Just two days after the unblocking of the European integration process, the Montenegrin government angered both Croatia and Brussels by adopting the Resolution on Jasenovac, writes Nanny Vela.
Namely, on June 26 in Brussels, Podgorica received a positive IBAR (Report on fulfillment of temporary criteria in chapters 23 and 24 for the rule of law) and, according to its officials, entered the final phase of negotiations on joining the European Union. But, even though Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that the EU integration process will never again be subordinated to party or other interests, that's exactly what happened, and only two days later.
Namely, at that time, on the proposal of the Speaker of the Assembly Andrija Mandić from the New Serbian Democracy, the Montenegrin Parliament adopted the Resolution on Genocide in the Jasenovac, Dachau and Mauthausen camp system. The first reaction of Brussels to this kind of condemnation of genocide from the Second World War was the cancellation of the visit of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, with whom, instead of in Podgorica, the President of the Republic, Jakov Milatović, met in Brussels. Then the praise to Montenegro was deleted from the official statement of the European Council, which was done at the suggestion of Croatia.
Relativization of the Resolution on Srebrenica?
The adoption of the Resolution on genocide in the camp system of three European countries - Croatia, Austria and Germany - is one of the tasks on the agenda of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and it is also the relativization of the United Nations Resolution on Srebrenica, according to Milica Kovačević, program director of the non-governmental organization Center for Democratic transition from Podgorica.
"The resolution was adopted because it is part of the campaign to deny what happened in Srebrenica, to diminish the importance of the UN Resolution. It is being done according to Vučić's task," Kovačević told DW and added that "there are many scenarios in which the state interest should have been considered, the interest of all Montenegrin citizens who undividedly want EU membership - and I think that interests were being considered here regime in Serbia."
What was the intention of adopting the Resolution in the Montenegrin Parliament is also told by the statement of one of the proposers, the leader of the pro-Serbian Democratic People's Party (DNP), Milan Knežević, who said on Belgrade's TV Prva that "we should not forget that Germany was a sponsor and Croatia a co-sponsor Resolutions on Srebrenica, so it is time for them to face their consequences".
Blockade of Montenegro
That by adopting the Resolution, Montenegro will seriously damage relations with Zagreb was clear after the first reaction of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who said that it was adopted under the instrumentalization of "another state in the region".
Montenegro did not need anything to worsen relations with Croatia, says Gordana Đurović, professor at the University of Montenegro and former Minister of European Integration. "We all suffer from that resolution, as citizens, as a country." We are now wondering if Montenegro will be blocked in the near future. The question is only when and how long it will be in force, not if it will. "Some things cannot be fixed, but the question is how Montenegro will move forward," says Đurović.
In addition to sending a note of protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, Croatia could also declare the MPs who voted for the Resolution "persona non grata", which was requested in the Croatian Parliament by Most Party MP Miro Bulj. In the meantime, unresolved issues between the two countries, such as the delimitation on Prevlaca and the dispute over the ownership of the ship "Jadran", could intensify.
"Bilaterally, until now, Montenegro has never been blocked. But everyone should be worried about the deterioration of relations with Croatia, as the youngest member of the EU and a strong partner of Montenegro," says Đurović.
The government doesn't get too upset.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Spajić claims that all decisions, both those for Srebrenica and those for Jasenovac, are made by Montenegro as an independent country which, as he said, will be principled in condemning every crime.
"All resolutions that are focused on paying respect to the victims and not on condemnations, historical circumstances, geopolitics, etc. will be supported." And these other topics should be left to historians, to objectively investigate the circumstances," said Spajić - although, before the adoption of the Resolution, he claimed for the Brussels portal "Politiko" that "the resolution definitely harms Montenegro."
What to do next?
The interviewees of DW believe that the damage has already been done and say that now we should think about how to reduce the consequences.
"All this can not be a tragedy, if this is stopped and if the institutions are engaged in their work. Montenegro must return to the policy that all neighbors are equally important to us and detach from Aleksandar Vučić's agenda. "I think that he is very unhappy if someone is better than him, and the advancement of Montenegro towards the EU is not something that suits him on the political scene," Milica Kovačević points out.
Gordana Đurović reminds that Montenegro gained a lot of points in Brussels precisely because of good neighborly relations, which, as she says, it has now spoiled for the sake of someone else's interests. "It would be good to return to the culture of dialogue, to think about what our common interest is, to calm the ground and to return to diplomacy and the European agenda," concludes Đurović.
