GALIZIA

TURN ON THE PORT Will it survive as an independent state with its own identity or will it become 'Serbia at Sea'? The small post-Yugoslav state has become a potential hotbed of new nationalist conflicts By: Vlado VurušićPosted: September 5, 2020 6:11 pm Celebration after the elections in Montenegro Celebration after the elections in Montenegro Savo Prelevic / AFP Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail In Montenegro, but also in the wider region, there is still a shock after Sunday's elections in which, for the first time in 31 years, the "eternal" and untouchable Milo Đukanović suffered a defeat - seemingly small, with only one MP missing, but still enough to many fateful and dramatic changes can happen to the country. Speculations range from apocalyptic predictions and scenarios announcing the beginning of the disappearance of Montenegrin ethnic identity and its marginalization in their own country, through the creation of a Serbian-Russian Orthodox Jamahiriya that spreads fear across the region and Russia's victorious return to the Adriatic. permission to Serbia's neighboring countries when it delivers weapons, but will do so unhindered through Montenegrin ports) to those who claim that due to control and agreement "embassies" and the desire for legitimacy of the new government on the international scene will not change anything fundamentally, just will not be compromised and unacceptable Milo Đukanović . So what could happen after the change of government in Montenegro? This is certainly a situation that can change the situation by 180 degrees. As it seems now, this is the beginning of the end of the rule of Milo Đukanović (he is the president of the state for another three years and, regardless of everything, still holds certain levers of power), who lost the support of Brussels. Namely, the biggest objection to Montenegro was the corruption, and the last straw, as they say in that center of Europe, was the affair around the Možura wind farm, which was allegedly investigated by the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Gali Greater Serbia idea However, this government, whatever it was, guaranteed Montenegro's "European path", its unquestionable membership in NATO and was a barrier to the spread of non-Greater Serbian ideas of Aleksandar Vučić and the penetration of Russian influence in this part of Europe. The main fixation for everyone is the possible exit from NATO and turning to Russia and Serbia. It is not just a matter of NATO and the Russians - yes or no, but the way Montenegro functions and survives within itself and outside - as an independent state with its own identity or becomes just "Serbia at Sea", as the realization of Milorad Dodik's "vision" who said a few months ago that a single Serbian state would be created from Republika Srpska, Serbia, Montenegro and parts of Kosovo. As the Montenegrin writer Milorad Popović stated, with the establishment and completion of Montenegro as a separate state and nation, the Greater Serbia idea, fueled by Vučić (with the help of Moscow), is definitely failing, and now it has turned to Montenegro as a "second Serbian state". Of course, there is also the issue of the famous exit from NATO, but this change can bring into question the survival and existence of Montenegro as a separate, non-Serbian, identity. That is why the Law on Freedom of Religion was crucial and fateful, and for both sides it is a question of "life or death". However, they immediately sent a message that their government will respect all international obligations of Montenegro, putting previous priorities in the background, but they, as we see from Nebojsa Medojevic, are leaking and jumping around every corner on their own. It is difficult to reconcile them. Currently, the most important thing for them is to change or completely repeal the Law on Freedom of Religion, which aroused passions, and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), ie Metropolitan Amfilohije, gathered the pro-Serbian opposition under one church umbrella, as the main rival to pro-Montenegrin options. No,