Montenegro: Politics & Current Events

[Tomche Makedonche]

MINA... Lol...

http://www.minareport.com/2017/06/15...r-shoving-him/

Bootlicking Montenegro PM ‘grateful’ to Trump for shoving him

Montenegrins used to be known for being big on fighting, tribal honor, and not allowing the Ottoman Empire to establish itself in their desolate mountains.

Their PM is working overtime to try and change that. He told Politico he is “grateful” for Trump for shoving him out of his way at the last NATO meeting because this “made Montenegro famous”:

“I have to say that I’m very grateful that this incident, so to say, took place. Because this is what made us so famous.”

“This is what made Montenegro so famous.”

I don’t think becoming famous for being butt-kissing toadies to the Ottomans of today is a step up in the world — but then how would a guy who joined NATO after it killed Montenegrin children eighteen years ago ever know that?

[Tomche Makedonche]

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/arti...s-07-01-2017-1

Montenegro Backs Down Over Opposition Leader's Arrest

After opposition MPs in Montenegro spent a fifth night in parliament, vowing to prevent the arrest of an opposition leader, the President has intervened with prosecutors

Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic on Monday sent a letter to Supreme State Prosecutor Ivica Stankovic, asking him to instruct the State Special Prosecution not to demand the detention of opposition leader Nebojsa Medojovic.

The move came after several MPs from the main opposition alliance, the Democratic Front, and other opposition parties, spent five days in parliament, blocking the detention of Medojevic, who faces arrest in connection with corruption allegations.

The parliament, dominated by the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, lifted Medojevic‘s immunity on Thursday on the request of the special prosecutor for organised crime, Milivoje Katnic.Katnic said police should take Medojevic in for questioning, after which a decision on his possible arrest would be made.

Medojevic is known as one of the sharpest critics of the government and of the ruling party run by veteran leader Milo Djukanovic. He is accused of plotting to help a businessman from Bosnia to evade taxes and of money laundering.

After spending five days in the parliament, the opposition MPs said they were ready to “spend all summer" in the building, calling the charges against Medojevic politically motivated. "We are not defending Medojevic here, we are defending Montenegro," another Front leader, Andrija Mandic, said.

Tensions over possible Medojevic’s arrest rose over the weekend, especially after the leading bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Metropolitan Amfilohije, was prevented from entering parliament on Sunday, when he planned to visit Medojevic.

In February, two other Front leaders, Mandic and Milan Knezevic, were also stripped of their parliamentary immunity from prosecution in connection with an alleged attempted coup on election day last October.

The Democratic Front parties are seeking to end the long reign of the DPS, which has lasted more than 25 years. They accuse the party and its chief, former prime minister and president Djukanovic, of abusing authority to hold on to power and gather immense wealth through corruption.

Thousands of opposition supporters protested in the capital, Podgorica, until the Supreme State Prosecutor Ivica Stankovic ordered the Special State Prosecutor's Office not to seek the arrest of Mandic and Knezevic, suspected of involvement in attempts to undermine "the constitutional rule and security of Montenegro".

However, the prosecution insists that a group of Serbs, Montenegrins and Russians, including Mandic and Knezevic, tried to overthrow the pro-Western government last October, mainly to stop the country from joining NATO. It claims the security services only thwarted the coup after the arrest of 20 Serbian citizens, including a former Serbian police general, Bratislav Dikic.

Both Mandic and Knezevic have dismissed the plot allegations as false. The Democratic Front has accused the prosecutor's office of acting under the influence of Djukanovic

[maco2envy]

Trump allegedly called Montengro's prime minister a "whiny punk bitch" (lol)

President Trump referred to Montenegro's prime minister as a "whiny punk bitch" after video of Trump appearing to shove the foreign leader went viral following last year's NATO summit, former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman claims in her new book.

In excerpts from “Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House" obtained by the New York Daily News, Manigault Newman questions her former boss over video that appears to show Trump grabbing the arm of Prime Minister Duško Marković as he moves toward the front of a group of leaders.

“I asked him, ‘You came off a little aggressive. Why did you do that?’ ” Manigault Newman writes.
“Oh, he’s just a whiny punk bitch," Trump responded, according to Manigault Newman.

