Hajduković wrote to Mandić: It is your obligation not to be an accomplice in breaking the law

Montenegrin scientist Dragan Hajduković said today that it is the obligation of the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandić, not to be an accomplice in breaking the law.

He delivered an open letter to Mandic to the media.

"Being the President of the Parliament of Montenegro is a great honor but also a great obligation. If one is lucky, the President of the Parliament should be a knight of democracy, justice and respect for the law. Unfortunately, you are not (although I wish you were), just as your predecessors were not, and I fear that your successor will not be either. Unfortunately, figuratively speaking, God has cruelly, very cruelly punished Montenegro with politicians, both the government and the opposition. If none of you are capable of being at the top, at least try not to be nothing," Hajduković emphasized in a letter to Mandić.

He stated that he insists solely on respecting the law.

"Once again, I ask you to read Article 17 of the Law on State Awards of Montenegro, which has only 89 words, and it will be immediately clear to you that the jury for the award of the Thirteenth of July Award grossly violated the law, therefore, made an illegal decision. It is your obligation not to be an accomplice in violating the law. Please note that I insist exclusively on respecting the law, I repeat, I only ask for respect for the law. Therefore, I distance myself from all polemics based on political profiteering, the name of the winner and the national Serbian-Montenegrin conflict, but I insist on respecting the law," Hajduković stated in the letter.

On July 1, the jury for the July 2025th Award decided to award the XNUMX award to writer Bećir Vuković, musician Miloš Karadaglić, and graphic artist Veljo Stanišić.

The jury consisted of president Nikola Rakočević and members Želidrag Nikčević, David Kalaj, Radoslav Stanišić, Miodrag Živković, Danilo Marunović and Dragan Koprivica.

On July 3, Hajduković, in an open letter to the jury for this year's Thirteenth of July Award, asked why they were silent in the face of, as he said, the undeniable truth that they had grossly violated the law.

In that letter, he stated that, if the jury does not admit its mistake, he will initiate proceedings with the Administrative Court of Montenegro.

On July 2, Hajduković said that the jury for the 2025 Thirteenth of July Award had grossly and recklessly violated the fundamental Article 17 of the Law on State Awards, and that their decision was therefore invalid.

In his address to the members of the Parliament, the President and the Government of Montenegro, he pointed out that according to the last paragraph of the aforementioned article of the law, only one annual Thirteenth of July Award can be awarded in one field, and that all three of this year's awards (to musician Miloš Karadaglic, writer Bećir Vuković and graphic artist Veljo Stanišić) were awarded in the field of cultural and artistic creativity.