WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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The presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the president of the country Milo Đukanović said that the possibility of borrowing on the international banking market depends on two circumstances - the perception of the state's stability and the state of public finances.
Obviously, the interest rate achieved by the current government proves that this perception is bad. At one time, Montenegro was recognized as an anchor of the region's stability, leading the column with ZB on the way to the EU. Today it is recognized as wound cancer. When it comes to public finances, the picture is not any better - said Đukanović in the Debate with presidential candidate and leader of the Democratic Front (DF) Andrija Mandić, which is shown on TV E and TV Prva.
He pointed out that he knows that this government wants to owe us 600 million, of which 150 million is missing for salaries.
The government did not even try to enter the securities market, because they knew that there would be no investors interested in our market. They decided to borrow money from commercial banks, and the interest rate is really unusual - pointed out Đukanović.
Đukanović said that he was afraid that no one would be ready to give us a loan.
Mandić said that today we have inflation.
This loan seems unfavorable at first glance, but it is still lower than the inflation rate and there is a possibility that these necessary funds will be covered by another loan - said Mandić.
He is convinced, as he says, that there are other problems in Montenegro that are as important as the economic ones, such as the fight against organized crime and corruption.
Duško Marković's government, together with the government that we supported, recorded a debt of 750 million euros. We supported that Government knowing that it has a hundred problems - said Mandić.
Đukanović said that he would not agree with the assessment that the DPS Government led to problems on the international financial market.
The government directly responsible is that of Zdravko Krivokapić. That government led to the creation of excessive e-consumption - pointed out Đukanović.
He also pointed out that Marković's government did not plan to borrow 750 million euros.
The bill had already been sent to the parliament, where 450 million euros were planned - answered Đukanović.
Đukanović asked Mandić if he regrets supporting the Government of Zdravko Krivokapić, and the DF leader replied that he takes responsibility for the election of his Government and appearance on the political scene.
I have not repented, taking everything into account - said Mandić.
He said that today we have an opportunity as a nation to make a big step forward.
Đukanović said that he agreed that there were specific circumstances in the 90s.
These extraordinary circumstances always give rise to changes in policy, which we are not sure if they mean a qualitative shift. Today, after 30 years, there is no need for that because the changes took place in the elections, not under pressure - emphasized Đukanović, stating that he does not agree with the fact that the autocratic regime was replaced because, as he explains, in that case the international community would not support him.
When it comes to economic knowledge, Đukanović says that he is not, like Mandić, sympathetic to the people who were in Krivokapić's government.
It is about manipulation and a plan to create new parties with taxpayers' money. Unfortunately, this threatens to seriously shake the stability of the Montenegrin economy - said Đukanović.
He was not in the shoes of the future Government, because I think it will need a lot of effort and knowledge to bring things to zero - stated Đukanović.
Đukanović said that he does not share Mandić's opinion that the Democratic Fund will form the backbone of the future government.
You were supposed to form the backbone of the Government after August 30. I think that you needlessly made an experiment to your detriment and it turned out that in this way you introduced Montenegro into the adventure of an incompetent and irresponsible management. Second, it would be bad if you and I only listened to the public that supports us. Believe me, during these two and a half years, I have been listening to those assessments that you have now communicated in the form of criticism of the previous government. Today, I hear from those who vote for my politics that it is a matter of rabid revanchism, that people are eliminated from the work process only thanks to their closeness to the previous regime, so I would be more careful to use the terms you used: freedom and unfreedom. I think that Montenegro is a free and libertarian society and that it was like that until August 30, 2020 - pointed out Đukanović.
Mandić said that there is no revenge.
The revenge was in 1997, when Montenegro was divided within one big and powerful party. Then there were pressures. A man could not remain in the position of porter or coffee cook if he did not support your politics. Today, there is no member of the DPS who lost his job when the new government came... - said Mandić, to which Đukanović replied: "Let's say there are several hundred people in the Ministry of Education".
Mandić replied that in the majority, such as Morsko dobro, they were replaced humans di because they did not do their job well, but that no one was left without a job.
