Our identity in the EU

Identity can be viewed as both a state and a process! Why? Because its sense develops, both in a person (personal identity) and in a community (collective identity) through the continuity of events between what once was, what is now, and what we think will be!

In the relationship between Montenegro and the EU, we can see how certain conditions and values ​​have adapted and changed, while some relationships have remained unchanged, or rather, they survive thanks to social mimicry.

Although European integration (rhetorically) represents a strategic foreign policy priority of our entire political establishment, it is worth recalling that today in Montenegro we have an oxymoronic part of the political power, made up of parties that once openly denied European values. This is a very important circumstance for understanding those relations that remained unchanged during European integration, because they arose as a direct consequence of the actions of those parties that hastily and extremely suspiciously became European!

Namely, ethnic distance, xenophobia, alleged national or religious threat, manifestation of collective irrationality, constant incitement of mutual negative emotions and attitudes within regional relations, incoherent commenting when faced with the truth, as well as political and scientific persuasion about the existence of an international conspiracy against a certain nation represent constant identity problems that Brussels representatives either do not notice or do not want to criticize for the time being. These topics will determine the internal situation in Montenegro even when we become a member of the EU, while they will very certainly be a stumbling block in future regional relations. They will probably be debated in the European Parliament and they will be part of Montenegro's political identity within the EU.

It is to be expected that Montenegro's eventual membership in the EU will result in appropriate judicial and public reform, improve internal and external security, require compliance with market competitiveness rules, strengthen the principles of meritocracy and human resource development, contribute to the further development of environmental awareness and systematic monitoring of climate change, as well as somewhat dynamize social development, but it will not solve our problems that arise from our specific characteristics of social mentality. If there are those who doubt the accuracy of this statement, let them take a closer look at the post-integration experiences of Greece, Bulgaria, and even our neighbor Croatia! If we add to this the current populist trends around the world, then it is almost certain that in some understandings and actions within the EU we will be recognized both as a state and as citizens who reluctantly accept the rules of the Union's acquis and, in doing so, try to circumvent them in various ways.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Montenegro at this moment is its ongoing institutional illness, which is permanently treated by Brussels' official and unofficial interventionism. Formal, legal and personnel weaknesses in the functioning of Montenegro's institutions indicate that it is in a state of internal weakness, even though it is at the very gates of the EU.

The current situation in Montenegro, of course if we exclude the civilizational context, in its basic segments irresistibly reminds us of the situation in the Kingdom of Montenegro on the eve of World War I in 1914 - we have economic underdevelopment, tendentious social stratification, systemic corruption, transitional exhaustion (the then Montenegro was engulfed in the Balkan Wars), a firm commitment of the political authorities to closer ties with Serbia, and in the international field, the then Kingdom of Montenegro enjoyed a reputation similar to today's, which we call leadership in the process of European integration in the Western Balkans.

Due to weak sovereignty, which is confirmed by the announcements of local government leaders who do not want Independence Day celebrations, due to legitimized identity divisions encouraged by national parties and national councils, due to bureaucratic obedience and partitocracy, as well as the general normalization of inappropriate forms of behavior, today's Montenegro is very susceptible to the so-called "silent occupation" and external influences. If this state of ours persists and is expressed at the moment of our gaining full membership in the EU, Montenegro will be another small problem that Brussels will be able to solve at any time with one of its immigration policies.

Montenegro's essential determination towards a European identity, which will have a more extensive development due to global challenges in the upcoming period, can best be directed through strengthening strategic cooperation between the public and civil sectors, while special attention must be paid to education, culture, media and new economic forms - digitalization and creative industries, which should be encouraged through flexible and innovative financing models.

The European identity of Montenegro should be developed through the upbringing and education of young people, which will develop in them openness, the need for civic activism, and encourage interpersonal relationships based on ethical values.