Monument to the Chetnik butcher erected with the “accompaniment” of SOC priests Metodije and Mijajlo and with the coordination of Marko Parezanović “Markus”

Inactivity of Montenegrin police, the special engagement of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the involvement of Serbia’s BIA - these were the key reasons why the installation of a monument to Chetnik villain Pavle Đurišić was smoothly and with no problem organized on August 7 in Gornje Zaostro.

Available information from several security sources indicates that the activities around the erection of Đurišić’s monument were carried out under direct instructions from the BIA, which drafted a comprehensive plan of action for subversive operations on Montenegrin territory.

PRIEST SUPPORT

The role of the Serbian Orthodox Church priest was particularly significant. Aside from Metropolitan Metodije Ostojić - who spoke at the unveiling and consecrated the monument to a war criminal responsible for the death of at least 10,000 Muslim women, the elderly, and children - an active role belonged to priest Mijajlo Backović.

According to information by Television E, several of those present in Gornje Zaostro who attacked photojournalists from Pobjeda and Vijesti were trusted people of priest Backović, a former Serbian paratrooper to whom Belgrade knew how to entrust responsible affairs.

By the way, former member of Serbia’s 63rd Paratrooper unit, Mijajlo Backović, is the key figure behind the Serbian Orthodox youth brotherhood „St. Panteleimon“, the first of its kind, founded in Montenegro, on Miholjska Isthmus. Backović is also known for his role in supporting his friend, lawyer Dejan Vukšić, and his appointment as president of the Municipality Assembly of Kotor, which was made at the suggestion of Andrija Mandić’s coalition.

Later, Vukšić will become the head of the National Security Agency, and today serves as an advisor to President Jakov Milatović.

Yet, priest Backović to the broader public is perhaps best known for his peculiar friendship with Serbian starlet Soraja Vučetić.

This is, however, only part of his rather unusual military-clerical biography.

„Priest Backović also appears as an organizer of certain „Orthodox youth brotherhoods“; takes care of styling: half military uniform, half priestly garb. In recent years, he turned Miholjska

Isthmus into a „paramilitary“ polygon for „prayer gatherings“ dedicated to Mother Russia and Serbia. Serbian and Russian officers also gather there. Also, Backović is a recipient of the award of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation...“

This excerpt was published back in 2022 by investigative journalist Vladimir Jovanović on Antena M.

And this is only a small part of the background behind the operation to erect a monument to the Chetnik butcher in the village of Gornje Zaostro.

“MARKUS” LIKES TO BE INFORMED

According to several sources of Television E from the security sector, the action of erecting a monument to Pavlo Đurišić - carried out by priests of the Serbian Church - was coordinated by the Security Information Agency (BIA) head for Montenegro, Marko Parezanović, through his operatives from Berane, Šavnik, Danilovgrad, and Podgorica.

Aside from managing operations in Montenegro, Parezanović is known in security circles for his very close ties with Russia’s Federal Security Service FSB, which maintains a powerful influence network in both Serbia and Montenegro as key zones of Kremlin interest. According to Television E’s sources, Parezanović facilitates the connection between Serbian and Russian intelligence services in Montenegro.

A recent investigation by Serbian investigative outlet Medias has also tied Parezanović to organized crime.

An investigation by KRIK revealed the connection of former Interior Minister of Serbia, Nebojša Stefanović, to organized crime. In those findings, a powerful figure within Serbia’s institutions was also mentioned, BIA chief Marko Parezanović, in “Sky” encrypted messages referred to as “Markus.” According to the investigation, “Markus”, i.e., Parezanović, was expected to help exert pressure on Court of Appeal judge, Duško Milenković, so that convicted „drug boss“ Darko Šarić would receive a reduced sentence.

HOW THE SECURITY INFORMATION AGENCY (BIA) PLAN FAILED

Sources from Television E stress that the BIA’s primary objective was to stoke tensions between the pro-Montenegrin and pro-Serbian blocs in Montenegro.

Above all, they expected a fierce reaction from sovereignist parties such as DPS and the European Alliance, along with certain groups that Serbian security services, but also the politicians of Serbian parties in Montenegro, label them as “Komita extremists.” Such turmoil in Montenegro would have suited Aleksandar Vučić, who is battling student and civic rebellion in Serbia.

A turbulent political situation in Montenegro would have eased Vučić’s own position, because the focus of the international community would shift away from rebellion in Serbia to Montenegro’s political scene.

But the plan was not realized as expected.

Montenegrin operatives reported to NSA leadership that the reaction in Herceg Novi during the Chetnik commemoration staged by „Crvena Zvezda“ fans at Kanli Kula disappointed the organizers erecting the monument of Pavle Đurišić. Especially the public indignation of certain prominent supporters of the Novska Lista, which is the backbone of local power on the Montenegrin coast - says the interlocutor to Portal ETV and Television E from the security sector.

The source also explained why there was no reaction from the leaders of Serbian parties that rule the parliamentary majority. According to the operative, the silence of the President of the Parliament, Andrija Mandić, and MP Milan Knežević after the order to remove Đurišić’s monument was the result of a prior agreement with Prime Minister, Milojko Spajić.

It was agreed that leaders of the ruling parliamentary majority would act in sync so as not to endanger Montenegro’s European path. Such restrained behavior by Mandić and Knežević was meant to reassure Europeans that they would not, over a monument to Pavle Đurišić, jeopardize the survival of the Government they participate in - the source said.

WHEN MONTENEGRIN SECURITY “SLEEPS”

Ten days after the monument to Pavle Đurišić was erected, it remains unclear how Montenegrin police and security services were surprised by the operation in Gornje Zaostro.

It is certain that the statue of the war criminal Đurišić entered Montenegro via a means of transport that neither the border police nor the Customs Administration inspected, or didn’t want to.

It is, however, impossible to swallow the official version that neither the Commander of the Security Department, Željko Babović, nor the Chief of the Regional Police Center, Haris Đurđević, knew about the installation of the monument in Gornji Zaostro and did not inform their superiors. It is equally strange, to say the least, that the head of the NSA for the north had no information, not even indirectly, to pass on to headquarters in Podgorica.

Was this deliberate obstruction, or the incompetence of people within the security sector? This is something Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović, Police Directorate chief Lazar Šćepanović, and NSA director Ivica Janović should address.

Some meaningful answers should be heard, but it is already clear that the leaders of the security sector prefer to remain silent. And when there is nothing sensible to say, perhaps silence is, indeed, the best response.