Was anyone pressured to change their political beliefs - no. This is what great quality is and what I perceive as a great step forward for Montenegro. That's the future. I think that even tomorrow this process of change of government will not end with the change of your government, but this government that will exist today will change much faster than it was during your time where you have been there for 30 years - said Mandić.
Mandić believes that Đukanović should not have participated in these presidential elections.
Because these presidential elections will be decided in a similar way as it was on August 30 - said Mandić.
Corruption and organized crime
Mandić said that Montenegro has the biggest problem with organized crime and corruption.
There would not be such a high percentage of Montenegrin citizens who support membership in the European Union, if all important political structures did not support that European path. On this path, the biggest problem for us is precisely corruption and organized crime, and we cannot close chapters 23 and 24 for this reason, because no one wants sick people in their ranks - Mandić pointed out.
He is afraid, as he says, that we are in the position of Turkey, which has been on the path to European integration for many years, but will never reach the goal of becoming a member of the European Union.
With the change of government, the conditions have been created to deal with organized crime and corruption. Corruption is an endemic disease of Montenegro. This endemic disease has divided our society. Mr. Đukanović, you, your brother, your sister - they are important to people and you are important to the family that was prone to corruption and that resulted in you having billions of euros. I want to warn you about this fact here. I expect you to give me a suitable answer as to why Montenegro has become infected with organized crime and corruption. How did it happen that exactly in the organization of the state, in the organization of the state security service of Montenegro, in an honest and virtuous and traditional country, the smuggling of drugs, the smuggling of cigarettes... All some dubious and transit business that eventually led to a sea of blood that spilled here - Mandic asked.
Đukanović replied that Mandić made several assessments that were problematic.
First, nobody from Brussels warns us about organized crime and corruption, as you said, they warn us about the rule of law. That is a much broader definition and I think that we are rightly warned and I think that not only in Montenegro but also in the region we have a deficit in the rule of law. During these two and a half years, we had a government and a parliamentary majority that passed laws that it knew were unconstitutional. Today, when I talk to some people from the ruling coalition, they say: "Well, we know that the Law on the President will fail in the Constitutional Court, but we passed it..." So, that is not a good example of how to establish the rule of law - pointed out Đukanović
He added that the majority of the new government has stopped the good practice of harmonizing with Brussels regarding the laws that we pass here and which should be harmonized with the European legal acquis.
We did not respond even to the warnings we received from the European Commission, and from the Venice Commission, for example regarding the Law on the Prosecution, therefore, during the previous two and a half years, we did everything to destroy the rule of law, and because of this, Montenegro did not take advantage of the opportunity that appeared after Russia's aggression against Ukraine to get, so to speak, a fast lane on the way to Europe - emphasized Đukanović.
According to him, organized crime and corruption are overpowered in Montenegro, overpowered due to the long tenure of power, unusually long, deserved in the elections, but unusually long...
This has become the repertoire of our political competitors and critical media. So today we ourselves have, and I believe we created it in the international public as well, the perception you are talking about - that Montenegro is the most criminalized country in the world, but in fact it is not. That is the second part of the answer - said Đukanović.
Families and accusations
Đukanović then referred to some of the perceptions about the alleged wealth of him and his family acquired illegally...
Somewhere I appreciated that, unlike some of our other opponents, you did not serve with that repertoire in these elections. Because, let's say, now I have to answer you, there is a perception in part of the public that your family is also criminalized and this is linked to your closest relatives. I never told you that because I don't think it should be the subject of our political dialogue. There is someone to judge about that, whether it is true or not - pointed out Đukanović.
As he said, everything done by any member of his family must be checked a hundred times.
But, of course, I do not agree with the fact that the labels that are attached to my family members because of their disagreement with me and the labels that are attached by independent media that want to help I accept what my political competitors have given me as facts. I can never accept that as fact. People from my family are exemplary people, independent personalities who work, build their careers independently of me as well as I independently of them, and that's where my explanation on that topic ends - said Đukanović.
Mandić responded to the theses about his son and nephew, stating that it was true that they had fought in the tavern, and that they were responsible for it.
