The Europe Now Movement (PES), judging by its attitude towards its ruling coalition partner Andrija Mandić (NSD), does not have a clear "red line" that would lead them to vote for his removal, because staying in power weighs more than political and ideological differences.
This was assessed by the interlocutors of "Vijesti", answering the question of what Mandić needs to do in order for PES to vote for his removal from the position of President of the Parliament.
Mandić, despite disagreements with the party Milojko Spajić, primarily regarding relations towards European integration, identity issues, relations towards Serbia and the way of conducting state policy, has so far had the support of PES when it comes to his survival as President of the Parliament.
This is the position that PES has taken during the previous two votes on his dismissal, in 2024 and 2025, when the party's MPs did not support the initiatives for his dismissal. Spajić's party has announced that it will do the same when it comes to the announced, but not yet formally submitted, initiative of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) to dismiss Mandić.
For condolences sent after the death of a war criminal Ratko MladićOn August 31, DPS announced that it would send an initiative to all parliamentary groups and independent MPs to remove Mandić.
According to the interpretation of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, a simple majority, that is, a majority of the deputies present, is required to dismiss Mandić, but in order for the session to be held, a quorum must be ensured – which means that 41 deputies must be present.
Spajić's party did not respond to "Vijesti's" questions about what Mandić would have to do to change their position, or where the line is beyond which they would be willing to support his removal.
Tadić-Mijović: There is no border, they will stay together
Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN-CG), Milka Tadic Mijović She assessed for "Vijesti" that there are no boundaries and that PES and Mandić's NSD will remain together, no matter how much they differ in their declarations.
"Both parties on the Montenegrin political scene were not brought together by the same principles and ideology, but by the glue of power, which seems to be the most effective in this political culture, not only among those two parties," said Tadić Mijović.
Program Director of the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Petar Djukanovic He pointed out that, as things stand today, there is no "red line" that PES is not prepared to move in order to avoid a more serious confrontation with Mandić.
"PES gradually became a prisoner of the pattern it had built itself since the beginning of its cooperation with him, because each new move by Mandić pushed the boundaries of what was politically acceptable, including actions that were difficult to reconcile with PES' declared pro-European course," Đukanović states.
He recalled that Mandić, thanks to PES, survived two initiatives for his removal, even though he was charged with abuse of office, nationalistic and anti-European activities, damaging relations with neighbors, and despite the fact that his actions were assessed as contrary to the state interests of Montenegro.
"PES occasionally distanced itself from his positions and moves, explaining that it did not share them, but these distancing did not have political consequences for the coalition. This practically sent a message that boundaries can be moved as long as the common interest of remaining in power is not jeopardized," Đukanović pointed out.
Condolences "Personal opinion"
The latest move by PES to distance itself from Mandić, but not enough to vote for his dismissal, occurred in response to the condolence telegram sent by the parliament speaker following the death of war criminal Ratko Mladić. The move drew condemnation from parts of the Montenegrin public, the region, especially Croatia, and Brussels.
PES recently told "Vijesti" that Mandić's condolences were a personal and party position, not the position of the Government, and emphasized that they respect the final judgments of international courts.
"When it comes to Ratko Mladić, our position is clear: we respect the final verdicts of international courts, as well as the principles of international law and justice, so there is no room in our movement to relativize the fact that he has been finally convicted of genocide and war crimes."
Mandić said at the plenum on Friday evening that by expressing condolences to Mladić's son, he was only doing something that was in line with the customs of his people:
"One of the most important things I want to tell everyone - I am a national Serb and I only did something that is in accordance with the customs of my people. And not only mine, we see that Montenegrins also have a similar custom, this was seen in the example of the death of the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia when some Montenegrins expressed condolences, and among us Serbs such a custom is - I expressed condolences to the son of Ratko Mladić."
He said that "there was not a single superfluous word or sentence" and that he "did everything in accordance with the faith to which he belongs."
He pointed out that various shouts and insults were made throughout the day, and asked that the deputies refrain from speaking until the debate on the topic began.
"I have no doubt that it will be a very interesting discussion," said Mandić.
Petar Đukanović assessed that the policy of concessions allowed Mandić to impose himself as the de facto political leader of the parliamentary majority, with fewer and fewer reasons to believe that his moves would lead to the termination of the partnership.
"As long as the preservation of power is a stronger binding factor than programmatic and value differences, the space for its action remains very wide," Djukanovic pointed out.
He pointed out that we should not ignore the fact that within PES there is a significant portion of those whose political and value views are close to Mandić's, which further explains the high threshold of tolerance towards his actions.
