The European Commission’s recent non-paper is the latest wake-up call for the Montenegrin government, if that government were truly committed to the European integration process. But today’s Montenegrin government wants EU integration about as much as an alligator wants to become a vegetarian, says political scientist Danilo Kalezić in a statement to Antena M.
That, he adds, is perhaps the best way to describe the current relationship between Montenegro’s government, firmly and entirely controlled by Andrija Mandić, a self-declared Chetnik leader, and the EU.
Until now, Kalezić points out, we have lived with the paradox that the European Union has been more eager to bring Montenegro into the bloc than Montenegro has been to join it.
“But even in Brussels, things are changing. They now understand that (Milojko) Spajić’s promises have no basis in Montenegro’s reality. His pledges are little more than stalling tactics, an attempt to mislead international partners. And the non-paper didn’t reveal anything new or unexpected. It simply confirmed what Montenegro’s pro-Western public has been saying all along: a lack of transparency, rampant party-based hiring, and the capture of key institutions like the public broadcaster. These are issues that our media, NGOs, and intellectuals raise every single day.
To sum it up, this is a final warning, a yellow card before what now seems inevitable: the suspension of accession talks. Montenegro will not enter the EU under a pro-Russian, Greater Serbian government, formally headed by Spajić, but in reality controlled by Mandić”, Kalezić warns.
Commenting on sharp criticism from President Jakov Milatović, who recently said that the parliamentary majority and the government are not doing enough to achieve the foreign policy goal of EU membership, Kalezić identifies two key problems with Milatović.
“First, while he correctly diagnoses the situation, he does nothing to address it. He allows this malignancy to spread unchecked through Montenegro’s political life. Second, even if he wanted to take real action, he currently lacks the means to do so. And when he did have the opportunity, in the case of Podgorica, he ended up legitimizing a pro-Russian, Greater Serbian government”, Kalezić says.
It is good, he adds, that Milatović is at least calling out these negative trends.
“The problem is, there’s no one left who will listen. As a result, his statements are increasingly treated as if they were coming from the opposition, which is not the role of a head of state. Regardless of constitutional limitations, he needs to turn words into action. He had the chance in Podgorica, and again with the appointment of the Chief of General Staff, but both times he bowed to the will of Mandić and Spajić. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be allowed to change course,” the political scientist argues.
Kalezić calls on everyone who still believes in Montenegro’s European path, even if only partly, to stand up and take a much more active role in resisting a government that is not leading the country toward the EU, but rather into the so-called “Serbian World”.
He also cites the case of Judge Dragana Đuranović as the most blatant example of institutional capture and unconstitutional actions by the parliamentary majority.
“If the EU were treating us as strictly as it treated some other countries during their accession processes, Montenegro’s negotiations would have been completely frozen by now. This case is that extreme. And the government remains silent, because there’s nothing they can say. The report leaves no room for cheap political spin,” he says.
Asked to comment on President Milatović’s claim that both the opposition and the government are weak, Kalezić says this sounds more like an excuse for Milatović’s actions in Podgorica.
“For all its flaws, the opposition is vastly better, more mature, and more politically literate than those currently governing Montenegro. The opposition is genuinely pro-European and pro-Western. Sadly, the dividing line in Montenegro today is still between those who want to see the country aligned with the West, which includes the opposition, and those who are pulling Montenegro into a Balkan Greater-Serbian–Pro-Russian narrative. And those people are currently in charge of the government.
Milatović had the chance to put this to the test through coalition-building in Podgorica, and chose not to. To stand here in 2025 and say the opposition is no good, while the government is actively dismantling Montenegro, is highly problematic at best”, Kalezić concludes.
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