They are sons or nephews of opposition members, they defended their honor, just as 80 percent of Montenegro knew to fight in a bar and they knew to do it and they were responsible. For them, the level of tolerance and state relations was 0. The law should be applied to everyone, and again, if they break the law, the state should react to them as it does to every citizen of Montenegro. That's why I said this and first I want to determine how I think the state should treat my family. I support every decision of the competent authorities that were against my son and nephew, which caused some fights in the pub, which are behind everything, when you analyze, most of the conflicts that happened are politically motivated. What is the problem with you, what I want to open. It is not normal, regardless of the fact that you are not in the same household, that your brother is the owner of 265 apartments. I don't even think that he is an overworked person, that he is engaged in some work 24 hours a day. Rather, it is the abuse and use of your brother, the use of the Montenegrin authorities to obtain such enormous wealth. When you look at the two companies - Telekom and M:tel, which earn hundreds of millions of euros, they are tenants of your brother - Mandic said.
Đukanović replied that it is not true that his brother Aco Đukanović has 265 apartments.
I don't know where you got that information from, maybe it serves you to bombard the public in Montenegro with yet another misinformation, but I am obliged to announce that it is not true at all - said Đukanović.
Secondly, as he said, neither the presidential candidate nor the president can decide where the tenant is.
A thousand buildings were made in this city. So he also made one of them. Why does he have this tenant and not that one... You mentioned, for example, a company from Serbia. You should ask them that. So, what do you see as controversial about that? That another building was built in Podgorica and that this building has a tenant for business space. Don't let us continue with the practice that dominated the Montenegrin political scene until August 30, which I understood - stressed Đukanović.
He repeated that he does not want any privilege for himself or his family.
I think that during this period there were a lot of controls that always ended with the answer that there is nothing illegal in what was reported, but I do not want to handicap my family in any way because I am the president. Because if I handicap them, if they are not self-confident and educated enough to go into business, then it means that I have to take care of them, I have to invent a place for them in the state administration - emphasized Đukanović.
He also said that Mandić was wrong when he spoke about the "infamous administration in the National Security Agency.
That administration was never there, it never did what you are saying now. So, Vukašin Maraš, whom you mentioned, is probably one of the most honorable professionals who did that work in the territory of ex-Yugoslavia. I don't know if you are up to date, but at the moment of the end of his career, the American news agency presented Vukašin Maras with its highest award. Surely this mistake would not have happened if Vukašin Maraš had organized a criminal gang under the auspices of the National Security Agency and to gain such respect from his partners - stated Đukanović.
He said that at one point he looked at the file of clans in Montenegro.
Interestingly, both clans in 90 percent of cases had false documents from the Serbian state. So, if you and I both know how security agencies work, we know that documents are not granted without a favor. It will hardly be the case that the state of Montenegro was, so to speak, a house where they could do illegal things without proper control. The National Security Agency has been an exemplary pillar of the security system of this region for a long time. Unfortunately, today I would not be able to say that it is in such a state, and this is one of the priorities in the restoration of the institutions of the state of Montenegro - emphasized Đukanović.
Arrests of judges and prosecutors
Mandić asked Đukanović how, after August 2020, the president of the Supreme Court, the president of the Commercial Court, the special prosecutor...
What kind of personnel policy was it that you led in the field of justice that the key people in the judiciary turned out to be leading criminals in the end - asked Mandić.
Đukanović replied that Mandić predicts that in 2013 or 2014, by amending the Constitution of Montenegro, conditions were created for a different election of the leaders of the judiciary.
Therefore, they are also selected in a different way, through the filters of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Council. Second, you also overlook that neither one nor the other according to the law, no members of the Democratic Party of Socialists or any party of the then parliamentary majority could be members. So, we are talking about people who, thanks to their professional career, deserved the places they got, who are now under indictments+ and respecting the presumption of innocence, we will wait to see what these indictments will lead to - pointed out Đukanović.
It is interesting, says Đukanović, that in the time of two and a half years of a rather infuriated revanchism, it was actually required to prove some illegality of some representative of our politics in the executive or legislative power.
