In the politics of democratic societies, big party protests are always due to some unimaginable act of the government. When bad, indecent, undemocratic behavior of a government lasts for a decade, a lack of civil rebellion is illogical and even bizarre.
Milo Đukanović is a Montenegrin politician who has been the Prime Minister of Montenegro since 2012
Originally apperared at IN4S, translated by Stevo Marjanović exclusively for SouthFront
How is it possible that a people whose ancestors broke Bušatlije and Čengic, who survived the “Omer pasha year,” defeated the Austrians, Italians and Germans could quietly tolerate a government that hides behind the state. Anyone who doubts the regime’s intentions, who mentions that the accession to NATO is against the will of the vast majority of citizens, someone who says the government policy is dishonest, false and fruitless… anyone who would be willing to testify that life in Montenegro is all of the above… is immediately declared an enemy of the state.
What kind of state is Montenegro if all its elections are suspicious? If the regime survives and gives more power to a narrow class of citizens? If it creates quarrels among the nations of Montenegro? If its obedience to certain circles in the United States and the EU should be the only guarantee of its longevity? How long will a regime last when it essentially halts the progression and development of Montenegro? Maybe as long as the opposition believe the battle to be a satellite party of the regime is more important and more sacred than the struggle for a better future and freedom of Montenegro.
What, today, do these various parties named by Slovenian outsiders, the Slovenian political archeology or the war cry of the Eastern peoples represent? Is it the desire of government for changes that will ensure the sustainability of government in the hands of the same group of people? Or the desire of individuals to gain some petty political points and obtain personal affirmation in the poor conditions in which they find Montenegro? What about the Socialist People’s Party of Montenegro? Thank God they finally dropped the pan-Yugoslavic ideology at the last census…for what it’s worth, when the regime of their former party friends cannot even allow an honest census. They did not want a united opposition, they don’t want protests… Montenegro lives in the past and hence makes space for their existence. If they wanted to move you could prove they are not “alive” … that they themselves are political archeology.
The authorities are mocking protests. But the assertion that those who are against NATO are also resolved to destroy the state of Montenegro, speaks of their anxiety and fear.
I recently listened to a falsehood spoken by the president, Filip Vujanović in Banja Luka, at the conference dedicated to twentieth anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement. It seemed to me that in front of us spoke the President of the Swiss Federal Council. Montenegro hadn’t “eaten onion dishes nor smelled onion” in civil war… Not Milo, nor Sveto nor Filip had anything to do with all of this… They have opened 20 chapters of EU accession, closed two… But I would like my colleagues in Sarajevo to have a better country, because all this with the cantons, entities, etc. is complicated … But it was so much fun when I publicly asked one of the representatives of the European Union in BiH why are political conditions for accession to the Union being set only in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
He argued that the requirements are not the same for all… However, once I presented him with the fact that minorities, whose rights for becoming a candidate for two or three functions are keeping Bosnia and Herzegovina on hold, have far greater rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina than Serbs in Montenegro. Serbs in Montenegro are a higher percentage of the population than Slovenes and Croats in Yugoslavia, they never wanted to secede from Montenegro, they did not want a republic, nor autonomy.
They wanted to somehow be together with their motherland Serbia without ever denying the rights and status of Montenegro, which in ancient times was indeed designed as a Serbian state. Serbs in Montenegro also want equality. The regime legally prescribed rights of minorities. And…? These rights remain just a word. After all, the problem is that some Roma or Jew, despite what Valentin Inzko said (good Austrian diplomat with the traditional policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, who received ten Nobel Prizes), could not be nominated for the presidency or delegate of the Council of People in BiH.
The problem is that the great powers that advocate for changing the Constitution of BiH want to change the constitution so the entire country is a single constituency. Then, like in 1990, Muslims would chose someone “Yugoslavic” who not only wants to secede from Yugoslavia but also to wage war against it.
Of course, representatives of the US, EU and Britain remained silent and did not answer the question. They were angry at Milosević when he turned off electricity in the markets during the rallies. While their “Europeans” from Montenegro, who have the same relationship to the church as Henry VIII had in the 16th century, must not give water to the protesters. The city of Podgorica refused to let organizers of the demonstrations rent a water tank.
Is it a European Montenegro that they are preparing for us? Will they turn us tomorrow into European Kurds and leave us to the despicable regimes which are beating the unfortunate people on their borders or regimes that are unwilling to provide water supply to their own citizens?!