Video of the incident went viral last year, with social media users questioning whether the U.S. president had shoved his way to the front of the group of leaders.

Trump also faced criticism earlier this year when he referred to Montenegro as "a tiny country with very strong people" who might start World War III.

"Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. ... They are very aggressive people, they may get aggressive, and congratulations, you are in World War III," Trump said last month while appearing to question the purpose of NATO's Article 5, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

The country's former president, Ranko Krivokapić, fired back, telling reporters that Trump was the "strangest president in the history of the United States."

"With this kind of president, with his knowledge of foreign policy, who knows what is going on?” he added. “Foreign policy is not his big thing."

Trump weathered similar criticism at home over the incident, with GOP Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) accusing Trump of playing in to Russian President Vladimir Putin's hands.

Trump has faced criticism for his tense relationships with leaders of foreign countries considered to be U.S. allies, including Canada's prime minister, whom Trump personally called out on Twitter after a NATO summit in June.

The president referred to Justin Trudeau on Twitter as "meek and mild" earlier this year after disagreeing with Trudeau on trade issues at the summit, blaming Canada for a deficit with the U.S.

http://thehill.com/policy/internatio...whiny-punk-b-h

Image what he would say about our bootlicker zaev.

[Carlin]

Originally Posted by maco2envy

Trump allegedly called Montengro's prime minister a "whiny punk bitch" (lol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBzKuxDFabg

[Carlin]

Waiting for Putin

Vladimir Gligorov
16/01/2019

URL:
https://pescanik.net/waiting-for-putin/

They come to power with Western, USA and EU, support, and try to stay in power with Putin’s support.

Dodik, who runs Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is one successful, so far, example. Vucic, the President of Serbia, is attempting the same. Putin is due to visit Serbia on the 17th of this month. Everybody, opposition included is waiting for his arrival with great expectations.

The record, Putin’s, however, is not encouraging. In most cases, Putin’s support, when extended, was not enough for embattled leaders to stay in power. The most important case in the Balkans is that of Kostunica, the President of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the Prime Minister of Serbia. He had strong support of the West to topple Milosevic, while Putin’s support, which he sought and received, was not enough to keep him in power after Kosovo declared independence in 2008. The most recent example is that of Gruevski, the Prime Minister of Macedonia, who came to power and stayed in charge of the country for a decade or so with the support of the USA and the EU, but lost elections and fled the country (as an asylum seeker in Hungary) despite Russia’s support. A cunning counterexample is that of Djukanovic, the President and Prime Minister of Montenegro, both titles several times, who declined Putin’s offer of support. He was a protégé of the USA initially, and a Eurosceptic, but chose the pro-EU policy ahead of Montenegro’s succession from Serbia, and eventually led his country into the membership of NATO against strong objections from Putin. Montenegro is also the frontrunner candidate country for membership in the EU. Stunning given Montenegro’s historical pro-Russian sentiment, and significant investments in real estate and tourism.

Vucic is now threading the path that has led others to political defeat. Why the support of Putin is sought and why it has been almost regularly unhelpful so far? To see this, the Ukrainian example is instructive. Take an authoritarian leader in a presidential system, which is nominally democratic, which is to say holds regular elections. At some point, the odds of a legitimacy crisis erupting will increase if the leader is defying the public will in one way or another. In the Ukrainian case with respect to the EU integration. Then, one option the embattled leader may choose is Putin’s support. If the leader is Putin’s ally to begin with, as in the case of Belarus’ Lukashenko, Putin’s additional or renewed support has a good chance to be enough for the opposition to be crashed e.g. in the streets. If not, then Putin’s chances of success are much lower. In the case of Yanukovych, as in the case of Gruevski, fleeing the country proved the only option left to stay out of prison.

The key lesson then is that an aspiring authoritarian leader that turns away from pro-Western policies and seeks Putin’s support to stay in power when facing legitimacy crisis in the streets – has more often than not diminishing chances of surviving in power.

What is a legitimacy crisis? There is a misunderstanding, which was widely expressed during the Ukrainian crisis, that the rebellion was illegal, the President being duly and legally elected, and thus the ouster of Yanukovych from office was a putsch. In fact, the legitimacy crisis erupts if there is a conflict between the will of the people and the will of the government, the legally elected executive or Parliament.

