Gathering of Djukanovic’s supporters: “Montenegro is not Serbia!” and sandwiches for one euro
The day before, in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, a rally was held by supporters of the Montenegrin dictator Milo Djukanovic and his anti-Serbian course, the participants of which opposed the opposition pro-Serbian coalition intending to form the government of the country.
The authorities said that 50 thousand people took part in the action, while according to independent experts, 8 thousand people took part in it, violating the quarantine measures of the Montenegrin state.
According to a PolitNavigator correspondent, those who gathered on Sunday in the name of, as they themselves declared, “saving the Montenegrin state” from the “claims of the Serb-Chetniks”, at Trgu Nezavisnosti (Independence Square), were not only residents of Podgorica, but also arrived in buses and convoys from Niksic, Danilovgrad and Berane.
The organizers, who did not position themselves in any way (officially the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists and Milo Djukanovic himself had nothing to do with it), named their action by analogy with the opposition slogan “We will not surrender the shrines!” - “We won’t give up the state!” Participants in the event often chanted “Montenegro is not Serbia!”
Typically, on stage during the gathering, excerpts from the film “The Christmas Uprising of 1919” were shown, dedicated to the rebellion of the so-called “komits” (or komitashes) - Montenegrin Svidomites who took up arms against their fellow tribesmen because they wanted to join Yugoslavia. The symbols of the “Comites” themselves – green banners and green T-shirts – were also present in abundance at the event.
At the same time, the son of Milo Djukanovic, Blazho, was noticed among the participants in the action. Typically, the participants of the gathering openly violated the instructions of the National Coordination Body (NCB), according to which more than a hundred people are prohibited from gathering in open areas in the country due to the coronavirus epidemic, and none of them were detained. At the same time, crowded religious processions of SOC believers were previously regularly persecuted for this reason, with the subsequent initiation of criminal cases, even if their participants kept a distance or held prayer services far from populated areas.
Speakers at the event accused the leaders of the opposition coalition of wanting to subjugate Montenegro to Serbia, while the leader of the “From Black to White” bloc, the ethnic Albanian Dritan Abazovic, got the worst of it, who, apparently, they decided to “dissuade” of his desire through intimidation and insults join a parliamentary coalition with the alliance “For the Future of Montenegro” and the bloc “The World is Our Nation”. In particular, it has been repeatedly said that if Abazovich consolidates with pro-Serbian forces in order to form the government of the country, then history will remember him as a “traitor to Montenegro.”
Information also appeared on Montenegrin social networks that the ruling DPS was behind the “anonymous” event, in particular, a photo of the announcement with the following content:
“Contact your local DPS deputy so they can cover your gas costs and give you a free sandwich. If you don't get a free sandwich, keep your receipt from the bakery, and the sandwich shouldn't cost more than 1 euro. You will receive flags and T-shirts at the Square.”
In turn, the leaders of the opposition blocs called on their supporters to stay home so as not to provoke tension, and, apparently, their call was heard, since the nationalist gathering passed without incident.
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