Written by: Petar Pesterović
The magazine Monitor had little choice but to feature yet another intellectual and moral gem from Raonić in its Friday edition’s “Hit of the Week” section, this time, his response to the Basic Court’s third ruling declaring his appointment illegal. “For me, the rule of law is not a buzzword, but a principle I live by,” he said.
Supporters of the unlawfully appointed Raonić should genuinely worry for his well-being, if this is what “living by principle” looks like. Meanwhile, his growing number of critics are increasingly incensed by his latest vow to finally respect a third binding court decision. In comment sections, some openly accuse him of mocking the state, the judiciary, and the prosecution.
He dodged the first ruling with legal sleight of hand, courtesy of Dr. Drljević and a “rent-a-lawyer.” He sidestepped the second by resigning while awaiting the verdict, all, of course, in RTCG’s supposed best interest. Then he appointed himself Acting Director and opened a public call tailor-made for his candidacy under the infamous “Law of Slaven Radunović and Friends”, again, in Raonić’s favor.
As is often the case, every foolish scheme ends foolishly. Members of the RTCG Council are now in court, and Raonić’s third term has been officially ruled unlawful.
The Rule of Law, and the Right to Real Estate
And now we’re treated to this embarrassingly hollow declaration that his life is built on principle, not empty rhetoric. Spoken or written, Raonić (and even the Council of Europe, astonishingly) seems to believe in his competence. So much so that back in 2010, he introduced himself as a law graduate. By 2018, at age 44, he appeared poised to earn a 6.48 GPA, thanks to embassies, political parties, and a weekend school for aspiring young politicos, featuring the likes of Nedović, Čarapić, and other local luminaries.
In 2015, he nearly secured a sizable plot of land from the government and the capital city, because the rule of law needs space to stretch its wings. At the time, he was best known as the loudest gossip on the NGO scene and a loyal lapdog of the ruling DPS, or so whispered those unable to stomach Boris’s “successes” and million-euro grants.
The Raonić family’s real estate portfolio, amassed since Boris became a grant-writing master for the U.S., EU, and Norway, is indeed impressive. Some properties were built and rented out illegally, sure, but legalization is underway. And Minister S.R., the same one generous enough to push through the law on public broadcasting, is expected to come through again. After all, Boris can’t be expected to live in a garage. Not when it’s 200 square meters.
Yet even Boris’s devotion to the rule of law pales in comparison to his concern for workers’ rights.
The Pre-EXPO Deputies
Back in 2021, he lamented the disgrace of a country where the average wage was €3 per hour. But once installed at RTCG, he began firing professionals and hiring loyalists, the sort who applaud dutifully and flood him and his faux associate professor with Facebook likes. In April 2023, he claimed that wage hikes would soon have RTCG’s drivers earning more than the national average. Today, even journalists with 25 years of experience earn less.
His deputies noticed the injustice. At the last Council meeting, they voiced their concerns, as a visibly shaken and increasingly cornered Dr. Drljević looked on. “We believe we can raise salaries above the national average,” mumbled the deputy for corporate affairs, Raonić’s man for tenders, questionable payments, and pointless equipment purchases. His background in corporate affairs? He stocked his bar by buying liquor wholesale in Kolašin. He was assisted by Raonić’s lawyer, whose courtroom success rate rivals that of Ms. Đukanović, a once-respected attorney now unlikely to win a game of marbles.
It was the second act in the tragicomedy of this “corporate” deputy’s attempt to pass as a seasoned administrator. A few months ago, during a morning TV appearance, he delivered a few muddled lines that promptly went viral. Were it not for his blank stare, one might mistake him for a mashup of Marović-style pseudo-dichotomies and Krleža’s classic refrain: “It’s never been that it hasn’t somehow been.” He’s nowhere near either, though not far from the apartment he obtained illegally as the Council’s third-favorite loyalist. He’s now joined Drljević in calling for a new legal appeals board. For future trials, naturally.
Meanwhile, the deputy in charge of programming and journalist development, a former crime reporter now mentoring talentless and clueless editors, highlighted the paradox of management pushing for pay raises that the union itself opposes.
It’s worth noting that these unlawfully signed contracts net the deputies around €2,700 per month, including €1,300 in “variable” pay, supposedly earned by upholding the public interest in line with Raonić’s “principles.”
The picture becomes even clearer when you factor in Dr. Drljević’s salary. According to 2024 anti-corruption agency records, he draws about €2,900 from various state roles, including chairing the RTCG Council. The implication is clear: in these turbulent times, both locally and globally, this “anti-doping expert,” production visionary, and sporting giant must be retained, at any cost.
A Studio Here, a Statue There
Beyond these mundane tales of entitled officials, the Council also approved a revised financial plan, presumably to accommodate the construction whims of Raonić and Drljević’s favorite contractors. One “highlight”: tearing down a €1 million studio to build a new one. This is the latest pet project of the deputy for technology, who earns €2,800 and has a particular interest in artificial intelligence. It didn’t go viral, but a buried corruption case lingers.
In November 2018, just a week before the €10 million digitalization project wrapped, he cut €1 million from the equipment list. He even tried convincing a respected academic that “less is more”, that the written-off equipment wasn’t needed. The tender value, of course, stayed the same. The Council approved it, electronically. He then failed to ensure a proper technical inspection after the project’s delay and neglected to claim €500,000 in penalties from the supplier.
Now he’s working on a one-of-a-kind AI system: DVGROKChatGPT, designed to answer a single question: Can a repeatedly unlawful director be legalized through digitalization?
To internationalize the scandal, we turn to the creative director, the same one whose job title has changed four times. She began in international cooperation, won a fixed competition orchestrated by Raonić, and sang the praises of trailing statistics. Later, she advised the director Raonić promptly fired when DF winds began to blow. She even offered to resign after the spectacular failure of Montesong, but somehow landed on the EXPO team headed to Osaka. Because, of course, Japan is eager to hear about RTCG’s marketing strategy, her pet project. Where else would a creative director go but to a post created precisely when her previous one was eliminated?
It sounds surreal, but it’s a fitting summary of Raonić’s staff reorganizations, rubber-stamped by the Council.
The Curtain Falls
For a few deluded individuals, this may feel like a dream come true. More likely, it’s a full-throttle performance of their deepest insecurities. Either way, the spectacle has become too grotesque to sustain.
Raonić and his crew, paid like professors and surgeons, have gutted the purpose of public broadcasting. RTCG now resembles a half-finished construction site, complete with the infamous scaffolding that stood unused for three months, and a “multimedia” hall with a fancy electrostatic floor and exposed sewage pipes. Then again, even that faint rumble or gurgle might qualify as a “medium.” A metaphor, too.
Still, not everything is a mess. In RTCG’s park, new busts appear almost daily, part of a concept championed by Naod Zorić, a particularly colorful Council member who’s publicly admitted to being legally and economically illiterate.
We don’t know the cost or whether permits were issued, maybe, as Bobi would say, the concept is “non-ideological.” Still, when you see a group of dazed faces beside a roll of toilet paper, it’s hard to tell whether you’re looking at a lost Council deep in another reorg, or an audience in existential despair.
Perhaps each bust should bear the following poetic inscription:
“Like a roll of toilet paper, life unravels,
some run out sooner than others, with nothing left to wipe.”
The next court hearing for members of the “docents’” Council is scheduled for September 19. Raonić will have to step down and return the €100,000 he unlawfully received.
Because, as Krleža might say: “Even now, it won’t be that there won’t somehow be.”
In other words, we are all witnesses to our intelligence.
Komentari (0)
POŠALJI KOMENTAR