Milatović is a reliable player for serbian nationalists

Aleksandar Vucic did not publicly interfere in Montenegro’s presidential elections, but his spokespersons Vojislav Seselj, a Hague convict and Aleksandar Rakovic, an advocate of the “Serbian world”, are calling for a vote for Jakov Milatovic – while Serbian Orthodox Church bishops have on several occasions called for a vote against Milo Djukanovic.

We asked political analysts whether Milatović was the candidate of the official Belgrade and the Serbian Church from the beginning.

The candidate Jakov Milatovic is completely dependent on Joaniki Micic and the official regime in Belgrade, he is especially supported by parts of the nationalist and pro-Russian opposition in Serbia – responds Balša Božović, president of the Regional Academy for The Development of Democracy, and specifies for Pobjeda that he does not have the political infrastructure behind him or the establishment that, in addition to such great influence from the side, would make him a partially independent official of the state.

He has received campaign money from as yet unknown people (we can only guess who they are). When you have non-transparent finances, this is a particular danger. And when someone pays for your campaign, presumably they expect something in return? Citizens have a right to know – says Božović.

Assessing that official Belgrade is silent as well as the President of Serbia and the party led by the SNS, Dr. Dušan Janjić from the Forum for Ethnic Relations says that there is no other party to support except the Democratic Front, which called for support for Milatović.

Šešelj was probably elected to send signals that Vučić is behind this, which also has to do with money – Janjić explains to Pobjeda, stressing that he is not sure that Belgrade and Vučić are at all interested in interfering in the elections at this moment and that they are happy with any result that would take Montenegro further away from the EU.

He explains that Milatović comes as a safe player in the combinatorics of Serbian nationalisms. Janjic explains this position by saying that Milatovic talks about Europe, that he has been a minister for a month and a half, that he has increased salaries to the detriment of health insurance, and that is why citizens vote for him.

Objectively, Montenegro, that is to say the government, has done nothing – not even in the area of internal stability. And anything that is temporary is also unstable and lasts a long time. It’s like a construction scaffolding that is improvised, but it’s hard to demolish because there is no critical moment- says Janjic.

Serbian Orthodox Church – shadow actor

Like the official Belgrade, the first man of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije did not directly support any candidate, but let us recall, even when the elections were called, Bishop Joanikije was among the first to call for a vote against Djukanovic.

Janjić explains that the SPC is behaving in exactly the same way as divisions happen on all issues.

In general, the Patriarch will be silent, as he was silent on Kosovo, and this love for the DF does not need to be expressed directly, but is legitimised by the fact that the Front also supported Milatovic. Therefore, it will be the choice of anyone who is not in favour of the EU, and especially not in favour of NATO. Indirectly, I think that Vucic will be able to tolerate Milatovic more easily than Đukanović – says Janjić.

He then recalled that the relationship between Vucic and Đukanović is one that was drastically broken ten years ago.

Is there anything personal in this – probably, but objectively, for these people, a failed Montenegro is an excuse for their failure in Serbia – because we don’t know where we are going, Janjić concluded.

Uncertainty

Asked what a possible Milatovic victory would mean for Montenegro and which direction it would go (EU and Euro-Atlantic integration) or turn towards Russia, Bozovic estimates that we are entering a period of even greater instability.

If it were to happen that candidate Milatović were to win the elections, I think we would be living in great uncertainty. Even as a minister, he has expressed controversial political and value positions. In fact, according to media reports, he was very aggressive towards the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Radulović, who suggested that the Montenegrin Government should impose sanctions on Russia at the same time as the EU. There is this controversy that candidate Milatović was not in favour of imposing sanctions on Russia for allegedly economic reasons, and it was only later that the Krivokapić Government, under pressure from outside, decided to do so – says our interlocutor.

Božović also recalls that Milatović’s close associate Olivera Injac refused to comment on the issue of sanctions against Russia at the NATO defence ministers meeting when the Russian aggression started.

He considers that all this casts great doubt on the political definition of this new movement and points to the latest polls showing that NATO support in Montenegro is weak, which is the responsibility of all those who have come to power since 30 August, where Milatović was  candidate.

Bozovic points to the consecration of Bishop Joanikije in Cetinje and the fact that the famous helicopter landing was welcomed by Russian Minister Lavrov and Kremlin spokeswoman Zakharova – and that this repressive action was wholeheartedly organised and supported by Milatovic and Injac, which, according to Bozovic, left a very bitter taste in the mouth.

We would no longer have a clear value vertical of anti-fascism, which is the foundation of Montenegro. What does candidate Milatović think of Srebrenica, Karadzic, Mladic? About the ‘Open Balkans’ and dual citizenship, which is, in fact, very unfavourable to Montenegro’s interests. When someone openly sides with the aggressive church-police repression in Cetinje in 2021, where, coincidentally, no one was killed and it served the interests of the nationalist regime in Belgrade, how can you expect that person to side with Montenegro at some point in time? It is not a coincidence, it is the messages and ultimately the politics that he and the people around him represent – Božović concludes.

Milatović is supported by the Russia-loyal part of the Serbian Orthodox Church

Candidate Jakov Milatovic has the special support of Joanikije Mićović, who is the only high-ranking representative of the Serbian Church who is strongly opposed to the signing of the Serbia-Kosovo agreement. This is a particular strand within the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is exclusively committed to Russian interests. All of this leaves no hope that candidate Milatović would be at all independent in the performance of his presidential duties. And it is quite certain that he would take the real state interests of Montenegro over those of these structures in Belgrade and Banja Luka, which have supported him all this time, not just verbally and propagandistically, Bozovic evaluates.

NATO a sore point for patriots

Although Seselj’s party is non-parliamentary, all patriots stand behind his support for Milatović – there are all those who say that Russia is more important to them and that they do not want to join the EU. Therefore, for them, it is a natural choice, and an investment that is not fully completed – because Montenegro still survived, it is in NATO and that is a sore point. Serbism and the rest serve for mobilization – says Janjic./Pobjeda/