To see this, start with Weber’s distinction between Macht (power) and Herrschaft (legal authority in this case). If, for example, a President defies the will of the people, e.g. by changing policy or political institutions, the power of that will can be expressed in the streets – which is the start of the legitimacy crisis. If the President resorts to repression, then the crisis may very well have to be resolved through the conflict in the streets, as in the case of Ukraine. Then the outcome depends on the balance of power, i.e. how overwhelming is the public disapproval of the President’s policies or politics, including the use of force to suppress the revolt. In the Ukrainian case, the lack of legitimacy of Yanukovych’s actions outweighed the legality of his holding the office of the Presidency. In many other cases, governments survive the test to their legitimacy because and if they have not lost its power, i.e. the support of the majority not necessarily for their policy but for their claim to run the country, at least until the results of the regular or the early election are in.

Now, what is often contentious, is the international aspect of legitimacy. What does it mean to come to power with Western support or attempt to stay in power with Putin’s support?

Putting aside conspiratorial cases, external legitimacy means to offer to the public an international policy which commands the support of one or the other foreign partner or partners. E.g. as in the case of Poroshenko or the new Macedonian government or Djukanovic. Or indeed, seeking external legitimacy through a change in the international policy as in the case of Dodik and now apparently Vucic. The success of course depends not just on the offer but on its desirability and feasibility. If all it accomplishes is the survival of a legitimacy crisis coupled with authoritarianism, that might not be either desirable or indeed feasible in view of the lost balance of power in the public. Which is why Putin’s support tends to prove to be the losing strategy.

What can be learned from Putin’s successes? In the Balkans, this is just Dodik. He came to power with Western, and in no small part German, support. The expectation was that he will work to transform Bosnia and Herzegovina and integrate it into the EU and NATO. He turned around and has been the main proponent of the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina and has been able to secure Putin’s support for some time now. However, though he tends to win elections, he and his government have been losing legitimacy and are facing a full-blown legitimacy crisis now. He has proved able to squash the protests by force of the police and the law at the same time relying on the support of Serbia and Putin. It is expected that Putin’s support will be reinforced when he visits Serbia on the 17th of January.

How has he managed to successfully repress the public dissatisfaction? By managing to make use of three conditions.

First, democratic legitimacy is not needed to be in power in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Republika Srpska in particular, rather ethnic legitimacy is required. Which means that the support by Serbia for whoever is the leader of Republika Srpska is decisive.

Second, every Serbian government as well as the parties in the opposition have supported Dodik over the years. The aim being to show to the Serbian public that while Kosovo is lost, Serbian territorial gain in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is Republika Srpska, is not. Dodik has been arguing for quite some time that the annexation of Republika Srpska should be used as a compensation for the loss of Kosovo.

Third, even if the Serbian government were to contemplate dropping Dodik, that would not go well with Putin. So, Putin’s support is helpful to Dodik because it keeps his the potential loss of legitimacy with the Serbian government in check.

Dodik basically remains in power because and as long as he keeps Republika Srpska in the state of a frozen territorial conflict. With the help of Serbia and Russia. So, internal legitimacy is irrelevant, external legitimacy is what matters.

Vucic’s case is different from Dodik’s. At the moment, Serbia is in the early stages of legitimacy crisis. Initially, the issue of legitimacy was raised by the informal change of the parliamentary into the presidential system when Vucic decided to run for President. Serbian constitution safeguards against presidentialism with the requirement that the President should not hold a position in a party, let alone be a leader of a party. Vucic, however, remains the leader of the ruling party and thus runs the country whatever state office he actually holds. In effect, both the government and the Parliament are the legislative and executive extensions of his rule. That is both illegal and illegitimate.

However, as often happens, it is the arrogance of the power that triggers the legitimacy crisis. In Republika Srpska, it was the unexplained killing of a young person and then the suppression of the protests led by his parents to hold government accountable for the murder. In Serbia, it was the beating of one opposition leader by the members or followers of the Vucic’s party. Those were the scandalous manifestations of the increasingly repressive and manipulative rule by authoritarian leaders. In response, there are growing number of people demonstrating against Vucic’s regime in the capital and in towns across the country each Saturday. Demonstrations are planned also for the 16th of January, on the eve of Putin’s visit.

