Mandić: I expressed my condolences in accordance with customs; Nikolić: You will have to kneel in Srebrenica and ask for forgiveness

Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandić said that he expressed his condolences on the death of Ratko Mladić in accordance with customs and that there was nothing controversial in his telegram.

He announced this at yesterday's parliamentary session.

Ratko Mladić died on August 27 at the age of 85. The Hague tribunal found him guilty of genocide in Srebrenica, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Mandić sent his condolences to Mladić's family at the time.

At yesterday's session of the Assembly, Mandić emphasized that he is ethnically Serb and that he did something that was in accordance with the customs of his people.

"Not only among us Serbs. Montenegrins also have this custom. This was seen in the example of the death of the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Slobodan Milošević). There were not a single superfluous word, superfluous sentence. Today there are various shouts, various insults, so I would ask you to refrain until the moment when the topic is discussed. I have no doubt that it will be an interesting discussion," said Mandić.

As he added, there is no one to move even a millimeter, especially the people from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).

"We know what that party was like. These young people continue where their predecessors left off, they do not renounce their policies. And I remember very well that time when they strongly supported Republika Srpska. When Milošević introduced sanctions, if it were not for the Government of Montenegro and Milo Đukanović, Republika Srpska would have lost the war. And they thanked Milo Đukanović. There are also quotes in their media in October 1997 when there was a split where politicians from Republika Srpska are quoted saying how much they are grateful to Milo Đukanović, and some of them came to campaign for Đukanović against Momir Bulatović," said Mandić.

He added that the current DPS MPs will not give up this policy, because 90 percent of voters vote for that party because of Milo Đukanović, and ten percent because of "new faces."

The head of parliament told Seid Hadžić, a member of parliament from the European Europe Now (PES) party, who had announced that he would vote for his dismissal, that he respected his position and urged him to vote according to his conscience.

Mandić added that he will be in Brussels when the Montenegrin flag is raised, when Montenegro becomes a member of the European Union (EU).

The head of the DPS parliamentary group, Andrija Nikolić, replied that "before EU membership, he will have to kneel in Srebrenica like former German Chancellor Willy Brandt and ask for forgiveness."

"Now you have compromised everything you have done in the previous months. And now Johan Sattler (Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro) and Marta Kos (European Commissioner for Enlargement) have a problem explaining to the member states what kind of parliament speaker is glorifying a war criminal," he pointed out.

Mandić replied, "That's not true."

Nikolić referred to the condolences to Milošević, saying that the former president of the FRY died in The Hague, but not as a convicted war criminal.

"I understand the need for this excursus. Where did the gentleness in your voice go? You have eased tensions because things are getting a little complicated. We did not do this primarily because of you, because we know who we are dealing with. This is our third initiative. It does not aim to help a credible interpretation of the past because that is unquestionable. Ratko Mladić will be remembered for the verdict of the Hague Tribunal and for the atrocities he left behind. That is his legacy. Here, the clientelism of the ruling majority, which will vote on whether Ratko Mladić is a hero or a criminal, and not whether Andrija Mandić should be removed, should be seen and exposed," Nikolić said.

He said that Mandić has a problem, because his electorate is moving to his previous coalition partner (Milan Knežević, leader of the Democratic People's Party).

The request for Mandić's dismissal (the initiative has not been formally submitted) was initiated last Monday by the DPS because the leader of the highest legislative house sent condolences last week on the death of convicted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladić.