Dragan Krapovic, the Minister of Defense of Montenegro
Good morning! How did a man who celebrated the centenary of the Podgorica assembly become a defense minister.
Dragan Krapovic – defense minister
The Minister of Defense of Montenegro. The Montenegro whose disappearance he celebrated only four and a half years ago, when as mayor, he sponsored and hosted the ‘centenary celebration of liberation and unification’.
Today I won’t talk about the results of work of Dragan Krapovic as head of the city administration. A work result that led to a massive drop in support for his party in Budva. About nepotism, clientelism and idleness, which created the conditions for the city to be managed by whoever wants to. A puppet appointed by the Front. From Mojkovac or from anywhere on the globe.
I’ll reflect on the ideology and worldview that developed Dragan as a leader.
Dragan entered politics as the owner of a cafe called ‘Haraso’, and the child of rich parents. The son of a former DPS official, who became part of the new SNP after Djukanovic’s separation from Milosevic. The son of a high-ranking official of the SNP. Minister of Defense in Kostunica’s government. The doctor and the man who belittled Seselj in the federal parliament. Descendant of partisans and communist officials of the town of Budva.
People change. I’m not writing this text to challenge Krapovic, but to remind him that his loyalty to this country and commitment to its security is incompatible with what he did before. From the referendum onwards.
And the things I want to complain about are best described by the aforementioned event he attended and sponsored, and by the guests he applauded. That is why, for the sake of the culture of memory, I’ll mention a couple of scenes from that famous meeting in Budva:
“The celebration of the centenary of liberation and unification took place in Budva” Radio Free Europe reported at the time.
“Stay brave the Serbian people of Montenegro. All the occupiers have passed, so these will pass too,” said the late Fr. Momcilo Krivokapic, a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who on that occasion called the Montenegrin nation a communist mantra and added that by recognizing Kosovo and joining NATO, Montenegro became Montenegro.
The late President of Montenegro, Momir Bulatovic, whose political path today’s President Milatovic admires, then talked about his “communist sins” he tried to atone for and “state aid in the construction of churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro.”
Among the speakers were the ardent guests from Belgrade, Antic and Rakovic, while Antic then exclaimed: “And that is why my message is that we will unite the Serbian lands and liberate the Serbian sea”.
The former President of the Municipality of Budva, Marko Carevic, noted: “Long live our age-old protector Russia, long live our Montenegro and Boka, our Serbia, long live freedom and long live the Serbian people in Boka and the universe, amen!”
Dragan Krapovic didn’t speak. He was sitting in the front row and applauded. Whether he himself refused to speak, or whether the ‘Serbian people’ decided that they still had to make an effort to atone for the ‘communist sins’ of their ancestors, remains a mystery.
The Democrats took the biggest step and were the first to give a hand of reconciliation to the other side. Not to the DPS, but to civil Montenegro. And they paid a huge price for it within their side of Montenegrin polarization. More than once they were accused of ‘betrayal of Serbia’. If we don’t count petty nepotistic and clientele sins, they mostly resisted the temptations of the authorities, and today there are no big affairs connected to the names of their officials. Despite their political differences, we must recognize them for their principledness.
What neither they nor PES should allow is that the DF dictates their pace and examines their commitment to Serbia and the SPC. If they compete with them in this discipline, they and the country will go to hell, and Montenegro will become “Serbia’s” Belarus in the south of Europe.
That’s all for today. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Best regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM observer and columnist
(The opinions and views of our columnists aren’t necessarily those of the editorial staff of CdM)