Kommersant: Russia indirectly involved in scandal due to wiretapping of Rocen

"After the publication of those records, many in Montenegro and Serbia assessed that the wiretapping was done by Russian special services. However, experts paid attention to the fact that the transcript of the conversation in Russian was apparently made by a man whose native language is not Russian," the newspaper writes.
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Roćen, Photo: Filip Roganović
Roćen, Photo: Filip Roganović
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

A scandal broke out in Serbia due to the wiretapping of high-ranking politicians and officials, and Russia is also indirectly involved in the scandal due to the wiretapping of the former ambassador of Serbia and Montenegro in Moscow, writes today's Moscow daily Komersant.

Quoting the statements of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who said that he had been wiretapped for 20 years, the newspaper assesses that this is a response to earlier accusations by the Serbian opposition that they were wiretapped.

The paper recalls that the opposition accused the president of illegally disclosing state secrets, that the government explained that the president had the right to do so, and that experts believe he should have followed the procedure.

Komersant states that Vučić made another "interesting statement" about the fact that the former ambassador to Moscow, Milan Roćen, was secretly tapped on the orders of the Serbian authorities, whose president at the time was Boris Tadić.

The paper reminds that the audio recordings and transcripts of telephone conversations of Rocen, who is now the chief adviser of Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović, refer to 2005 and 2006, and that they have been published for some time by the portal In4s, "which has a reputation as a strong opponent of the Montenegrin authorities and spokesperson Serbian special services".

"After the publication of those recordings, many in Montenegro and Serbia judged that the wiretapping was carried out by Russian special services. However, experts paid attention to the fact that the transcript of the conversation in Russian was apparently made by a man whose native language is not Russian," the newspaper writes.

In addition, Komersant adds, "the comments of the portal itself leave no doubt that the main goal of the publication is to discredit the Montenegrin referendum on independence in 2006, which was recognized by Russia among the first".

Dnevnik adds that this was also pointed out by Vučić, stating that Russia could hardly have been interested in publishing the former ambassador's conversation in Moscow, and that Ranko Tadić, a close relative of the then president, was in charge of it.

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