Watch the moment when the President of the Municipality of Zeta left the studio:
Dragićević said that this was an “unconstitutional act and undermining of the very foundations of the state”, as well as the strategic goal of joining the European Union. He stated that the Serbian Minister of Ecology “proudly announced” their project for a wastewater treatment plant, while, as he claims, the Montenegrin Minister of Ecology “hid it from the very beginning”, and that he “almost” came close to “refuting” the impact assessment study as a second-instance body in order, in his words, “to satisfy certain people from Zeta”.
He assessed the entire process as "very dangerous", stating that it could have happened that Chapter 27 would not be closed. He said that he had spoken to people from the European Union and that, as he stated, they were "completely shocked" that there was a country "where people are fighting against wastewater treatment plants", and that, in his words, "we are witnessing a wave of irrational protests in Montenegro".
Dragićević said that the state "doesn't exist," stating that there was no statement from the prime minister about Botun "until journalists in Bar caught him making a statement," and that, as he said, there was "one or half a meeting" with the prime minister, claiming that "you don't have a competent minister dealing with this," "you don't have statements," and that "it feels like the state is on autopilot."
Speaking about the blockades, Dragićević stated that the people protesting were those who, as he claims, “illegally occupied state property” and built houses “of 100/200 square meters on it”, and that, as he said, they were allowed to do so, so they received asphalt, electricity and sewage, and “served as a base for votes”. He said that now, according to him, they are demanding that the state “deduct the interest and court costs” for their lawsuits against the state, although, as he claims, they knew in advance that they would lose the case, and that “the state cannot do that”, because “it cannot erase the interest and court costs” without consequences, stating that this “would fall on the Constitutional Court”.
He added that "they are blocking the highway", and that there is also a situation where, as he stated, "the residents of Tuzi and Omerbožovići are blocking the regional landfill".
Vuković said: "I am sure that 95 percent of people who gather to protest have the most noble intentions and are gathering because someone has convinced them that it is a matter of pride."
"I hope that what I asked Mr. Asanović can help those people understand the motives of a small number who are trying to manipulate them, and who play according to what Belgrade is playing. It is not at all a coincidence, and I announced it a year and a half ago, that as the end of the negotiation process with the European Union approaches, neuralgic points in Montenegro will be activated thanks to the people who are on the remote control."
The show played a recording of Aleksandar Božović (Democrats), director of the Podgorica "Deponija", who said that at no point did they try to prevent the Municipality of Zeta from disposing of municipal waste at the landfill, nor, as he stated, did they communicate that the response "would not be extended".
A recording of the executive director of the Podgorica city company "Putevi", Radoš Zečević (NSD), was also played. When asked about the comments on whether the Capital City was making it difficult for the citizens of Zeta to have regular transport between the two municipalities, Zečević said that this was not true and that they had done everything to ensure that the citizens of Zeta had intercity and intermunicipal transport, but that they had to respect the law and that there was a transporter who had obtained it legally through a tender.
Zečević said that the mayor said to "do everything they can" to provide transportation, but also to respect the law, and that people, as he stated, "interpreted it incorrectly due to the current situation" and assessed it as a "countermeasure."
Dragićević said that Mayor Mujović is in a "very awkward situation." He stated that they had the opportunity to cooperate when it came to the Brskovo mine, and that Mujović, as he said, made sure that the state and citizens were not harmed "not even by a single cent," and that he "conducted the entire process based on science and expert analysis."
Dragićević said that he “knows for sure” that Mujović had tried from the beginning to see if the plant could be relocated and that, as he stated, when he was told, “he announced it”. He also said that a plant with “the same technology” is being built in Serbia, and that it is “not true” that it is “twice as good” and that “there are no problems there, but there are problems here”.
He said that there had been a “crazy campaign” from the very beginning, stating that “there was talk all the time” that the facility would be an “incinerator”, that it would be a “regional center for sludge incineration” and that “sludge would be imported”. Dragićević said that from the beginning they had explained to these people that this was “not possible in our waste management law”, but that, as he stated, “they did not give it”, and that this information had “been received among the citizens of Botun and Zeta” and that “it cannot be explained to them”. He assessed that from the very beginning the campaign had been based on “complete misinformation”.
Vuković said that, as he stated, he would take a "completely different" position if he were looking at the party's interests.
He said that it is hard for someone who has been listening to "various stories" for months to believe that "20.000 tons of unprocessed feces go into the Morača every day", and that this is, in his words, a "historic chance" to solve this problem in the way it is regulated "in the most civilized and well-organized countries in Europe", stating that "it doesn't matter who".
Vuković also said that, as he said, "taking credit for that" would be important, "even if the problem of the red mud pool, which is a time bomb, is solved," adding that, "God forbid an earthquake happens," "we can forget about Lake Skadar and the Bolje sestre water source, about Montenegrin tourism."