For two and a half years, there is no indictment, no indictment. It will be the case that the uproar that arose when we were in power is now being objectified and we now see that it served, of course, for political labeling, but political labeling, luckily for the state of Montenegro, luckily for you and mine, is not enough so that people could be judged - emphasized Đukanović.
The murder of Đinđić
Mandić also pointed out that the "seventh administration" gave documentation to the killers of Zoran Đinđić.
They were even on the voter list in Mojkovac, I don't know exactly if it was Mile Luković, and where was Dušan Spasojević, the main organizer of the murder of Zoran Đinđić. They had documents from Montenegro. He says that they had documents from the State Security Service of Montenegro. Those who killed Duško Jovanović, Baron one, my last name, who answered and served a prison sentence, was also a member of that seventh administration - said Mandić.
Đukanović also said that no "seventh administration" attempted to kill Zoran Đinđić, but that he was killed by the state of Serbia.
Zoran Đinđić escaped from Serbia to Montenegro and his head was saved here. Unfortunately, short. Slavko Ćuruvija also escaped here, so we printed Dnevni telegraf here. Montenegro was the protector of every representative of democratic, European, decent Serbia. Everyone. Let's remember those columns of Serbs who came from Croatia and Bosnia and in the early 90s, because those countries were the first to be affected by the war, they came to Montenegro. So, I want to tell you that no seventh, nor any administration assisted the murder of Zoran Đinđić. Đinđić was unfortunately killed by the Serbian state, because as you know, the red berets were a police formation of the Serbian state. Why did the people from the red berets decide to carry out this dirty work, for whose account and which intelligence services, whether one or the other of Serbia, or the intelligence services of Serbia, as a correspondent partner of some foreign intelligence services... That is a question for the state Serbia and I believe that the truth is quite well visible, but I believe that this truth will be factually confirmed at some point. Montenegro really has absolutely nothing to do with it - said Đukanović.
Đukanović: I got nothing thanks to Milošević and Putin
Mandic said that Đukanović changed during his political life, and that he had the help of Russia and met with Vladimir Putin several times.
And now you would try to attribute to me that I am a Russian man, and you have no idea or know, "neither ate onions, nor smelled onions" regarding relations with Russia. With that policy and Russian capital and Russian support and the attraction of billions of euros, you contributed to Montenegro becoming independent, to people seeing a perspective that you used very actively in that pre-election and referendum campaign to get rid of that and start a new one. politics - said Mandić.
Đukanović said that his idea was to preserve peace here and to consolidate multi-ethnic harmony and to bring the country to independence and to bring it into NATO and to bring it into the lobby of the European Union. It is a vision and that is where, as he said, he saw the meaning of his involvement.
As prime minister or state president, of course I talked to Milošević, Putin and everyone, but you are wrong if you think that I got anything thanks to them. Nothing, of course. And that's why I always remained myself. That's why I never felt the obligation to repay and thank them in any way. I experienced them as interlocutors, as partners at a certain moment and nothing more than that - said Đukanović.
Strategic geopolitical paths
Mandić said that we are in a global chaos whose consequences no one can predict.
Small countries and their citizens can find a formula for joint functioning that would protect us from these external influences. All great powers are looking for allies in this kind of clash of great powers. They like to drag in the little ones who could be their infantry, and I think that Montenegro should look for a way where it would go, as General Grahovac says, to some leeward, because we cannot influence world processes, our voice doesn't mean much in world politics - said Mandić.
He strongly advocates, as he says, for the reconciliation of differences in Montenegro.
I was ready to die for that great country and for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, just as I would be ready to lay down my life for Montenegro tomorrow. I'm saying this honestly, this is my country, the country of my ancestors, the country of my descendants, we are all tied to Montenegro and it should never happen again that someone in Montenegro accuses someone of this excess of patriotism - emphasized Mandić.
He said that he is strongly in favor of the Open Balkans initiative.
