Milo Djukanovic: Montenegro facing major Serb aggression

“We will support every government that will preserve Montenegro's civic and secular character, promote multiethnic democracy and contribute to dynamic economic development, so that Montenegro, as a democratic and economically developed country, will be part of the European Union in the near future”, says Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, in an interview for DW.

He claims his country now is “in the process of consolidating power” and that Montenegro's greatest interest is that as soon as there is a responsible government.

„We will not be part of government“

Djukanovic says that the Democratic Party of Socialists (his) (DPS) has offered support to the minority government even after last year's elections, believing that “will be very dangerous for Montenegro if the ruling coalition becomes so dependent on Serbian nationalism”.

According to Djukanovic, the so far government consisted of three coalitions, one of which is the clearly profiled coalition of Greater Serbia. We've thought, that if such a government determines state policy, this would be very dangerous for Montenegro”.

And today, according to Montenegrin President “, we say: we are willing to support the minority government, therefore, the coalitions that are of civic nature, that want to help Montenegro move towards Europe. We are willing to support such a government, but we will not participate in it. No doubt it took 14 months of unsuccessful experience like this to return to our initial proposal”, Djukanovic says. “Took time to understand that not every change means change for the better. The difference can be bad. Montenegro has now undergone a poor change. But that does not mean that DPS will automatically return to power. It does not mean that he will return as he did when he left power. We understood the voter's message very accurately, we've worked hard for one year to eliminate weaknesses, for reform in the party”, says Djukanovic and finds out: “I think Montenegro has learned another lesson and that now, after this experience, will make better decisions for the future. ”

DPS returns?

Speaking to the party he leads, Djukanovic says the DPS in the past 14 months has shown it can deal with policy responsible even from the opposition. I think that thanks to us, thanks to the statehood opposition, Montenegro managed to resist the Belgrade offensive. After August 30th we experienced a very aggressive offensive from Belgrade. Serbian nationalistism from Belgrade realised that their favourites' victory opened the door for a new annexation of Montenegro, this time through the “SerbianBota”> project. This did not happen because we had a state-run opposition led by DPS”.

As for the Democratic Party of Socialists' plans, Djukanovic says: “We believe in ourselves, in the reforms we have made in the party and will return, there is no doubt about it. Will it be now? In a year, two, three? There's no rush... But we are also showing responsibility from the opposition banks. ”