"The problem is that such politics are becoming increasingly expensive for PES, but also for the state. When preserving power is the reason for continuously shifting political and value boundaries, then the calculation is no longer based solely on the rating of one party, but on the credibility and stability of Montenegro's European path. And that should be a red line that is not moved for the sake of any coalition arrangement," Đukanović pointed out.
Đukić: No alliance with DPS is worth it for PES
Political analyst Stefan Djukic He assessed that there is nothing that can happen because PES currently has no possibility of forming a government with anyone else without suffering serious political damage.
"So Mandić can do his thing, (Ervin) Ibrahimovic own, and (Aleksa) Becic "The alternative to PES is cooperation with DPS, which is toxic because it does not face its criminal past, so no alliance with them is worth it," Djukic pointed out.
He assessed that PES would not be able to survive the elections it would go to outside of a position of power at this moment and that it would have to "swallow" everything that comes its way, and at the same time, as he states, other actors also tolerate many things that they do not agree with at all, for the sake of the price of power.
Explaining why they decided to initiate the removal of the first person in the Assembly, the DPS stated that by expressing condolences to Mladić, Mandić crossed a line "beyond which one cannot close one's eyes."
"We have long heard that a distinction should be made between his personal political views and the function he performs, that there should be understanding for the sake of the stability of the government, that difficult topics should not be raised for the sake of the European path. But there are moments when silence ceases to be political wisdom and becomes acquiescence. This is one of those moments. Because when the Speaker of the Parliament expresses his respect for the death of a man convicted of genocide, we are no longer talking about private beliefs, but also about his worthiness to perform his function," he said. Danijel Zivkovic.
Two days later, the Europe Now movement announced that it would not support Mandić's removal, adding that they were leaving war rhetoric to those political structures for whom it was the only tool.
"And we have already spoken out on this issue and for us, respect for international rulings is something that goes without saying. We are choosing the future," the PES statement reads.
Member of Parliament from the PES club Seid Hadzic He announced in parliament the day before yesterday that he would vote to remove Mandić, with the same intensity of sweetness as he voted for his election with the same intensity of discomfort.
"He poked a finger in the eye of a Bosniak," Hadžić said.
They distanced themselves from Mandić several times.
Condolences to Mladić are not the first time that Mandić's coalition partners have distanced themselves from him. When in early January 2025, the first man in the Assembly congratulated the unconstitutional day of Republika Srpska, the government said that the executive branch recognizes a single, integral and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that Mandić "can congratulate whatever he wants on his own behalf."
The leader of New Serbian Democracy "created a problem" for his partners in power in February 2024, when he hosted the former long-time president of Republika Srpska in parliament. Milorad Dodik.
Then, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose head at that time was Filip Ivanovic (PES), said that they did not organize the visit, but that the highest legislative chamber did. However, they noted that they had informed the Assembly of an “omission” - that during the visit, the official flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was not displayed alongside the Republika Srpska flag.
"Survived" an attempted dismissal twice
In 2024, DPS, together with part of the opposition, demanded the dismissal of Andrija Mandić because they believed that as the Speaker of the Parliament he was pursuing a nationalist and anti-European policy and was abusing the parliament. They cited the reception of Milorad Dodik in the Parliament, the display of the tricolor in his office, his attendance at the celebration of Aleksandar Vučić's election victory in Serbia, and the issue of his citizenship as the main reasons. They also claimed that his attitude towards Dodik represented a rapprochement with policies that jeopardized relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The initiative was rejected with 27 votes in favor and 44 against.
In mid-2025, the DPS and the Social Democrats again called for his removal, stating that during his term of office, several reasons had accumulated for why he could not be the head of the parliament. They listed ten reasons why Mandić should not be the head of the parliament, most of which related to, as they stated, “the deliberate undermining of the integrity of the parliament in order to stop Montenegro’s path to the European Union (EU)”. At that time, they particularly highlighted the case of the official vehicle of the parliament, which was used by his nephew Danilo Mandić, as well as allegations of the collapse of the parliamentary control function, the implementation of nationalist and anti-European policies…
Mandić's nephew Danilo Mandić was sentenced to one year in prison at the end of April for unauthorized use of an official Assembly vehicle, and at the same time was acquitted of charges for wounding two fellow citizens and illegal possession of weapons due to lack of evidence.
The Basic Court in Podgorica lifted Mandić's detention, because, as they stated at the time, he had spent exactly one year in detention, which is the same amount as the sentence imposed.
The opposition initiative for his removal did not receive enough votes even then. 20 voted for his removal, while 41 out of 81 MPs in parliament voted against it.
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