He stated that, if he were in Asanović's place, he would "fight to make it happen", and that he was speaking as someone who, as he said, "no longer has an obligation towards it" in the sense of "some active legitimacy".
Dragićević, commenting on Asanović's decision to leave the studio, said that they "gave 70 percent of the time" to the president of the Zeta Municipality and that they listened to him and respected him to the fullest extent.
He said that "it turns out" that he is defending the government, which, as he said, "criticizes every day", but that Asanović made, in his words, "very inconvenient" claims.
Dragićević said that what Asanović said, as he stated, was not true – that they were denied access to the capital budget. According to him, the Municipality of Zeta “did not have a single healthy and mature project” and “their project could not have passed”, adding that, “if they had run”, they would have “won”.
Speaking about today's events, Dragićević said that Democratic councilor Luka Krstović submitted an amendment "that went in the direction of de-escalation", adding that, in his words, "this should have happened six or seven months ago".
He also said that he believed that the police reaction in Botun was "more than correct", stating that there was no use of physical force, "pepper spray" or the like.
Komnenić said that he “must conclude as an author” that the team represented by Asanović politically and in every possible way, as he stated, supports the authorities in Serbia” which commented on the Botun case, “where the police are cracking down on demonstrators with sound cannons, trampling, jeeps, beating up female students”. He added that, as he said, “they obviously don’t mind at all”, and that they “call the intervention of the Montenegrin police genocide”, which, according to him, is “an insult to all victims of genocide”.
Podgorica Mayor Saša Mujović said that he believes there will be no new coalition at the local level, and he also says that he is not a supporter of it.
In an interview for the show "Načisto", Mujović said that he would respect the position of Milan Knežević's Democratic People's Party (DNP), whatever that position may be.
He said this when asked whether he expects the DNP to leave power in Podgorica and whether the capital expects snap elections if that happens, or whether the situation will be resolved in another way.
More details in a special news article:
Watch the moment when the President of the Municipality of Zeta left the studio:
Komnenić said that Asanović left the studio because he was revolted, because he was confronted with his own statements and because he was asked normal journalistic questions that cry out for answers.
"A DNP official demonstrated by leaving the studio, but I'm afraid that no one from the city and central authorities will kick them out."
Asanović left the show after telling Komnenić that he "did not expect this kind of behavior."
"I will not participate in your staged show. We will never come to your place again," he said.
Komnenić, on the other hand, said that Asanović had prepared the decision and asked him if he had "rehearsed this".
When asked by Komnenić what the DNP was still doing in power, even though, as he stated, they had characterized the government as "bloody" and Mujović and his wife as "corrupt", Asanović reminded that a session of the DNP presidency was held on January 9th, at which decisions were made that, if the demands made to the government were not met, the DNP would leave power.
Komnenić then asked: "If they give you the Serbian language, the tricolor, and dual citizenship, then the collector stays in Zeta?"
"It doesn't stay in Zeta, it's a package of four measures," Asanović replied.
Asanović played a recording on the show in which Dragićević says that it is important that, when there is resistance from the local community, their opinion be respected.
Dragićević said that this was his statement from 2021 and that what he said they published was "not true."
Asanović then said that the president of the Zeta Basketball Club, Srđan Radonjić, informed him that what was read earlier in the show "was not true", that it was "a lie", and that he "did not send any letter" and that it was "made up".
Comparing the plant in Serbia with the one planned in Botun, Asanović said that the plant in Serbia was built using new technology and that "there is no incinerator there."
He says he will resign if it turns out that there is an incinerator at the Niš facility.
Bojan Terzić, one of the most vocal in the fight against the construction of the plant, was once on the DPS list and was in favor of the construction of the collector.
"Mr. Terzić was in the DPS, there are DPS voters and people who were in all parties at the protests, these protests in Botun are not just DNP... I cannot control the people who appear there, and I am not Terzić's lawyer," said Asanović.
Vuković told Asanović that he was not a representative of the residents of Botun, but a representative of the DNP and that he was abusing his position.
"You are a political representative who is currently working against the interests of these citizens. I have set a standard in Zeta that you cannot reach for the next 10 years."
Environmental activist Aleksandar Dragićević said that "everything could" have changed by the time the contract was signed in 2023, stating that the spatial plan could have been changed, that the Parliament could have passed a "lex specialis", that the project could have been "deleted from the spatial plan of Podgorica", and that it could have been influenced "in 101 ways", but that, as he said, "it was not influenced".
According to him, when the contract was signed in 2023, "it did not protect us" in the event of protests by locals "as a force majeure event", and that "after that, that was it."
