Mihailovic: Mandic under the tutelage of Vucic, through the process of dual citizenship, is trying to undo Montenegro

Political processes in Montenegro are currently managed by Belgrade and first of all, and perhaps above all, by the Serbian Orthodox Church. This is what the editor-in-chief of the ETV portal, Dusko Mihailovic, says while criticizing the Speaker of the Parliament of Montenegro for aiming to destroy the state through the process of dual citizenship.

In the interview for The Geopost, he talks about the importance of the extraordinary elections in Montenegro, and the influence of local politics on national developments.

He says that there are no coincidences in the activities of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro or in the region.

“Porfirije was also there on September 5, 2021, when Amfilohi Radovic’s successor – Joanikija Micovic – was appointed by force in Cetinje. So Porfirio’s presence in this, let’s say, local election process is not accidental, but it also shows us that once pushed, once all the levers are pushed, these elections can be very uncertain for the incumbents power at the state level”, he says.

He also talks about efforts to control the media and freedom of speech in Montenegro, citing concrete cases of pressure on journalists.

Mihalilović calls the statements of the Montenegrin Prime Minister, Milojko Spajić, shallow, where, regarding the changes in the Law on Citizenship, he assessed that “only those solutions that guarantee the complete independence of Montenegro are acceptable”.

“Prime Minister Spajic’s statements regarding some politically important issues for Montenegro, as a rule, are always shallow and show either ignorance of the essence of the issue or some kind of bad intention. It is clear to anyone who knows the political events in Montenegro at all that the history of dual citizenship is the history of erasing Montenegro from the European map as a sovereign state. Montenegro is a small country with about 620,000-630,000 inhabitants and with these initiatives pushed by the representatives of the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian parties in Montenegro, namely the speaker of the Parliament Andrija Mandić and his partner from the People’s Democratic Party, Milan Knezhević, who once formed the Democratic Front, aims to register over 350,000 people with Montenegrin citizenship”, he underlines.

Full interview:

The Geopost: Podgorica citizens vote today for the extraordinary elections. Local elections in Montenegro seem to have gone beyond local borders in recent years. How important are these elections for Montenegro primarily?

Mihailović: These elections in the capital are very important and, as you said, they go beyond local elections for two reasons.

One reason is that one third of the Montenegrin electorate lives in Podgorica – that is, there are about 145,000 voters registered in Podgorica, and as I said, that is one third of the electorate. And Podgorica, unlike some other local areas, has always been a litmus test for certain relationships at national level when it comes to the political power of the players on the political scene in Montenegro. That is one part of the story, one reason, and that is the mass of the electorate.

The second thing is that these are extraordinary local elections, coming just over a year since the establishment of the new local authority in Podgorica, which has mapped the balance of power in the Montenegrin Parliament.

If the results of today’s elections show that those political actors who are in power at national level in Podgorica will not be able to form a government at local level, and in the meantime, there has been turbulence within the very structures of those political actors, after these elections the opposition will be able to raise the perfectly legitimate question of the legitimacy of the government at national level and to force, potentially, some kind of new extraordinary national elections.

That is why, in short, these elections are more than local elections.

The Geopost: The Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajic, when it comes to the amendments to the Law on Citizenship, has stated that “only those solutions that guarantee Montenegro’s full independence are acceptable”.

Do such solutions actually exist, or is the Prime Minister dependent on them to take political decisions?

Mihailović: As a rule, Prime Minister Spajić’s statements concerning certain politically important issues for Montenegro are always shallow and show either ignorance of the essence of the matter or a certain malice.

It is clear to anyone who has any knowledge of Montenegrin political developments that the story of dual citizenship is a story of the erasure of Montenegro from the European map as a sovereign state.

Montenegro is a small country with a population of around 620,000-630,000, and these initiatives are being promoted by representatives of pro-Serb and pro-Russian parties in Montenegro, namely the Speaker of the Parliament, Andrija Mandić, and his partner from the smaller Democratic People’s Party Milan Knezevic’s party, which once formed the Democratic Front, intends to enroll more than 350,000 people as Montenegrin citizens.

And with regard to the size of the electorate, which I mentioned a little earlier, I think you understand what that would mean and what a devastating effect it would have on the sovereignty of Montenegro, because the original sovereignty comes from the will of the citizens.

This story is being tried to be relativized here, this intention is being tried to be romanticized in order to allow hundreds of thousands of people who have emotional ties and links with Montenegro to register for citizenship, and then it is being tried to be relativized with the story that they will not have the right to vote, because in order to exercise the right to vote, you need, in addition to citizenship, residence within a certain time limit.

Only malicious and stupid cannot realize that, if this happens, perhaps those hundreds of thousands of people will not have the right to vote today, but they will have the right to vote in 4, 5 or 10 years’ time, which will make it possible for the regime of Aleksandar Vučić or whoever in Belgrade, given that, for the last 100 years, when it comes to the relationship with Montenegro, whoever has been in Belgrade, that relationship has been exactly the same. So, this story would allow that regime in Belgrade to completely control the political processes in Montenegro.

