Police used tear gas against protesters in the tourist capital of Montenegro, Budva on the Adriatic, and several portals are broadcasting.
On Wednesday, social networks of Montenegrin residents and opposition parties were filled with photos and video of clashes between citizens and law enforcement agencies in front of the Budva city administration building. A local resident, Djordje Đurasevic, was forcibly detained, according to the Interior Ministry, for assaulting a police inspector, which was not recorded on the phone records of witnesses circulated in social networks.
“Police used tear gas against protesters outside Budva Municipality. They said they did so after citizens began throwing eggs and stones at the nearby police building. Several opposition MPs have been detained”, – Vijesti reported.
Opposition authorities of the tourist capital of Montenegro have been under pressure of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) President Milo Djukanovic and its coalition partners since autumn 2019. In one of the hotels in Budva, DSS deputies held a “meeting” on June 11, joined by an independent deputy, which resulted in 17 votes out of 33 in the local representative body and elected the “new leadership” of the municipality. The current mayor did not recognize the results of the vote in the hotel.
On 17 June, the Special Counter-Terrorism Unit of the Montenegrin Police (SAJ) conducted a forceful action during which Budva Mayor Marko Tsarević of DS, the Chairman of the Assembly (Municipal Assembly) Krsto Radovic of the Democratic Montenegro Party and other members of the local opposition leadership, a total of 23 people, including members of the municipal police and city services, were detained. Tsarevic and Radovic were released on the same day. The “old” authorities in Budva, with the support of citizens, are currently attempting to enter the municipality building, roughly restrained by uniformed and plainclothes police and PSD officers.