The declaration of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) on "reconciliation and unity in European Montenegro" will not reconcile anyone, that is not its true goal - it serves to embarrass the leader of the NSD and the head of parliament Andrija Mandic positioned in the process of "breaking up" with Belgrade. Documents of this kind are a dead letter on paper and a cheap trick for voters because it is not the citizens who are arguing, but rather the political elites who are divided into camps.
With these words, the interlocutors of "Vijesti" comment on the NSD's announcement that the key messages from Mandić's recent speech at Fundina, in which he said "no" to the regime in Belgrade, will be shaped into a political declaration, and answer the questions of who is "disputed" in Montenegro and why politicians should "pacify" him.
NSD spokesperson and head of Mandić's cabinet Mirko Miličić At the beginning of the week, he announced that Mandić's speech "met with strong approval in all parts of Montenegro, and especially among the Serbian people", emphasizing that an important part of the declaration will be the position that different views and memories of certain historical events must not be a reason for "hostility among today's generations".
At Fundina, Mandić, in addition to saying that decisions about the future of Montenegro will be made in the country, and that no one has a monopoly on Serbian heritage and patrimony "no matter where they are and how great they consider themselves," also stated that Montenegro was once Serbian, and today it is Serbian.
"So, it is also ours. Our brothers and relatives who define themselves as national Montenegrins live in it. Our neighbors, Albanians, Bosniaks, Muslims and Croats, live in it... Any policy that is based on permanent strife - is a policy of failure for all these communities. We cannot build the future in the way the former regime did - by convincing some that they must disappear so that others can exist. We cannot accept that the Serbian people are being denied what is naturally recognized for every other people. But we will not win these rights by taking away theirs from others," he said.
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Potential for manipulation
For the former long-time editor-in-chief of the Podgorica weekly "Monitor" Esada Kočan The issue of reconciliation in society is very complex and contradictory. He explains that for society to progress, it is necessary not to reconcile with certain phenomena, such as unpunished crimes or adjudicated genocides.
According to him, reconciliation has a noble idea, but also enormous manipulative potential.
"Now we are reconciling as if we had a collective quarrel, and this usually refers to national groups. It would have made sense, for example, in the 90s, when Montenegro was on the verge of internal conflict... Today, there is no reason for the people of Montenegro to clash...", he told "Vijesti".
However, Kočan believes that there are "primordial fogs and walls" among the people of Montenegro, which he claims it is "heroic" to break through and expose. He adds that this is the path to reconciliation - a consensus on fundamental values.
"It is not reconciliation to say: 'let's reconcile fascists and anti-fascists now'. That is wrong, the wrong way around. In that sense, when we talk about reconciliation in Montenegro, consensus is needed. With all its flaws, Montenegro has made several consensuses from 1990 to today, decisions that were very important, because of which there was no conflict," he pointed out.
Some of the consensuses reached for Kočan include accepting the results of the 2006 independence referendum, but also accepting the results of the August 2020 elections, when, after three decades of rule, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) was removed from power by the votes of citizens.
The interlocutor recalls that these events are very significant and that the ability to change government has thus become a Montenegrin achievement, adding that joining the European Union (EU) is another issue that has significant consensus in society.
"The political class has its own motives for doing this, but in general, Montenegrin society has this concept (of consensus). An alternative to that has also been formulated: to be part of the Serbian, (President of Serbia Aleksandar) Vučić's "'holy'. If there is or is a growing consensus in society that we should move towards the EU, which, with all its flaws, is better than everything else on offer, that will strengthen Montenegro. If we work on that consensus, if it is called reconciliation - that is good," said Kočan.
The first man of the highest legislative chamber has been speaking in a "conciliatory" tone since the campaign for the presidential elections in 2023, and during that period Mandić's decades-long political rival - the former head of state, government and DPS - also sent messages about reconciliation. Milo DjukanovicHe stated in mid-March 2023 that he would lead a dialogue on reconciliation with the Democratic Front (DF), of which the NSD was a part, regardless of what anyone thought about it.
Think about it when the nation
Montenegrin film director Mladen Ivanovic He told "Vijesti" that political declarations in Montenegro are a dead letter on paper and a cheap trick for voters, adding that the main question is - who exactly in Montenegro should reconcile?
"The citizens of this state, as far as I know, have not argued," he stated.
Ivanovic assessed that for almost four decades, political elites have been keeping people divided, using nationalism and identity rhetoric, while economic and social problems remain unresolved, saying that they, in conjunction with domestic and foreign tycoons, are constantly plundering and seizing common resources without criminal responsibility.
The interlocutor stated that there have already been similar attempts at political declarations, recalling the Prime Minister's "Barometer 26" Milojko Spajić (Europe Now Movement), which proposed that identity issues be left aside so that Montenegro could continue its path towards the EU without hindrance.