So far, the Serbian government has refrained from repressive measures against the demonstrators. Unlike Republika Srpska, it is sensitive about its legitimacy. It is in addition hoping that Putin’s support will be enough to marginalise the dissatisfied population. Putin, for his part, is taking the extraordinary step of personally supporting Vucic and his government by visiting the country. Something he has not done before in the Balkans in any case. He and Vucic clearly hope that he can lend his legitimacy to the embattled Serbian leader.

Will he be successful? That depends on the international balance of power. Which is to say on the position taken by the EU and the USA. And their stance depends on their expectations of Vucic’s intentions when it comes to the solution of the Kosovo problem.

Ostensibly, Vucic wants to come through with the promise that got him the EU support when he was coming to power in 2012 – an agreement on the normalisation of relations with Kosovo which has been understood, by Merkel in particular, as the legally binding treaty which removes the obstacle for Kosovo’s membership in international organisations, in the UN most importantly. Currently, Vucic’s goal is to wiggle out of that commitment, risking his international legitimacy. He is banking on three conditions.

One is the opposition’s growing anti-EU stance. They, the opposition, believe that Vucic is kept in power by the EU and more specifically by Germany. So, they are very much behind the curve as is in all appearances the EU itself, i.e. Ms. Mogherini and Mr. Hahn.

The other is the renewed involvement by the USA with their support of the plan for the swap of territories by Serbia and Kosovo. This is an unimplementable plan, which however dispenses with the previous commitment to normalisation.

The third, and more important, is the change of the anchor of international legitimacy from the EU to Russia. Which is where the Putin’s upcoming visit comes in. The visit that should, in addition to shoring up Vucic, also strengthen Dodik’s grip over Republika Srpska.

That is the plan. Will it work? In the short run, yes. As intended, the time for the implementation of the commitment to Merkel and Mogherini will run out because of the upcoming EU elections. The proposed territorial accommodation will be frustrated by its unpracticality. And, in all probability, Vucic will come ahead in the upcoming early or regular elections, which are due next year. In addition, Dodik will be successful in the repression of the public outcry in Republika Srpska. Putin will succeed in strengthening authoritarian leaders facing legitimacy crises in the Balkans. And the EU will have to come up with an alternative plan or give up. It remains to be seen what the reaction by the USA will be.

Beyond the short run, Putin risks another disappointment. He may prove successful in the short run because of the EU’s lack of commitment to the Balkans and because of the uncertainty about the US intentions with NATO. Once EU consolidates, if that happens, and more importantly the US commitment to NARO is reinforced, the effects of the permanent lack of internal legitimacy of both Vucic and Dodik will doom them both.

In addition, and rather importantly, there is growing Chinese influence in Serbia in particular. So, eventually, the important international discussion will be between the US, the EU, and China, with declining influence of Russia. But for now, Serbia is eagerly awaiting Putin.

Peščanik.net, 16.01.2019.

[Risto the Great]

Interesting to read China's involvement with Serbia. A lot of investing with debatable benefit to Serbia.

But they have an increasing presence in Serbia and I doubt the USA will be bombing their embassy "by mistake" anytime soon (again).

[Carlin]

Xhaferi called out for his terrorist past in the Parliament of Montenegro

URL:
https://english.republika.mk/news/ma...of-montenegro/

Members of Parliament in Montenegro called out Macedonian Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi as being a terrorist – due to his defection from the Macedonian Army in 2001 to take over the commanding role in the Albanian NLA/UCK terrorist organization which started a civil war in Macedonia.

Mr. Xhaferi is a former member of a terrorist organization, a man who shot on Macedonian soldiers and Macedonian police officers. He certainly fired on Serbs as well, said Jovan Vucurovic from the Montenegrin party of New Serbian Democracy.

Xhaferi was an officer of the Yugoslav National Army who later joined the Macedonian Army only to desert in 2001, when the civil war started. He joined the UCK as top military commander in the war which killed hundreds of soldiers, police officers and civilians on both sides. He is now visiting countries in the region as they vote to ratify the NATO accession protocol for Macedonia. Montenegro ratified the protocol with 44 votes in the 81 seats house. As in Bulgaria, most opposition parties were absent during the vote.

