Filipovic: The consequences of the Basic Agreement with the Serbian Church are visible in the government

“The consequences of signing the fundamental Contract with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), which they have now forgotten, can be seen in the new government which is in technical mandate, declares to The Geopost Lubomir Filipovic, the well-known Montenegrin analyst.

“Abazovic is trying to keep power without choosing the means”, he emphasizes and shows the tough campaign a week before the election of the Prime Minister himself in technical mandate Abazovic against Mr. Milojko Spajic, whose party had the most votes in the last election and he himself is expected to be the next prime minister.

Filipovic also talks about the possible coalitions of the future Montenegrin government, which is expected, according to him, to include all minorities, even the pro-Serb and pro-Russian Democratic Front, for which he says that entering the government may be more good because it would formalize their influence, because they are currently part of many important sectors and municipalities in Montenegro.

Even for the Basic Agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church, he emphasizes that it is only a formalization of what the Serbian Church was actually doing.

“The Serbian Orthodox Church had an illegal position, not paying taxes, expanding, building without permission, expanding its influence, hiding the flow of money, building its status in society illegally, what the Fundamental Agreement does, it is only that the Fundamental Agreement formalized, institutionalized such a position of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro”.

Full interview

The Geopost: There were parliamentary elections in Montenegro, what is the current political situation regarding the formation of the government? 

Parliamentary elections were supposed to resolve a crisis that has been going on since the change in 2020, but the last crisis happened when the fundamental contract was signed last year, which everyone has now forgotten about, but not about its consequences, and the consequence is that we have a government which will literally be one year in August now that is in technical mandate, and Prime Minister Abazović also in technical mandate. 

Abazović is trying with all his might to retain power and keep the levers of power within the government and to keep the position of prime minister as long as possible and does not choose the means. To be honest, he does not choose the means, a week before the election, a campaign was created against the prime minister who should take up that position, they are expecting a potential prime minister, Mr. Spajić, and now negotiations are ongoing. We had the first meeting yesterday after a long time of bureaucratic obstacles. Elections were announced only last week, and we have only just constituted the parliament, two months after the elections were held, yesterday was the first session, no president was elected, negotiations are ongoing and that government will be huge, there is already talk of some 22 ministries for small Montenegro and in it there should be representatives of all minority nations, as we hear now, and the Democratic Front, the pro-Serbian, pro-Russian Democratic Front. Why, because this way the blackmailing potential of each of these numerous colorful coalitions that should come to power is reduced. 

The Geopost: How risky will it be for NATO, security and the future of Montenegro to insert the Democratic Front into the government? 

We live in a delusion, I think it would be great if they finally became part of the government so that we would understand that they are already part of the government from 2020. The leader of the Democratic Front is a member of the National Security Council of Montenegro. The Democratic Front manages the state cadaster since 2020, the Democratic Front manages the Electric Power Company of Montenegro, the energy sector, the Democratic Front controls the largest cities in Montenegro, Podgorica where it dominates positions in the government, Nikšić where they have a mayor which is the second largest city in Montenegro and Budva, which is perhaps now, after the arrival of such a large number of Russians and Ukrainians, perhaps even before Nikšić, a larger city in terms of population and which is the richest city in Montenegro. 

Therefore, the Democratic Front controls the processes, it is part of the government, and now with hindsight, even though I was among the people who fought for 3 years against the Democratic Front entering the government, I now understand that maybe we should have let the Democratic Front be part of the government in a visible place from the beginning because they now have a double role, hiding in these positions that are not in the government itself at the level of the ministries, there is this misconception in the public that they are not part of the government, but they are part of the government. 

As far as I understand now, they are offered the energy sector, transport and they are offered education. 

Serbia has an interest in dominating the Montenegrin economy, and on the other hand, the Democratic Front remains outside the defense of foreign affairs and security, allegedly, but it controls our education, and you have a situation where high school graduates mostly celebrate with Serbian flags at the end of the year, you have influence in education among young people, where ideas spread, support Russia, support for Serbia, and we are literally not clear, if we leave culture and education to the Democratic Front and these foreign elements, what will be left for us to defend with this defense and security. 

The Geopost: How much did the signing of the agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church by the Prime Minister of Montenegro Abazovic hurt Montenegro? 

This formalized a narrative of the Serbian Orthodox Church about Montenegro being a Serbian state, nothing has changed, the Serbian Orthodox Church had an illegal position, not paying taxes, expanding, building without permits, expanding its influence, hiding the flow of money, it was building its status in society illegally, what the basic contract did, the basic contract only formalized, institutionalized such a position of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. /Geopost/