Montenegro's Justice Minister Vladimir Leposavic was wrong to question the Srebrenica genocide and he should have been more sensitive regarding the issue, Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazovic told N1 on Wednesday.

“I think he performed wrong, he had to have a greater dose of caution from that position. I understand everything, the need for additional politicization, the need for the opposition to question topics that they themselves failed to complete in their thirty-year term, I understand that they are trying to create discord, to create an incident, extremism, national hatred to protect their capital and illegally acquired property. I understand all that, but the Minister had to understand that as well,” said Abazovic.

Abazovic: I think he committed a misdemeanour

“He had to have a certain amount of sensibility, to understand that we have to present ourselves as a European option – because we promised that to the citizens.

I think he committed a misdemeanour. How the misdemeanour should have been evaluated is up to the Prime Minister who made his own decision. We will see how that will be reflected,” Abazovic stated.

Montenegro's Justice Minister Vladimir Leposavic provoked many reactions after the statement in which he relativized the Srebrenica genocide, at the Assembly session. He said he was “ready to recognise genocide” if it was “unequivocally” determined to have happened.

Does the Montenegrin Government have a common position on the issue of Srebrenica?

“The government has a common position – that we must respect the decisions of international courts, all those decisions that had to do with our country, that went through our institutions, got an international stamp and went through our institutions,” Abazovic said, adding:

“We have the Declaration on the Genocide in Srebrenica, we must adhere to it. It is a matter of principle,” Abazovic told N1.