We have seen them doing that in recent years, too, and especially in the last year, since the government headed by Milojko Spajić has been essentially led by the Speaker of the Assembly and the leader of the New Serbian Democracy, Andrija Mandić.

The Geopost: And through him, of course, Serbia still has influence?

Mihailović: That’s right, through Andrija Mandić the political processes in Montenegro are currently led by Belgrade and first and perhaps foremost by the Serbian Church, that is the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Geopost: Speaking of the Serbian Church, today, in addition to Podgorica, there are local elections in Kotor, and on this very day Patriarch Porfirije is celebrating the liturgy. Is it a coincidence?

Mihailović: There are no coincidences in the work of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro and in the region.

Porfirije always appears conveniently in Montenegro when it comes to important political and social processes. He arrived in Montenegro on Friday.

Today, as if by chance, he holds a liturgy on the very day of the election in Kotor.

I would remind you that Porfirije stayed in Montenegro before the date on which the census was due to begin in Montenegro during the technical mandate of the government of Dritan Abazović, which was later postponed, but even then, Abazović was under the dictates of these very same pro-Serb and pro-Russian political structures and Serbian churches who they definitely wanted to organize census, which was due to begin in the last days of his technical mandate.

Porfirije was there also on 5 September 2021, when Amfilohije Radovic’s successor – Joanikije Mićović – was forcibly enthroned in Cetinje. Porfirije’s presence in this, let’s say, local election process is therefore not accidental, but it does suggest to us that these elections, once all the levers are in place, can be very uncertain for the power holders at national level.

The Geopost: Montenegro is the country that recognized Kosovo’s independence. Why did Prime Minister Spajic keep quiet about his meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti this summer, just before the reconstruction of the government? Is it for fear of the reactions of the regime in Belgrade?

Mihailović: It seems to me that this is not the only meeting with Kosovo representatives that is being hidden. I think there was something similar when it was a meeting with Vjosa Osmani, but I cannot remember now whether it was Mr Spajić or President Milatović. It was this summer, and in those two, three months, so many things happened to us, as if three years had passed, not three months.

It is obvious that they are counting on the publication of this kind of information to cause negative feelings among the section of the electorate that prefers it and wants to ingratiate itself with it.

That, unfortunately, is the shortest explanation of this kind of behavior. Of course, if Spajić had made public that photo with Albin Kurti, his de facto boss, Andrija Mandić, whom I mentioned, would have found himself in an awkward situation, and then Mandić would have had to explain to his electorate why he had entered the reconstituted government of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, and his electorate is solidly, shall I say, right-wing, pro-Russian and pro-Serb.

The Geopost: The Special Prosecutor for Organised Crime, Milos Šoškić, is once again targeting journalists in Montenegro in a way that can only be seen in autocratic regimes. For whom does such a prosecutor’s office, which does not tolerate freedom of speech, work, and what is next? What is it like to be a journalist in today’s Montenegro?

Mihailović: For the sake of your viewers and readers, I may have to give a little background, if you agree, so that they know exactly what this is about.

Is that OK?

The Geopost: Yes.

Mihailović: Milos Soskic, a special prosecutor in the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, sent a scandalous request to the daily Pobjeda, which actually concerned its former editor-in-chief, Drasko Djuranović, who had just been dismissed from his position as editor-in-chief of the oldest daily list in July this year. We see this today from the reaction of Prosecutor Soskic precisely in order to put a stop to the writing of Pobjeda and Mr Djuranović and his colleagues, including me about the dysfunction of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, their selective work and, above all, the prosecutor’s office Milos Soskic, who is leading some of the trials in Montenegro which, it is now clear to everyone, are purely politically motivated, and which include the trial against the former Chief Special Prosecutor, Milivoj Katnić, who led the 2016 coup d’état case, already known throughout the region, which “miraculously” involved Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, whom I mentioned a little earlier.

What Milos Soskic has done, which is a kind of order to the daily Pobjeda, is to order the removal from his archives, even though all those texts are published and available to the public, after all, also in the archives and in the National Library of Cetinje, of all the texts by Drasko Djuranović, former editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief, which relate to matters in which Soskic is the acting prosecutor. This is an unprecedented situation.

We have absolutely never seen anything like this in Montenegro. The regime of Slobodan Milosević did not even do it like this. This is a terrible abuse of power to suppress freedom of speech and freedom of the media.

The silence of the daily Pobjeda and the new management and editorial board, which has been silent for several days now, is disappointing, and I can freely say that this silence and the lack of commitment of the new editorial board and management of Pobjeda actually speaks a thousand heavy words which, I am free to say, the lead ones.

This silence is and will be, in fact it is harmful, it will have major consequences for the entire media scene, for all journalists in Montenegro, and also for society as a whole.

What I personally and some of my colleagues did was that we, before the Prosecutorial Council and the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković, I can freely say, took the initiative that the Prosecutorial Council, as responsible for the work of special prosecutors, should initiate disciplinary proceedings and review the conduct of Prosecutor Soskic for abuse of power and state resources in order to suppress freedom of speech and expression.

We have received a reply from the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office that this initiative will be discussed at the next meeting of the Prosecutorial Council, when a decision will be taken on whether there will indeed be a review of his actions.

/The Geopost