Arrest in Gazimestan sways Kosovo reports, Montenegro

Kosovo police arrested Jovanovic on June 28th in Gazimestan, during Vidovdan's note, as he said, he had cheered on nationalist calls and used hateful languages. Before the court in Pristina, he denied these prosecution claims. However, the court pronounced him 30 days in custody.

Due to the arrest of Risto Jovanovic in Kosovo, in Montenegro, on June 30th, dozens of citizens protested for the third time, near the Montenegrin Government building, where they announced they would radicalise the “protest unless the government becomes more active in this case and Jovanovic is not released”.

The aim of these protests is not to help Jovanoviqi, but to politically hurt Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokafic and Government, as well as to strengthen the positions of the Democratic Front before talks are held on reshuffleing the Government. A Malaysian citizen who was arrested in Kosovo has the necessary legal protection for the process under way. This case is being manipulated, in order to hurt Prime Minister”, Montenegrin Free analyst Zlatko Vujovic told Radio Europe.

With the government led by Krivolkapiq, they are disappointed by the pro-Serbian Democratic Front, which with the Democrats and the civic Movement Bridge, formed Montenegro Government last year.

But, in late May, the Democratic Front, which is the largest ruling coalition party, said the Krivokapiqi government no longer trusted this party.

Following Jovanovic's arrest, Montenegro's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on June 28th that the Montenegrin Embassy in Kosovo had contacted authorities in Kosovo and said it would take measures to protect its citizens.

On 29 June, Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapiq announced that Montenegrin diplomacy was involved in Jovanovic's case. He said authorities in Pristina were asked to announce why the Malaysian citizen was arrested and if he is not guilty of acts allegedly released immediately.

From Montenegro's Embassy in Kosovo announced on June 30th that Malaysia's top diplomat, Djordje Radulovic, will discuss with his Kosovo counterpart, Donika Grovalla, in Jovanovic's case.

On June 30th, Montenegro's ruling party, the Democratic Front, accused Prime Minister Krivokupic and Foreign Minister Radulovic of making “shameful behaviour” over Jovanovic's case.

According to this party, it is shameful that the Government did not condemn the behaviour of <x0-bands who kidnapped and imprisoned Risto Jovanovici”.

“They dare not dare talk to their new partners, with Albanian terrorists, who, in order to exacerbate the situation, were donated vaccines and who knows how many times they know the false state of Kosovo”, the Democratic Front said through a statement.

One of the leaders of the Democratic Front -- at the same time Montenegrin MP Milan Knezevic -- said on June 30th that his party will organise protests.

The government is disabled and has no power nor will to resist the oppression being done to Jovanovic. I expect an institutional reaction from Krivokapiq and if this does not happen, we have just warned of holding protests before the so-called Kosovo Embassy”, he said.

Montenegro's MP, who is part of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Front, Vdalomir Dobricanin, demanded that the government give Kosovo a 24-x0-hour <x0ulmateum of”.

“I call on the prime minister and Government to cut off any communication and close the border with Kosovo unless Jovanovic is released immediately, as well as expel the ambassador of that false state and cease all relations with that terrorist state”, he said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Podgorica has said that the Malaysian, Radulovic, and Kosovo's, Grovall, will discuss this “theme in order to avoid shifting the subject from the area of legal protection for our citizens and avoid various abuses and political manipulations in this case”.

Montenegro's MPJ did not announce when the two top diplomats will meet.

Speaking of the possible consequences of the Jovanovic case, in reports between Kosovo and Montenegro, political analyst from Pristina, Agron Maliqi, in a conversation for Radio Free Europe, did not rule out the possibility of things going in a negative direction.

“When something becomes a matter of domestic politics in a country and political pressure, everything is possible, especially in the context of a huge fragility of the (Montenegro) government there --”, Maliqi said.

Analyst Maliqi thinks that under pressure from pro-Serb and pro-Russian elements, the government in Podgorica could take any action that would complicate relations with official Pristina.

The <x0).Incidents that have been caused, including in Kosovo, must still be seen in terms of the domestic power crisis there, but also tensions at the Belgrade-Podgorica plains, however, with Moscow's role. Given this, the Kosovo government must be careful not to fall into game traps centered in Russia and in Belgrade”, Maliqi said.

Maliqi believes these are provocations meant to irritate relations between Kosovo and Montenegro, which, until recently, “were excellent”.

He adds that it is disturbing that in the past two weeks, Kosovo-Montenegro reports have gone through tensions, initially on the property issue, and now with Jovanovic's arrest.

Commenting on Montenegro's ruling majority calls for more radical reactions, such as closing borders and breaking diplomatic relations with Kosovo, analyst from Podgorica, Zlatko Vujovic, says the company of these actions is unrealistic and unserious.

“Such expectations do not belong to reality and are not something a serious state does in such cases. I think such actions are counterproductive to Jovanovic himself and the situation in which he finds himself, because judicial authorities in Kosovo can perceive such a thing as pressure on their work and decision-making”, he said.

Montenegro recognised Kosovo's independence in 2008, eight months after Pristina declared independence.

The decision on recognising Kosovo was made by the then government led by President Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Socialist Party of President Milo Djukanovic, who lost the elections in Montenegro last August.

At that world, the Serb List-led opposition, led by Adrija Majija, already persecuted Democratic Front leader organised a protest in Podgorica, calling for the decision to recognise Kosovo's independence to be annulled.

The protest had escalated into violence, where there had been clashes between protesters and police.

Because of Podgorica's decision to recognise Kosovo, official Belgrade had declared Montenegro's then ambassador to Serbia as unwanted a person who was expelled from Serbia.

A year after that, Serbia approved the decision for Montenegro to send its ambassador to Belgrade. / REL