Divorcing for Bulatovic

Montenegro is indeed further away from communal spirit with Serbia, not because that is it’s aim, but because the ruling coalition in Serbia is trying to make entry into the federal organs impossible to legitimate representatives from Montenegro. That attitude, originating from the flood of announcements made by Montenegrin officials, joins the assertion that in the middle of all this is a desperate move on the part of Slobodan Milosevic to leave nothing to chance for a little while. Verification of the Montenegrin mandate on the federal level  would certainly blow away not only Momir Bulatovic’s federal government, but would also make the mandate of the federal president very shaky. Milosevic, therefore, in giving Bulatovic the freedom to make decisions harmful to Montenegro, raises the hope that the “kids” will be subject to provocations and pull out clumsy, immature, political maneuvers which in combination with events in Kosovo might provoke a rebellion of Montenegro’s citizens and make a repeat of a new “people’s spring” on the wave of the Serbian one.

However, the defensive mechanisms of the Montenegrin government haven’t called for any kind of rebellion. Therefore, Montenegro hasn’t turned over because the Montenegrin Ministry for Trade permitted the import of gasoline and PTT equipment by Montenegrin companies. No one fears Bulatovic’s announcement of a possible conflict with customs because it is entirely possible that approximately 1,000 farmers, who are waiting for tractors compounded in Kertes’ warehouses, will break the tariff and chase away customs officials with hoes.

No one is bemoaning the fact that the Montenegrin government decided to cease all personal communication with Bulatovic’s cabinet. Especially not the government’s decision to refrain from accepting Bulatovic’s regulations concerning the mandatory payment of 50 percent of defense means from concessions given to foreigners and 30 percent of foreign currency from the sale of state capital to foreigners.  These decisions are explained as logical responses to the persistent ignoring of the will of Montenegro’s electoral body, and as one of a series of attempts to put their hands in Montenegro’s pockets.

“The Montengrin government,” said Blagota Mitric, president of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro, “makes decisions that perhaps aren’t always formally, legally in harmony with the federal constitution, but because the federal government was chosen illegally and its measures harm Montenegro, then the republican government, as a legitimate and legal organ, can protect the national and state interests of Montenegro and its citizens. I’m afraid that the society that governs the federal administration is cutting the branch on which it is sitting. You can let them fall, but they’re going to pulverize us as well.

Concern for such satire, above all economic, has distanced Montenegro from Momir Bulatovic’s enthronement, who in unity with Mihail Kertes conducted a purge of customs officials as well as the remaining federal workers on the territory of Montenegro. As those dismissals are considered illegal in Montenegro, a cessation of communication with those agencies was announced as a result.

Montenegro is using reserve variants and it is evident that it behaves as though there isn’t a federal administration. Truthfully, the Montenegrins haven’t applied force in order to make the widening of the border belt in the region of Tuza and Ada na Bojana possible, but someone remembered to nullify the decision even though they didn’t inform the pubic about it. Who personally demonstrated good will and took into consideration the protests of Montenegrins or perhaps said to Bulatovic “precera ga, mali”, is not known for now, but it is known that the reversal of the decision was not stamped in Sluzbeni list.

Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic states that Montenegro all the more decidely makes moves for the protection of its own interests, but this government, because of one or two people, won’t taken even one step in order to solve the problem of the joint state, in other words, it is too soon to speak of a new referendum concerning the formal legal status of Montenegro. However, the possibility of a referendum is all the more loudly promised from party ranks if they don’t verify the Montenegrin mandate on the federal level and replace Bulatovic. In that case, SDP Vice-president Miodrag Ilickovic is completely correct when he says that, day to day, they acknowledge the justification of SDP’s attitude that it would be much better to agree on a sovereign and independent state status in Montenegro.

But, in the meantime, there has been a working meeting of Slobodan Milosevic with the federal and republican ministers of police. As learned by Vreme, Minister of Police Vukasin Maras came to the meeting by invitation of his colleague Vlajko Stojiljkovic. According to the same source, Maras’ report began with the opinion that Montenegro recognizes the federal head of state, but not the premier with regard to the claim that he wouldn’t have come to the meeting if by chance Momir Bulatovic had been in attendance. Maras informed the president of Yugoslavia that the Montenegrin police won’t participate in putting conditions in Kosovo in order, that the territory of Montenegro won’t serve the illegal distribution of weapons to extremists, and the Montenegro’s MUP accepts necessary collaboration with Serbian police in the framework of constitutional and legal jurisdiction in stamping out crime and defending the security of citizens and property.

Milosevic, Zoran Sokolovic, and Stojiljkovic listened patiently to Maras’ report, states Vreme’s source. Maras returned to Podgorica satisfied. The details are unknown, and probably will stay that way with all possible speculation, there is even the possibility of Maras being reproached on home terrain because of the meeting with Sokolovic. In an official communication from Milosevic’s cabinet, they cite the attitude of the head of state, but nowhere is it stated that agreement was reached with all opinions and qualifications.

Be that as it may, just after the Montenegrin government announced the cessation of personal collaboration with the federal government and Milosevic’s initiative to gather the heads of the police, Podgorica’s analysts keep thinking about the question of whether or not Milosevic will try to gather the ministers from the remaining spheres, above all, those from the government of Serbia and Montenegro. The fact that Momir Bulatovic didn’t try to complete the task, and that once again he wasn’t present at the last meeting, can mean a great deal or nothing. Montenegro’s ministries are ignoring summons from the federal government through the media, but somehow maintain some ties with the ministries of Serbia. In any case, official Podgorica persistently announces that there will be no compromise outside of the constitution and the law, and that it will unshakably persevere in publicly proclaiming opinions about all questions, including Kosovo. They didn’t cause the headache of charges of separatism for the Montenegrins. Moreover, Blagota Mitric says that from a legal perspective one of the federal units can’t support separatism in a community state, because it has the constitutional ability to leave the federation. “The federation is like a marriage.  Montenegro and Serbia formed a union from which they can leave.”

Hence, there remains the question of how long they can suffer marital quarrels in relation to whether or not Momir Bulatovic will make that marriage completely worthless or will everything that he has done up to now be an argument for those who promoted him to federal prime minister to replace him.