Podgorica: DPS Seeks Removal of Mandic Over Mladic Telegram
DPS has launched a third initiative to remove Andrija Mandic as speaker of Montenegro's parliament over a condolence telegram sent to Ratko Mladic's son. It has about 25 of the 41 votes needed so far.
Podgorica is deciding for the third time in this parliamentary term whether Andrija Mandic keeps his job as speaker of Montenegro’s parliament, after the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) launched an initiative to remove him. The trigger is a condolence telegram Mandic sent to Darko Mladic, son of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, and the question reaches well beyond Montenegro’s domestic politics: how Podgorica treats the legacy of the Srebrenica genocide verdict is being weighed directly in Brussels, on the same EU path Serbia is on, so the outcome of the vote in Montenegro’s parliament will leave a mark on the whole region.
DPS leader Danijel Zivkovic announced the initiative at a press conference in parliament. He said Mandic had “crossed a line” with the telegram.
“When the speaker of Montenegro’s parliament expresses condolences over the death of a man convicted by a final verdict of genocide, we are no longer talking only about his private beliefs. We are talking about the dignity of the man who represents Montenegro’s parliament,” Zivkovic said, adding that the initiative does not target bringing down the current government, but rather the question of whether such a man can represent a state seeking membership in the European Union.
Zivkovic went further, tying the case to the very meaning of European integration.
“The European path isn’t just about closing chapters, passing laws and checking off items on the EU agenda. Europe is, above all, a system of values. You cannot speak the language of European values in Brussels and stay silent in Podgorica when the speaker of parliament pays tribute to a man convicted of genocide,” he said.
In its explanation, DPS says Mandic’s telegram relativized the crimes Mladic was convicted of by a final verdict, and it has sent the initiative to every parliamentary caucus.
Removing the speaker requires 41 votes. Based on statements so far, the initiative currently has the backing of about 25 lawmakers: the DPS caucus, the European Alliance, the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI), most likely the Civic Movement URA, and independent MP Nikola Janovic. HGI leader Adrijan Vuksanovic said his party will vote for the removal.
“That party will vote to remove the speaker of parliament,” Vuksanovic said.
The Bosniak Party (BS) adds further uncertainty. Its leader Ervin Ibrahimovic said the decision on how to vote rests with the party’s bodies, but he made the party’s own stance on Srebrenica clear.
“BS has never calculated, and never will calculate, with the truth about Srebrenica,” Ibrahimovic said.
If BS comes out in support, the number of votes for removal would climb to 31, still short of the 41-vote threshold. Even with possible backing from representatives of other minority communities in parliament, the count would most likely still fall short, which means the final word could end up resting with the Europe Now Movement, which has not yet stated a position on the DPS initiative.
This is DPS’s third attempt to remove Mandic during the current term. The first initiative was launched in March 2024, prompted by a visit from Milorad Dodik, then president of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska entity, during which the official flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was not displayed in parliament. Only 27 lawmakers voted for removal at the time, against 44, and Mandic kept his post. A second initiative followed in May 2025, launched by DPS and the Social Democrats over what they described at the time as damage to the parliament’s integrity. That attempt also failed.
Pressure on lawmakers was reinforced by the Mothers of Srebrenica association, which on August 31, 2026, called on every MP in Montenegro’s parliament to back the initiative to remove Mandic.
Serbian news outlets have previously reported that MP Boris Durakovic reported Mandic to the relevant authorities over the same telegram, while Zagreb sent a warning to Podgorica that relativizing the genocide verdict is not compatible with the European values Montenegro is building its path to the EU on.
No date has been set yet for the vote in parliament. Until then, the DPS initiative remains a matter of negotiation among the parliamentary caucuses, and its outcome will show how solid the ruling coalition in Podgorica really is when it comes to questions that touch directly on how it treats the war crimes of the 1990s, a subject that remains sensitive in Belgrade as well.