Another member of Parliament, Slaven Radunovic, pointed out to the low levels of support for NATO membership in Macedonia, evidenced in the September 2018 referendum.

– Only 36.89 percent of the people voted in the referendum. That is a fiasco! That is a complete failure! The people of Macedonia rejected the NATO protocol which we are now voting on and trying to portray as some kind of a solemn occasion, said Radunovic.

Montenegro, which joined NATO in 2017, was also asked to demonstrate that there is popular support for membership, but its Government eventually decided against holding a referendum, and merely cited polls showing support ranging from Macedonian levels of about 36 percent, to barely over 50 percent.

[Carlin]

An unusual scene was recorded at the airport in Podgorica, when an Albanian, after landing in the capital of Montenegro, showed the double-headed eagle, a symbol of Greater Albania. The security guard reacted right away, as you can see in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=xlPRN171OSE

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Originally Posted by Carlin15

An unusual scene was recorded at the airport in Podgorica, when an Albanian, after landing in the capital of Montenegro, showed the double-headed eagle, a symbol of Greater Albania. The security guard reacted right away, as you can see in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=xlPRN171OSE

Can't forget the Greater Albania idea effects more than just Macedonia. After they're done with us who will be next? Montenegro and Greece.

[Carlin]

According to the latest reports, Montenegro police arrested a number of opposition MPs after they tried to prevent the voting on controversial religious law.

Despite the incident and protests outside, the parliament is expected to adopt the law this evening.

Montenegro MPs arrested in clash over religious freedom law

URL:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50923647

Eighteen MPs were arrested by police as chaos broke out in Montenegro's parliament over a freedom of religion law that has sparked protests across the tiny Balkan republic.

The law, which went through in the early hours of Friday, could enable the state to claim ownership of hundreds of religious buildings.

Pro-Serb opposition MPs had tried to disrupt the vote and some were seen rushing towards the speaker.

Bottles were hurled in the chamber.

There was also one report of a firecracker or tear gas canister being thrown. Police entered the chamber, including some wearing gas masks. In all, 22 people were detained, including 18 MPs from the pro-Serbian opposition Democratic Front (DF).

Fifteen MPs were quickly released but two leaders of the DF, Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic, were held on Friday on suspicion of preventing an official from carrying out their duty. Another DF deputy was held for allegedly assaulting an official.

Mr Mandic and Mr Knezevic were already on bail pending an appeal against a five-year jail term for staging an alleged Russian-backed attempted coup in 2016.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, Montenegro's most powerful religious institution, reacted to the law by accusing the government of carrying out a "flagrant attack".

Why is the law controversial?

Although Montenegro split from a union with Serbia after a 2006 referendum, seven out of 10 Montenegrins are still loyal to the Serbian Orthodox Church, according to BBC Balkans correspondent Guy Delauney.

The Church says the government's law seeks to weaken its influence and one bishop warned it could cause "civil war".

Under the law, religious institutions would have to prove they held rights to their property before 1918, when Montenegro lost its independence and joined the country that eventually became Yugoslavia.

Critics see the move as an attempt to steer the republic away from Serbia and push forward the Montenegrin Orthodox church.

The property affected includes dozens of monasteries and a large area of territory, the Church says.

President Milo Djukanovic, who has backed "renewal" of the republic's independent Church, said earlier this year that there was no intention to remove any property from anyone.

"We have said we are ready to die for our church and we are demonstrating that," said one of the two detained opposition leaders, Mr Mandic.

Priests joined protesters on Thursday as they tried to make their way towards parliament in the capital Podgorica, only to find their way blocked by riot police.

The Church said the arrests and "violence" towards citizens demonstrating across the state left Orthodox believers facing "one of the hardest Christmases in Montenegro's modern history". The country has a population of 620,000.

Like Serbia and several other Balkan nations, Montenegro is a candidate to join the EU. Unlike Serbia it has been a member of the Western military alliance Nato since 2017.

Neighbour Kosovo has seen its own turbulence in parliament.

Last year opposition MPs threw tear gas in protest at a border deal with Montenegro, arguing the agreement unfairly ceded territory to Kosovo's neighbour.