The unification of the radically inclined Serbian electorate and its redistribution under the “political umbrella of the DNP” is the key goal of the current, hyperactive activity of Milan Knežević.
The strategy of political performances is, sources say Television E, it was previously agreed with Aleksandar Vučić and his closest circle. Through intensive activism, the leader of the DNP tries to reduce the number of potential abstentions within the Serbian corps, voters who are resigned to the increasingly visible turn towards the West by the undisputed leader of the Serbian bloc, Andrija Mandić, the president of the New Serbian Democracy.
That’s why Milan Knežević uses every opportunity to radicalize political views, from guest appearances on television stations close to the regime in Belgrade, to parliamentary debates. That was the case a few days ago in the Parliament of Montenegro.
“So-called Montenegrin independence”
“They call Milo Đukanović, they call Filip Vujanović, they call Darko Pajović, they call Miraš Dedeić, they hang out there with them, celebrate the days of the so-called Montenegrin independence… And then we wonder – where did Milo come from? Well, Milo is like VAT, he will never leave! And Ranko Krivokapić moved our days of diplomacy from Beran to Cetinje because the tricolor stings him,” Knežević raged from the parliamentary benches.
Experts from the Serbian president’s circle suggested to Knežević that in his public appearances he should focus on identity issues – from constantly pushing the story of emphasizing the tricolor, insisting that the Serbian language be official, all the way to very harsh criticism of the authorities, especially Spajić’s PES.
But also very harsh criticism of the opposition, especially the Democratic Party of Socialists and former party president Milo Đukanović, whom Knežević attacks primarily because of the recognition, as he says, of the “fake state of Kosovo” and Montenegro’s membership in NATO.
In this way, Knežević acts as a different political offer compared to Mandić.
Musić: Supporters of the imperial project
Political analyst Aleksandar Musić, in a recent conversation with his colleague Milena Radonjić for the 24 sata program, stated that the different stories of Mandić and Knežević are just part of one tactic.
While Mandić plays the political game in front of the international community, pretending to distance himself from the spent politician Aleksandar Vučić, Knežević becomes the spokesperson of the Serbian president. However, as Music points out – both Mandić and Knežević support the same imperial Great Serbian project.
“You shouldn’t mix frogs and toads. It’s one thing to move away from a spent politician who is at the end of his political journey, to move away from a failed political brand. It would be another – to move away from the project. None of them move away from the project, regardless of different styles, tones, sentiments. And that project is: a permanent, non-imperial interest of the deep state in the neighboring country towards Montenegro,” Musicić told Television E.
Instructions from Belgrade
In order to strive towards that common goal, Knežević was suggested from Belgrade not to engage in open criticism and confrontation with Andrija Mandić.
But also that he does not shy away from cooperation with Mandić’s loyal political soldiers, such as, for example, Dario Vraneš, the first man of Pljevlja, who does not really want to participate in Mandić’s game of flirting with the West.
Serbian ambassador Nebojša Rodić, former head of the Serbian Security and Information Agency, played a significant role in connecting Knežević and Vraneš, according to the sources of Television E from the National Security Agency.
Current actions are pushing Milan Knežević towards the radical right-wing political spectrum, and it is estimated that the harsh Serbian rhetoric could encourage smaller parties with a Serbian sign, which do not have the possibility of reaching the census, to become part of Knežević’s Democratic People’s Party.
But this does not mean that the leader of the DNP, Milan Knežević, took a different path compared to the leader of the New Serbian Democracy, Andrija Mandić. On the contrary, it is just a new strategy to achieve the same Greater Serbian goal.
