Montenegro – A Divided Country

By Slaviša Batko Milačić 

On May 21, 2006, Montenegro held a referendum in which 55.5% of voters supported the independence of the small former Yugoslav republic, effectively ending nearly a century of union with Serbia.

On June 3, 2006, Montenegro formally declared independence, after the Parliament, by a majority vote, accepted the results of the referendum held on May 21. According to official results, the turnout for the referendum was 85.5%, or 419,240 people. About 55.5% of the eligible voters, or 230,661 people, voted in favor of independence, and 185,002, or 44.5%, voted against. The large ethnic Serbian community, which makes up about 30% of the population, voted overwhelmingly against separation – and these divisions over independence endure to this day.

During  15 years, the previous government struggled to protect Montenegro and its independence from imaginary external and internal enemies. Thanks to this permanent struggle, Montenegro has become the private property of the leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists Milo Djukanovic, his family, business associates and individuals from the underworld. Montenegro is a captive state and a country of endemic corruption. This has led the country to the abyss and the overall disastrous consequences we face.

In economic terms, the previous government did not value the benefits of a small social and economic system. Since 2006, the biggest robbery and destruction of state resources took place, from which the current president of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic and his associates have benefited enormously. Today, Montenegro is economically devastated.

Since independence, the previous government perceived half of the population as enemies of Montenegro. On this basis, discrimination was carried out against Serbs and Montenegrins who support the Serbian Orthodox Church. The enemy of Montenegro was anyone who was considered a political opponent of the government at the time. Among these enemies were the opposition and numerous journalists, media, some NGOs, independent intellectuals and non-partisan figures from the ranks of minorities.

The absolute majority of Montenegrin analysts expected that in the future the absolute majority of citizens would be loyal to the independent Montenegro, and that ethnic Montenegrins would constitute more than half of the population. However, the situation is completely different. Montenegro today is a deeply divided state. Montenegrin Serbs still do not accept the results of the referendum. They believe and publicly emphasize that the referendum was undemocratic with many irregularities.

According to the 2011 census, Montenegrins make up 44.98% of the population, Serbs 28.73%, Bosnians 8.65%, Albanians 4.91%, Muslims 3.31%, Roma 1.01% and Croats 0.97%. Importantly, Orthodox Christian citizens were pushed to declare themselves Montenegrins and not Serbs. The goal of the previous Montenegrin government (which ruled for 30 years) was for Montenegrins to be the absolute majority in the state, and this plan was implemented even before the separation from Serbia. According to the 2003 census, 63.49% of the population said they spoke Serbian, but the Montenegrin government decided in 2004 to rename the language Serbian. To that end, Montenegro completely changed the school curriculum. The Cyrillic alphabet is almost completely out of use, and almost all state correspondence is in the Latin alphabet, Serbian poets have been thrown out of school textbooks. Already in the 2011 census, 42.88% of the population said they speak the Serbian language.

The chairman of the Montenegrin parliamentary party URA, Dritan Abazovic, who is now deputy prime minister of Montenegro and the coordinator (head) of all security services, stated a few years ago “that it was more difficult to be a Serb in Montenegro” because of state discrimination against Serbs. It should be noted that Mr. Abazovic is an ethnic Albanian, not a Serb.

Discrimination against Serbs is best illustrated by statistics. Over the past two years, in Montenegro, on average, only 13 Serbs received state employment each year. This is 37 times less than the number of Montenegrins, as state institutions employed an average of 486 citizens claiming to be Montenegrins annually. The average number of employed Serbs is also lower in comparison with Bosnians. According to official statistics, 82.11% of ethnic Montenegrins work in public administration, and only 7% of Serbs.

All this is done with the objective that Montenegrin Serbs are no longer a significant demographic and political factor in Montenegro. Basically, Montenegrin Serbs were the main opponents of Milo Djukanovic and the Democratic Party of Socialists. It is important to note that the Democratic Party of Socialists is the dominant political party in Montenegro since the introduction of the multy – party system in 1990 until August last year. After the change of government on August 30 last year in Montenegro, the pressure on the Serbs has ceased. The democratization of the society is visible, as well as the hope of Montenegrin citizens that the economic situation in Montenegro will be better.

However, almost a year after the change of government, the division in Montenegro remains very strong. Pro-Montenegro protesters even attempted to attack the daughter of the Montenegrin prime minister while beating two soldiers. For one reason only, because they consider the new government pro-Serbian. The good thing is that the pro-Serbian forces in Montenegro are calm and passive, so there is no response to Montenegrin nationalist protests. However, if that were to change, there could be serious violence in Montenegro. However, one fact is becoming clearer to everyone – Montenegro is a divided country. Because of this, and having in mind that Montenegro is a highly centralized state, it would be better for Montenegro to implement decentralization of the state. Decentralization of Montenegro would ease ethnic tensions, and it would also open up new economic opportunities.

Author: Slavisha Batko Milacic  (Independent historian and analyst from Montenegro)

(The views expressed in this article belong  only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy or views of World Geostrategic Insights).

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