I think that Montenegro should have already been part of that initiative, I don't think that it is threatened by any danger, neither from Serbia, nor from Albania, nor from Macedonia, we can find a place in that initiative, to make these main borders softer, to enable normal flow of people, goods and services. Of course, this does not interfere with what is called the Berlin process, our path towards the European Union as a strategic goal, we should continue to realize it - emphasized Mandić.
Đukanović said that he believes that Montenegro has made a very serious turning point after the restoration of independence, namely that it turned to its natural European environment and its strategic goal, membership in the European Union.
I believe that it is very important that we steer Montenegro towards Europe and that we have a clear view of how to reach that European goal. Reforms, which should mean the adoption of the European value system and, as a final consequence, the European standard of living for our citizens. The European standard of living always comes as a result of seriously implemented reforms and the adopted European value system. Without that, the talk about European salaries and pensions is political populism and manipulation of people - emphasized Đukanović.
He believes that it is necessary for Montenegro to finally get a responsible government.
I think that my victory in the presidential elections will be a prelude to the change of the parliamentary majority and that Montenegro will finally get a responsible government, which will continue to lead it on the desired path - emphasized Đukanović.
The "Coup d'état" case
He then referred to the case of the attempted coup in 2016.
The President of Serbia, a day after the coup attempt was disclosed, said that he looked at the file of the Security Information Agency of Serbia and that his hair stood on end, as Serbia was misused to organize a coup in Montenegro. After that, at his invitation, I looked at that file. What is missing is that what the then and today's president of Serbia announced did not come true. That the file will be handed over to the judicial authorities of Montenegro, in the meantime there was an intervention by the head of the security of Russia, Mr. Patrushev, who came to Belgrade, who apparently prohibited the delivery of those documents. We are not talking about a contrived coup d'état, we are talking about a coup d'état that followed as a result of clear political messages from Moscow, which happened in the presence of the leader of the Democratic Front, more than once it was said from Moscow that they would regret it if Montenegro took the path of membership in NATO and therefore a coup d'état is probably a scenario through which Montenegro should have regretted. Fortunately for all of us, she didn't regret it, if at this moment I really don't want to say a single word about individual responsibility, anyone, the court will determine that in the end, but I just want to disagree with you so that we can learn from it the conclusion that Montenegro dealt with the Serbs through a coup d'état, neither with the Bosniaks through Lim, nor with the Albanians through Eagle Flight - said Đukanović.
Mandić replied that Serbia is the only country in Europe that has not imposed sanctions on Russia, and that it does not seem to him that its president does not act as a man who listens to orders from the outside "unlike what we see in Montenegro".
Except from Russia - answered Đukanović.
Commenting on the "coup", Mandić asked Đukanović if he thought his life was in danger.
If that powerful organization was the GRU and if we had participated in it, we who were then the strongest political organization in Montenegro, if your life had been threatened, if you would be alive today. Of course that was not true, and of course they were fabrications, and of course Andrija Mandić, Milan Knežević, and Mihailo Čađenović are nowhere to be found in that file, which was made in Serbia. It was all one installation, similar to those installations where some amateurs who are hired to perform a certain performance perform a performance in order to cause political damage, a key political factor that was supposed to win those elections - said Mandić.
Đukanović replied that one of the consequences of the coup should have been his liquidation. He said that he is absolutely convinced that there was a coup d'état plan in Montenegro based on his direct personal insight into the documents he saw in Belgrade.
That doesn't mean anything that I assume about your or anyone else's individual involvement in that case. I am convinced of what I am telling you because I have seen the documents that the coup was really seriously prepared, that it was prepared first by the FSB, and later by the GRU, which took responsibility for it, that Serbia was the platform through which it was prepared coup d'état in Montenegro, Mr. Vučić finally admitted that. Mr. Vučić showed me the file ije where the Bezbjednosno information agency followed people in Serbia, where it took their DNA samples from their toothbrushes. There is no doubt that they tried to rely on people from Serbia who previously served them on the Ukrainian battlefield in some of the previous Russian operations in Ukraine and that they relied on people in Montenegro, What is the role of the political leaders in Montenegro I don't want to pass judgment on that - Đukanović emphasized.
M. J.