The Prime Minister presented this platform in November 2024, and although it was adopted by the Government in December of that year, it was not accepted by all parties in the then parliamentary majority.
"Now Mandić is proposing something similar, trying to present himself as a politician with a European orientation, while at the same time, through bombastic statements from lower party cadres like (the first man of Nikšić) Marko Kovačević", wants to keep the voters he has mobilized for years with stories about the flag, language, Kosovo, for which he protested with a hunger strike... And to be completely honest, the other side is doing the same," Ivanovic pointed out.
He says that there are a number of other cases that further deepen divisions - the "wolfization" of MPs and leaders of the Democratic People's Party. Milan Knežević, initiatives of individual minority politicians, from the story about the church in Rumija to statements that Ulcinj is an Albanian city, to earlier messages from Bosniak representatives who see their political center outside of Montenegro...
"When these nationalist narratives start, we know that elections are approaching. Radicalization and homogenization of the electorate are useful tools to exploit and destroy the commons indefinitely," the interlocutor asserted.
Ivanovic said that if they want to appease the people, then they should think about who the people are. He asked whether the people are the few percent of the richest created by the transition overseen by the DPS, or whether the people are the vast sea of the working class, which has been terminally impoverished while being divided by identity rhetoric for almost four decades.
“Liberal discourse has this horizontalizing note: we are all supposedly equal, so you and I, reader of these lines, are the same as Bato Tsarević or Vesko Barović. And we didn't. And so we get a vicious circle - while the impoverished party flock is having fun with the identity juggling of political elites, they have long ago formed an alliance with the DPS oligarchs. Have you heard of the declaration of reconciliation with big capital acquired in three decades of DPS? No? Because there is no need for it. They have long since reconciled. And (Mohamed) Praise?” the director pointed out.
Pragmatism, not daydreaming
Asked whether he thought that a political declaration by one party could really "reconcile" the people of Montenegro, Esad Kočan answered in the negative, explaining that the author of the declaration also knows this.
"He is fully aware that a single declaration cannot do this. If that declaration really had that ambition, then it would already be public, it would be discussed by other parties, it would not be the privilege of one party, the political class would offer it jointly, and universities, social groups, the non-governmental sector would be involved...", he said.
He assessed that Mandić is "neither a dreamer nor a fool", but a very pragmatic man who has been "surviving" in the political arena for a long time, changing his views and adapting to new circumstances.
Kočan says that Mandić is offering the declaration not because he has the illusion that it will reconcile the world, but to position himself politically, recalling that in his speech at Fundina, the head of parliament chose the latter between Vučić and the EU.
"He has the ambition to last a long time. And that is legitimate in politics, wanting to last and position yourself. But we should keep in mind, when we talk about Mandić and his declarations, that the terms Europe and the EU are no longer unambiguous," he pointed out.
He asked whether Mandić's EU is the "humanist best Europe" or whether he wants what he calls a "Christian Europe" that blindly supports Israel while destroying Gaza, which is "enthused" by the policies of the American president. Donald Trump.
"Is this the Europe? No issue on the agenda is so unambiguous. And all ideas, like Mandić's, need to be put into a realistic context, questioned... The task of the media and the civil sector is to set standards for politicians and to ask them to clarify their positions," Kočan said.
Since taking office as Speaker of the Parliament in the fall of 2023, Mandić has established ties with the administrations in Washington and Tel Aviv. He was one of the signatories of the initiative to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, although he falsely tried to present to the domestic public that he was one of the initiators of the document, along with the heads of the American and Israeli parliaments. Mike Johnson i Amirom Ohanom.
Ivanovic: Declaration on meeting neglected needs needed
Mladen Ivanović said that instead of reconciliation, he would rather hear someone write a "declaration of reconciliation", because, according to him, the public would benefit from a set of public policies that would meet the long-neglected needs of Montenegrin society: protection of workers' rights, higher salaries, better healthcare, education, housing, a stronger fight against corruption and crime...
However, the interviewee points out that this is the essence of the existence of institutions, and therefore, he claims, such a thing is not even on the mind of Montenegrin landowners. He added that, from what he sees, citizens have already reconciled with each other, and that all that remains is for politicians to understand that they should not make a living by dividing people...
"The donkey wolf came out," Ivanovic emphasized.
Kočan: Mandić is fighting a battle for political survival
Esad Kočan said that he was certain of this and that Mandić knew that the declaration would not fulfill the function he was talking about, but that it could help the head of parliament position himself because he was "under heavy pressure."
"His electorate is subject to criticism from Belgrade, from the Belgrade media. He is waging a serious battle for political survival. An alternative has been set for him, both for him and for Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral. Mandić knows that he does not want to lose this battle, and these are his attempts...", the interlocutor assessed.
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