The mayor of the capital Cetinje, Nikola Đurašković, sent an open letter after the statements of the French ambassador Cristian Timonije about the events and the incident in the capital.
Đurašković demanded an apology from Timonije. We transmit the letter of the first man of the capital in its entirety.
Dear Ambassador, Mr. Timonije, I believed that as an experienced diplomat, you could not announce such an unfounded and difficult statement and, through an individual incident in Cetinje, target the city in a fascist context. It is particularly surprising that such an experienced diplomatic representative decided to make an offensive generalization just a few days after his visit to Cetinje and after the extremely successful and productive visit of the delegation of the Capital of Cetinje to French local governments. The event in Cetinje, in which I really did not see any physical confrontation, should not have happened and we must always condemn any kind of transgression of what a peaceful protest entails. I belong to the party that immediately condemned the incident. However, to comment in this way on an incident that happened, which, I agree with the entire public, should not and should not have happened, and thus brutally negatively target Cetinje, is unacceptable to say the least.
The right to peaceful protest is a guaranteed human right and should be affirmed, and not called fascism through individual negative statements.
When you made this statement, you obviously did not have in mind the libertarian tradition of Cetinje and the centuries-old struggle for independence and freedom. Throughout the centuries, Cetinje defended Montenegro and was the first in occupied Europe to stand up against fascism, defending the universal values of anti-fascism. In the Second World War, Cetinje produced more national heroes than many European countries, and the City itself is a hero.
Anti-fascist and anti-war values were defended and defended in the 1990s thanks to Cetinje and the people of Cetinje, and this was also the case on September 5, 2021, when the SPC and the police carried out a sort of landing on Cetinje.
Dear Ambassador, Mr. Timonije,
I didn't hear you talk about fascism at the time, and if it existed in Montenegro earlier, it was a blatant example. You did not condemn tear gas, rubber bullets and the brutal siege of Cetinje in one word, calling it by its real name.
You are very well aware of the efforts that the Capital of Cetinje invests in expanding cooperation with France. You know how enthusiastically the promotion of relations between two friendly countries is approached, so your decision to place these events in such an offensive and inappropriate context is even more surprising and worrying.
Because of all of the above, I invite you to apologize to all the citizens of the Capital of Cetinje - the open letter reads.
M. J.