Boris Mugoša, the leader of the Social Democrats (SD) parliamentary group and representative of the European Union, stated that the (PES) party should refrain from even mentioning Andrija Mandić, the head of parliament, and Milan Knežević, a member of the Democratic People’s Party (DNP), in their statements, instead opting for a more subdued reference to “representatives of coalition partners.”

“This is the behavior of a party that holds 20 seats in parliament, while the ZBCG has only 13… It says a lot about who truly has influence in the parliamentary majority and who is steering political discussions,” Mugoša expressed in a post on social media platform X.

Mugoša points out that PES claims “the position of the institutions is clear and that Mandić’s role lacks institutional validity,” calling it “sad, it couldn’t be more disappointing…”.

“Mandić is welcomed at the airport by the President of the RS Assembly, and the meeting is held at the official residence of the President of the RS (Palace of the Republic), with media present at the site. The meeting is attended by both the President of the RS Assembly and the Serb member of the BiH Presidency…,” Mugoša elaborated.

Belan: PES claims that individual statements do not reflect the Government’s views – the circus never ends

Vatroslav Belan, President of the Liberal Party and representative of the European Union, stated that the coalition For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG) is backing the President of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, who is vocally advocating for the disintegration of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), despite PES’s claims of respecting BiH’s sovereignty.

He mentioned that PES now asserts that “individual statements do not mirror the views of the Government, etc., etc. – the circus never ends.”

“Milan Knežević asserts that Milojko Spajić attended the meeting with the opposition as a PES representative, not as the Prime Minister. The BS alleges that Mandić and Knežević met Dodik in a personal capacity. Minister Đeljošaj does not support a boycott of retail chains, while Spajić advocates for it. The Democrats, part of the government, have contested the government’s decision regarding the appointment of the acting director of the Police Department from last year. President Milatović is proposing a law for the rehabilitation of prisoners from Goli Otok, which PES claims is not the right time for,” stated Belan.

Belan emphasizes that the main faction of the Government and parliamentary majority, centered around the ZBCG, is keenly watching the rise of right-wing movements in Europe and the tensions between the US-EU and Ukraine, while some PES MPs express their discomfort over American support for such movements and criticize the pressure the US administration is placing on Ukraine.

He notes that all participants in the 44th Government, through their “little bit of everything, something for everyone” mindset and “good cop – bad cop” strategies, are deceiving the citizens of Montenegro and foreign representatives, “especially EU officials, in a bid to maintain their positions and positions of privilege, which seems to be their only shared interest.”

“Certain minority parties occasionally ‘threaten’ to exit the government, only to quickly retract their statements and ask, ‘Who said that? Did I say that?’. They are indifferent to the fact that they are collectively transforming Montenegro into a dysfunctional state during such perilous times. Their priority is to remain in such a government and thus contribute, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to the objectives of the Serbian World and assist the Mandić-Knežević pair in fulfilling their task,” the statement concludes.

The President of the Parliament of Montenegro and leader of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD), Andrija Mandić, together with the President of the Democratic People’s Party (DNP) and MP in the Montenegrin Parliament, Milan Knežević, met recently in Banja Luka with the President of the Bosnian-Herzegovina entity, Milorad Dodik.

During a press conference following their meeting, Mandić remarked that Serbs from Montenegro stand united with their counterparts from Republika Srpska, even in challenging times.

At the same conference, Knežević remarked that the sentence imposing a year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity for Dodik was shameful, indicating that the intent behind the verdict was to exclude him from the political sphere due to his clear views, which he claimed are also shared by the majority of the Serbian population. He asserted that Serbs in Montenegro could not possibly be closer to Sarajevo than to Banja Luka.

On February 26, Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison along with a six-year prohibition on political activity.

This ruling came after the Court of BiH found Dodik guilty.

Dodik faces accusations of endorsing presidential decrees that validated two unconstitutional laws of the RS, which had already been annulled by the High Representative. These laws pertain to the non-implementation of the Constitutional Court of BiH’s decisions and the non-implementation of the High Representative’s decisions concerning the territory of the RS.

The verdict is at the first-instance level, and there remains the option to appeal to the Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH.

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