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and expressed his belief that he will be the next Montenegrin Prime Minister after the parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to be held in 2027.

The DNP leader announced that the first initiative to withdraw recognition of Kosovo's independence will be in the Zeta Municipal Assembly.

"Last night, a session of the councilors' club was held in Zeta and I believe that we will receive the support of our coalition partners from New Serbian Democracy. Then we will start with all local governments and assemblies where we participate in government to finally end with a resolution in the Parliament of Montenegro in which we would oblige the Government to withdraw this decision that was made in 2008," he said.

Knežević pointed out that this initiative has nothing to do with pre-election activities, but rather that it came about after the DNP realized that Prime Minister Milojko Spajić did not want any agreement, and after the refusal to include their initiative related to state symbols on the Assembly agenda and for the tricolor to become the national flag regulated by law.

"And since his party claims that he is a greater Serb than all of us, I expect that the Europe Movement will now support our initiative. There have been discussions on this issue before and Mr. Mandić was fully prepared to support his councilors' club in the Zeta Municipal Assembly voting for this initiative, just as the councilors of New Serbian Democracy expressed their readiness to do so at the time, so I do not expect any surprises regarding New Serbian Democracy and I believe that we will already have the necessary signatures to hold the session today," said Knežević.

He stressed that he could not imagine that the NSD, led by Andrija Mandić, would not support him.

"I have no doubt that the councilors of New Serbian Democracy in all local parliaments, as well as the deputies in the Parliament of Montenegro, will vote for this initiative. If something different happens, and some surprise, although I say I do not believe in it, then I think it is completely unnecessary to talk about any future of our joint coalition," said the DNP leader. Knežević said he has no doubt that he is the next Prime Minister of Montenegro, saying that he does not see serious competition in Spajić and "some other political adventurers who could not even run a tobacco shop in a local community."

"Of course, if in 2027, when I form the Government — I have no doubt that I will be the next Prime Minister — if I do not have a sufficient majority, I will announce to the citizens that I cannot form a Government that is ready to withdraw recognition of Kosovo, but I will do everything to ensure that the government is homogeneous and supports that decision," he said.

The DNP leader also said that everything has failed and Montenegro is completely lost if his political opponents are ahead of him in the elections.

He emphasized that the initiative to withdraw recognition of Kosovo's independence has nothing to do with Aleksandar Vučić and official Belgrade, and that he expects strong support for it from the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Joannikije and Metodije, as well as the blessing of Patriarch Porfirije.

Knežević also believes that Montenegro will not close all negotiation chapters with the EU by the end of the year after his party left power.

"With our exit, I fear that Montenegro will find itself in a European deadlock and that we will not close all chapters. Because as you had the opportunity to see in the previous period, I was towing our Montenegrin ship towards Brussels. Unfortunately, with our exit from the government, that ship has now run aground on an iceberg and is sinking like the Titanic, and I only hope that they will not start jumping off it like in that movie," he is convinced.