Filip Among the “Venetians”

"You can't do that here!  Go back to your Montenegrin villa!" with these words and in a raised voice an officer from President Slobodan Milosevic's security addressed Montenegrin Premier Filip Vujanovic in the hall of the Palace of the Federation while the latter was giving a statement for television and on the occasion of the reception in honor of the FRY Day of the Federation to which Milosevic did not invite Milo Djukanovic and Svetozar Marovic.  VREME sources claim that at that moment the Vice-President of the Federal Government Vojin Djukanovic reacted sharply, but that a verbal conflict was prevented by Vujanovic who suggested giving a statement at the entrance to the Palace of the Federation in New Belgrade.

That is how the Montenegrin Premier Filip Vujanovic faired at Slobodan Milosevic's reception who, by contrast with Djukanovic and Marovic, did get an invitation, just like fifty other people who were invited from Montenegro. No one in Montenegro, at least as far as people in power are concerned, was burning with desire to shake Milosevic's hand.  In any case, they are not hiding it. Premier Filip Vujanovic still went to the reception in Belgrade with a reduced delegation out of respect for Montenegro and the federal state for which the people of Montenegro voted in the referendum.  This was announced to the public with the message that Yugoslavia and its important holidays cannot be anyone's sole property, not even the property of President Slobodan Milosevic.  In this respect Svetozar Marovic, president of the Parliament of Montenegro, had the harshest comments in a congratulatory letter to Slobodan Milosevic in which he stated, "I have more belief in Yugoslavia every day because it is demonstrating that it can survive You and us mortal sinners, that it can survive You who are helping it so little."

In any case, what happened on the Day of the Federation in Yugoslavia cannot be taken in any other way than as the announcement of President Slobodan Milosevic's last attempt to do away with the leadership of Montenegro and to replace them with those who will willingly nod their heads at everything he says.  The reaction of Montenegrin officials unequivocally leads to the conclusion that the all gloves are off.  Furthermore, the impression is that the upcoming conflict will be even more fierce, especially because of the insistence that Milosevic must respect his constitutionally defined jurisdiction or to simply do away with it.

The fight will quite certainly continue through the election campaign currently in progress for the parliamentary elections in Montenegro.  Novak Kilibarda, leader of the People's Party, assesses that Milosevic wanted to show with this gesture that he is fully supporting Momir Bulatovic, in whom he sees the possibility for the return of his control over Montenegro.  However, Kilibarda claims that Milosevic is merely playing with Bulatovic, because he did in fact call Premier Filip Vujanovic and his ministers to the reception--people who represent the government of Montenegro.

The fact that Milosevic did call Vujanovic, who recently stated that Milosevic must change or be replaced, and the fact that Vujanovic is not lagging behind in criticism of the president of Yugoslavia, leads to the conclusion that Slobodan Milosevic has a plan which was ruined by Vujanovic's coming to the reception.  Namely, right up to 3 p.m. on April 27, it was still questionable whether Djukanovic and Marovic will head for Belgrade.  It was announced that invitations were sent from Belgrade, but that they did not arrive in Podgorica.  From President Milosevic's cabinet came the announcement that the invitations were sent, but no one wanted to confirm that in writing, which would quite certainly be sufficient in lieu of the fact that the official invitations did not arrive.  There was no written confirmation so that Djukanovic and Marovic decided not to go without invitations.  In the above sited manner, Marovic congratulated Milosevic on the holiday, while Djukanovic, packing for his trip to Bonn, composed a postcard for the citizens of Montenegro and Yugoslavia.

Revolted by Milosevic's actions, many of the invited simply stated that they have no intention of going.  Many did not go, and quite certainly, as it is being assessed in Podgorica, Milosevic expected that Vujanovic would not show up with his associates. Whether Milosevic expected that Djukanovic would suggest that no one go, and then mount a strong campaign to prove the separatist intentions of the Montenegrin leadership, is a question which has already been partly answered on Radio Belgrade. The report that the reception in the Palace of the Federation was not attended only by those who do not respect Yugoslavia, is already circulating with the intention of breaking.  It is quite certain that many such assessments and reports will be published in the coming days, but the fact is that the viewers of the RTS news watched in vain for Premier Filip Vujanovic among the people at the reception, while the face of Momir Bulatovic smiled from the TV screen as he twisted his mustache with satisfaction.

In an interview with VREME, Miodrag Vukovic, vice-president of the government (otherwise one of the creators of the Constitution of Zabljak), who refused to travel to Belgrade to shake Milosevic's hand, stated that nothing unexpected happened because no surprises are possible, as Vukovic says, with a man who has restructured all the institutions of the federal state and has subjugated them to his will.  The assessments of the breaking of constitutional jurisdictions by the president of Yugoslavia are becoming more frequent in the Montenegrin leadership.