Dragićević, referring to the letter that was read on the show, said that it was a "type of pressure" and that "the entire campaign was dirty", stating that, as he assessed, a "reckless, dirty" campaign was conducted "with people", and that "from party channels" the mayor of Podgorica was called "trash", and that the campaigns were "based on lies".
DPS MP and former mayor of Podgorica Ivan Vuković said that he was a signatory to the contract and that it was “one of the best decisions” he made during his term as mayor. He stated that, as he said, “colleagues from the region recognized them” for the fact that they “created the conditions for the implementation” of “such a complex project.”
Vuković said that at the national level, "no one tried to change the location", and that, as he stated, there was "only one move", namely that "the people of Botun" sent an initiative to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, with a request to form an expert commission that would determine the justification for the request to change the location.
According to Vuković, it was said at the time that "only the existing location", which was recognized by the 2008 DUP, the 2014 PUP, and the amendments to the PUP from 2019, "meets the needs of the implementation of this project".
He added that, regardless of the fact that the Municipality of Zeta has been formed in the meantime, the existing location "was and remains owned by the Capital City", and that "it was not previously owned by the Municipality of Golubovci".
Vuković also stated that the cadastral municipality of Botun is divided so that the part "where the village is" belongs to the Municipality of Zeta, and the part "where the future plant is" belongs to the Capital City.
The President of the Municipality of Zeta, Mihailo Asanović, said on the show "Načisto" that he knew nothing about the controversial letter from the Basketball Club Zeta, which host Petar Komnenić read in the studio, stating that the presence of members of the board and the club's players, along with their family members, is "mandatory" at the protest announced tomorrow at 11 a.m. in front of the Capital City Assembly building.
At the beginning of the show, Komnenić said that representatives of the Democratic Montenegro Party were invited to the show, but that they were not in the mood to participate, nor were the deputies of the Europe Now Movement. He also stated that the Mayor of Podgorica, Saša Mujović, would make a brief address on the show. He added that the Director of the Police Administration was not in the country, and that the agreement was that “everyone would question him” on the show next Thursday.
Asanović, speaking about today's session of the local parliament, said that "half of these councilors" signed the petition to hold a referendum, and that, as he stated, "they only showed their faces and did not enter this election race humanely and honestly."
When asked by Komnenić whether they were pressuring people to express their views, Asanović replied that they were not pressuring anyone and that they were only inviting the citizens of Zeta to make a decision tomorrow, in front of the Podgorica municipality, that was adopted at today's session of the Zeta Municipal Assembly.
According to the broadcast, the Zeta Municipal Assembly adopted the Proposal for a Decision on the Prohibition of the Implementation of the Project for the Construction of Podgorica's Wastewater Treatment System in Botun with 17 votes "in favor", while two councilors abstained. It is stated that councilors from the ZBCG coalition and independent councilors voted in favor of the decision, while two councilors from the Democrats abstained.
After that, Komnenić read a letter from the president of the Zeta Basketball Club, Srđan Radonjić, addressed to the members of the Board of Directors, the club's Assembly and the players, stating that their presence, along with their family members, is mandatory at the protest announced tomorrow at 11 a.m. in front of the Capital City Assembly building.
"The purpose of the gathering is to deliver, on behalf of the Club and its founder, the conclusions reached at the session of the Zeta Municipal Assembly to the Mayor of the Capital City, and to express the institutional position of the Zeta Municipality in a clear, unique and responsible manner. Considering the importance of the aforementioned event for the Club, the Municipality and the entire sports community in Zeta, failure to respond to this invitation will not be considered justified, except in exceptional and previously explained cases, with the consent of the Club President. It is particularly emphasized that all players and all members of the Management Board are obliged to be dressed in the official tracksuits of the Vukovi Zeta Basketball Club, for the sake of a unique appearance, recognition of the Club and a dignified presentation of the Zeta Municipality and its sports team in public. Failure to comply with this obligation will be considered disrespect for the official invitation," the letter states, which Radonjić states has the character of an official and binding invitation, and that a serious, responsible and timely response is expected from all addresses.
Asanović, commenting on the letter he read, said that he did not know about it, but that "it is not blackmail." He stated that all citizens were invited to express their revolt, repeated that this was the first time he had seen it, and that "it is not true" and that he did not know whether it was an official letter.
Why are the authorities hesitant to implement the law after the increasingly frequent blockades of key roads and the paralysis of the state? Are these legitimate civil protests or is there something else behind the blockades? Will the conflict over the collector in Botun really lead to a split in government at the state and capital levels? What are the possible consequences of the announced decision of the Zeta Municipal Assembly to ban the construction of the collector?
The guests of tonight's show "Načisto" are: Mihailo Asanović - President of the Municipality of Zeta, Ivan Vuković - DPS MP and former mayor of Podgorica, Aleksandar Dragićević - environmental activist.
Bonus video:
