Committee session postponed due to lack of quorum, Zirojević: "Krapović's cowardly attitude, he ran away from the discussion again"

The session of the Committee on Security and Defense, which was supposed to discuss the Information on the situation in the Armed Forces of Montenegro (AFM), was not held today due to the lack of quorum.

The Minister of Defense Dragan Krapović, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Montenegro Miodrag Vuksanović, and the members of the Committee from the parliamentary majority did not attend the session.

Committee Chairman Nikola Zirojević said that Krapović and Vuksanović did not announce their absence from the session.

"The committee was not informed at all that he would not be coming, which further scandalizes this situation. Today's session is being postponed due to the lack of a quorum, and colleagues will be informed about the continuation in some hopefully better times, not for representatives of the government, but for us in parliament," Zirojević stated.

He stated that the agenda of the session is a very important issue, especially in light of the events that the Montenegrin public has recently become aware of - when members of the Armed Forces of Montenegro cheered for the Chetnik commander.

"This is not the first time that such bizarre ideologies that we believed we had broken with are being glorified in Montenegro. It is a smaller problem when these ideologies are glorified by citizens, but a bigger problem when they are glorified by members of the security sector and the Armed Forces of Montenegro," said Zirojević.

He added that he was not surprised by "Krapović's cowardly attitude."

"Just as he ran away from the debate in the media yesterday and put the state secretary forward for the second time to fight party battles from that position, it does not surprise me that he did not come today to cross-examine arguments at the session," said Zirojević.

He pointed out that every invitation and document was sent to the Ministry of Defense exactly when it was needed.

"If they say anything that was not sent to them on time or according to procedure, I say they are lying, because I followed up with the secretary and the Committee's office. I will not allow anyone to think of attacking people who professionally do this job, not only in this mandate, but since I have been following the work of the Assembly and the Committee," said Zirojević.

He emphasized that this is a classic humiliation of the system.

According to Zirojević, the attitude of the parliamentary majority towards the work of the Committee is also symptomatic, and not only today.

"A week or two ago, we had a session in a closed room where the agenda included a report on the work of the National Security Agency (NSA). The Agency's director, Janović, came with three associates and, believe it or not, no one from the parliamentary majority saw fit to appear and discuss the NSA report, which was very well written and contained very important information for all members of the Committee," said Zirojević.

As he stated, such an attitude towards parliament, the system and the state best speaks volumes about those who demonstrate it.

Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) MP Mihailo Anđušić assessed that what is happening is a continuation of a practice that reflects the complete collapse of the system in the country.

"Here we see a picture and an opportunity for the system to function," added Andjušić.

He said that ministers who are not attending committee sessions today, or who have not attended in the previous days, have time for political-party squabbles, for rallies, for press conferences, but they do not have time to come and respect parliament.

"This is the attitude towards the Parliament, towards the Speaker of Parliament, towards MPs and towards citizens. We have a general mockery on the scene in which civil servants are bickering with representatives of the executive and legislative branches on a party basis, and this is the picture and image of a system that is falling apart and bursting at the seams," said Andjušić.

Democratic People's Party MP Vladislav Bojović said that the absence of Krapović and members of the Committee from the parliamentary majority indicates a crisis in the majority itself and a worrying situation in the security sector.

"This is an indicator of the weakness of the security sector, when the Minister of Defense refuses to appear at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee to discuss the situation in the Armed Forces of Montenegro and does not announce his absence to the Parliament," said Bojović.

As he said, God forbid Russia attacks Montenegro, because "we would have to rely on NATO, if it ever gets around to dealing with us." "And I don't trust NATO and I'm not sure it would get around to dealing with us," Bojović said.

He pointed out that today was an opportunity to raise the issue of the very worrying relationship between Krapović and the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović.

"The relationship between Krapović and Milatović is very worrying and it is not good for them to make such serious accusations that we have witnessed in recent months. It is important that we know whether the problem is with Krapović or whether Milatović is the one who violated the Constitution, so that we can take the initiative and remove Milatović," said Bojović.

DPS MP Aleksandra Vuković Kuč believes that what happened today at the Committee session reflects the difficulties of the authorities in Montenegro.

"Political upstarts are supposedly fighting for the rule of law and institutional stability, but they are undermining the foundations of the statehood of Montenegro. When they have to answer for undermining the foundations of the statehood, they avoid coming," said Vuković Kuč.

According to her, these people are also undermining the national dignity of Montenegro.

"They are vetting, and in fact, they are purging the Army of Montenegro of patriotic elements, while populating it with nationalists and chauvinists, immature and unprepared to fight for the interests of Montenegro," said Vuković Kuč.

She stated that the Minister of Defense is not at the place where his work is being checked today.

"And he dared not to report to the Committee to which he is obliged to answer and before which he is obliged to present everything about which there are doubts," concluded Vuković Kuč.