Božović: Mandić cannot be the President of the Assembly if he acquired Serbian citizenship after June 3, 2006.

Justice Minister Bojan Božović (Europe Now Movement - PES) announced that Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić (New Serbian Democracy - NSD) cannot hold that position if he acquired Serbian citizenship after June 3, 2006, but also that his personal position is that people in public positions should not have any other citizenship than Montenegrin.

He made this statement at today's parliamentary session, answering questions from Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) MP Oskar Hutter.

Huter asked Justice Minister Bojan Božović whether Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić, if he acquired Serbian citizenship after June 3, 2006, had lost the right to be a Montenegrin citizen, and therefore a member of parliament and speaker of the Parliament.

"You are the one who should set an example. If it's a traffic law, you can't drive without a seat belt," he pointed out.

He also asked whether the "glorification of a war criminal" by Mandić and the mayor of Pljevlja, Dario Vraneš, must be subject to action by the institutions.

"Say 'it can be done like that'. You may be powerless, but you are obligated to publicly express your position," he said.

Huter also asked Božović whether Prime Minister Milojko SPajić (PES) could head the government if he was a reservist in the Serbian Army.

"Is that legal or not? There's no magic involved," he said.

Božović said that someone could legally obtain citizenship of another country from May 21 to June 3, 2006, but not after that.

"There is a clear legal obstacle and there is no dilemma there. I am not a general practitioner who knows all the law. My political position is that any person who holds public office should not have a citizenship other than Montenegrin at the time they accept and hold those offices," he pointed out.

Huter said that Mandić admitted in a show on Radio Free Europe that he has Serbian citizenship and that he acquired it after June 3rd.

"What did you do about it? The minister I asked about is sitting behind you (Minister of Interior Danilo Šaranović). I asked him in 2024, he told me that he had contacted the Serbian Ministry of Interior. I promise that we will repeat the inquiry, that he will say that he has to ask for our sake. How can you set an example? How can Šaranović punish someone for wearing a seat belt, and not be punished for this," he said.