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Italian Prosecutors Target Montenegro Leaders on Smuggling

25 06 2007  Podgorica _ Opposition politicians in Montenegro have expressed concern over accusations that their former prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, was a boss of an international tobacco mafia and may face possible trial in Italy.

Italian prosecutors have recently finished an investigation on cigarette smuggling in 1990s and have linked Djukanovic and other prominent figures to organized crime, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Friday.

Djukanovic, the former minister of finance Miroslav Ivanisevic, and other local businessmen are suspected of running a “mafia organisation for cigarette smuggling and money laundering,” ANSA reported.

“Montenegro may lose a lot with this case”, the opposition leader, Nebojsa Medojevic, told Balkan Insight on Monday. “It can stop the country’s European integration.”

He accused Montenegrin authorities of being “unconscious” of the seriousness of the charges, warning that they are not a unilateral action of Italy, but are supported by the EU and the US.

According to the Italian news agency, ANSA, Montenegro’s politicians were among 13 figures accused of running a cigarette-smuggling racket that had deprived the Italian authorities of millions of euros in lost duties and revenue.

The architect of the country’s independence from Serbia, Milo Djukanovic, 46, was named as an alleged leader of this mafia organization.

Djukanovic has repeatedly denied he was involved in tobacco smuggling.

The Italian news agency said the smuggling ring’s bank account had been traced to Cyprus, where about 500 million euros had been deposited, part of which was allegedly used as investments in Montenegro.

The Adriatic republic’s ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, DSP, led by Djukanovic, have rejected the Italian accusations, calling them “a political setup without serious evidence”.

The DPS’s senior official, Miodrag Vukovic, told Balkan Insight he was convinced the allegations won’t cause any serious shake-ups in the country, as he does not expect the Italian courts to press charges against Djukanovic. “It was not smuggling but legal transit”, Vukovic said of the tobacco trade.