Miloš Vučević, the president of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), launched a biting diplomatic broadside against both the European Union and Montenegro on Wednesday evening.
Vučević’s public reaction follows a landmark verdict by the Basic Court in Podgorica, which rejected a defamation lawsuit brought by President Aleksandar Vučić’s brother, Andrej, against the Montenegrin daily Vijesti. The court formally ruled that publishing leaked Sky ECC encrypted communications regarding the younger Vučić was a matter of legitimate public interest.
Calling Out the European Union’s “Fairytale”
Taking to social media platform X, Vučević questioned whether the EU would continue to praise Podgorica’s judicial reforms in light of a verdict that the Serbian ruling establishment views as inherently biased and politically motivated.
[THE SNS LEADERSHIP'S COUNTER-ATTACK]
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▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE REgIME'S STANCE: Asserts that the judicial verdict was │
│ predetermined simply because the plaintiff is the Serbian │
│ President's brother. │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ THE GEOPOLITICAL JAB: Dismisses Montenegro's Western │
│ aspirations, calling its "independent judiciary" a total │
│ myth tolerated by Brussels. │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Miloš Vučević on the Verdict: “Will the European Union continue to treat the Montenegrin judiciary as independent even after this ruling against Andrej Vučić? Or are verdicts against the President’s brother simply a given? Just because he is the President’s brother. We have become well accustomed to this.”
The party leader added that Belgrade would treat the bilateral relationship “accordingly,” mockingly stating, “No one is going to sell us fairytales about an independent judiciary in a country that boasts it will soon become an EU member state.”
The Financial Shock of the Judgement
The first-instance ruling delivered by Judge Jelena Anđelić went far beyond a simple dismissal of Andrej Vučić’s €5,000 defamation claim. The court systematically dismantled the legal strategy deployed by the President’s brother:
[THE FINANCIAL & LEGAL RESULTS]
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┌─────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
THE FINES LEVIED: THE REJECTED DEMANDS:
• Andrej Vučić was ordered to pay €3,403.12 • The court completely blocked the
directly to *Vijesti* and its journalists to regime's attempts to force *Vijesti* to
cover their extensive legal defense costs. scrub the infamous investigative text
from its digital archives permanently.
The article at the heart of the legal battle—published on January 23, 2024, under the headline “Zvonko and Andrej Celebrated a Billion…”—detailed decrypted messages from fugitive cartel figures claiming that Andrej Vučić and blacklisted Kosovo businessman Zvonko Veselinović were celebrating their first joint billion euros generated through shadow networks.
Judicial Divergence Across Borders
Vučević’s fierce defense highlights a growing systemic rift between the legal environments of Belgrade and Podgorica.
While the Montenegrin judiciary used the trial to establish that Andrej Vučić is an active member of the SNS Executive Board who must legally tolerate aggressive investigative journalism, the Serbian domestic legal apparatus continues to shield him from scrutiny.
[THE REGIONAL RULE OF LAW SPLIT]
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┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
MONTENEGRO (Judicial Activism) SERBIA (State Protection)
• Judges use verified party registries to • Top prosecutors keep international
classify state actors as public officials Sky ECC intelligence packets securely
subject to open press evaluation. sheltered from domestic review.
By directly tying Podgorica’s judicial independence to its ongoing EU accession timeline, the SNS leadership is signaling that any regional accountability mechanisms targeting the Vučić family will be met with immediate diplomatic friction from Belgrade.
