Danijel Živković, acting president of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and a member of the Parliament of Montenegro, believes that it is necessary to enter into the formation of the Government as soon as possible, that it is wrong to deal with electoral arithmetic, but that programmatic principles are important.
"After the elections in Montenegro, there is a lot of talk about the electoral arithmetic - 41, 49 or more MPs. It is wrong to deal with numbers, because the government will be stable if it is built on the same visions and principles", said Živković at the 16th Regional Euro-Atlantic camp, REACT, which is organized by the NGO "Alfa Centra" in Žabljak.
As he pointed out, the DPS is not interested in any functions, and it does not matter to them whether they are the government or the opposition, they are only interested in the prosperity of Montenegro. Arithmetic should, according to him, be left aside, because the solution is gathering around the same principles, not functions.
"Montenegro cannot get out of this situation if there is no social consensus. The governments since 2020 have not proven themselves capable of leading the country, because if they were, they would not have been replaced. The first government lost confidence within a year, the second minority government within a hundred days.
Now we have finished the parliamentary elections, the cards are laid out on the table and we are dealing with arithmetic again", said Živković, according to the press release.
According to him, the most important questions that should be asked during the formation of the new government is whether all political entities share the view that Montenegro, as an independent and independent state, is developing on the basis of anti-fascism.
"Political pluralism is good for any society, but if you don't have a good foundation, which is anti-fascism, freedom and independence, we will never build a house. If you trade ministries and functions, it will all fail very quickly. Departments are divided and increased in vain, if you do not have common program principles based on the foundations of anti-fascism. If you have a vision that you want a prosperous and developed society, then you will work on it, and not just make a declarative commitment", says the Acting President of DPS.
He is aware that during the 30 years of DPS rule, there were things that needed to be fixed, and he knows what mistakes were made, but we should also not forget, he pointed out, all the good moves, and there were plenty of them.
He pointed out that in 2016, certain political structures in Montenegro were against joining the NATO alliance, and today everyone is in favor of European integration, although the question is whether this is really so. As he said, certain political entities do not recognize Russia's aggression, so the question is whether they can be part of the government that wants to have a Euro-Atlantic sign.
Although there has been stagnation in Montenegro in the last three years when it comes to EU negotiations, and reports from the European Commission say that at this moment Montenegro has lost the status of a credible partner of the EU, this can, he believes, quickly change if there is political wisdom
"I hope that there is enough intelligence in Montenegro, which can also be outside of politics, to finish all homework in the next two to three years and to wait for the decision, regardless of all the negative reports of the European Commission. Montenegro is still at an advantage compared to other countries in the region, but only with a political consensus. What all political subjects should gather around is the future of Montenegro in the EU," said Živković.
During the second day of REACT, as stated in the announcement, the participants had the opportunity to hear about disinformation, about the Montenegrin Army in the NATO collective defense system, as well as whether young people are interested in political participation.
Marko Banović, an analyst from the Digital Forensic Center, said that disinformation is often talked about, but that we do not fundamentally and institutionally deal with that topic, neither through the education system, nor as a society. He pointed out that misinformation affects the daily life of citizens and that it mainly refers to those topics that citizens share. Democracies have a special problem with disinformation and fake news, according to Banović, because they need to determine what constitutes censorship and violation of freedom of speech and what constitutes abuse of human rights. He pointed out that digital authoritarianism, which began to be exported and thus authoritarian countries spread their influence, is increasingly pronounced today and represents a threat to democracy and democratic processes. According to Banović, media literacy, which is the best form of combating misinformation, is not treated seriously above all by decision makers.
Želimir Pojužin, Major of the General Staff of the Army of Montenegro, spoke about the concept of security at the national and international level, elements of national security, contemporary forms of threat and the Army of Montenegro in the NATO collective defense system.
"We are developing a standardization process, which means that we accept NATO standards, reject them if they are not suitable for our size, financial capabilities or territorial organization, or apply them to the extent possible in accordance with the peculiarities of our country. NATO standards concern equipment, techniques, procedures for certain behaviors, say on the battlefield, in peacetime, but there are also standards for civilian institutions, because the country is in NATO, not only the Army is in NATO, and the army is only one segment of the country that participates", said Pojužina.
Nikola Zirojević, president of the youth of the Social Democrats, believes that the position of young people in Montenegro is unsatisfactory, and that, regardless of the increase in the level of critical thought and freedom to express dissent and rebellion, young people are not interested in politics. According to him, in the announcement, politics has become a very dirty business in the past three years, and every young man who decides to engage in politics today deserves recognition for his courage, because he must be aware that both he and his family, face various things. He recommended to young people that authority should not be tied to a position, but to a first and last name, because then it is irrelevant whether or not they will have a temporary position. He believes that the unity of all young people and all political entities is the key to improving their position, as well as that the current parliamentary convocation is a suitable ground for this because it has the largest number of young MPs.
"We need to fight for at least a part of what they fought for from the women's parliamentary club. Why don't we have quotas for young people, as well as a club of young deputies. It is easy to improve the status of the youth, but for that we need a true will and that we all work for the future of the country, and the youth are the future," said Zirojević.
He believes that the work of politicians is humane, although in Montenegro they have done everything to create the perception that doing that work is dishonest, so one of the tasks of young politicians is to change that perception and create Montenegro a place where everyone can live nicely.
According to him, it is not good for young politicians to emulate older leaders, because the political scene would be richer if each person gave their stamp.
"We are not aware of what wealth we have and how much we do not valorize that wealth, as well as how much we are our own enemies. The problem is in our heads and mentalities," said Zirojević.
Sonja Milatović, president of the DPS Youth Council, believes that a good part of young people are interested in political activism, but that there is also a group that is not interested in politics. He believes that the social crisis has awakened critical thinking among young people and that they actively perceive the political life of Montenegro, but that it is a devastating fact that young people have little faith in political leaders.
"Every young man who enters the political scene should answer to himself why he decided to engage in politics and to make an effort to make at least one thing in the community better," said Milatović.
Although the environment in Montenegro for engaging in politics is not encouraging, it must not have a discouraging effect on young people. According to her, authority within larger structures is built on results, and each person asserts himself through his work.
Although a certain number of not only the young, but also the elderly, equate political activism with political clientelism, all those who start engaging in politics for the sake of satisfying their personal appetites, Milatović believes, quickly leave it, because they do not feel comfortable in it.
For her, steadfastness is the main virtue of a politician, because you need to show that "you have a backbone, your own self and that one of you cannot pretend to be what you are not." Mentality, she believes, is the biggest stumbling block, and she would like all people to have the opportunity to work and for their only recommendation for work and progress in work to be knowledge.
The second day of REACT was also marked by the extraordinary activity of the participants, so there were many questions, and the speakers were ready to answer them all.
At this year's REACT, which began on September 27 and lasts until September 30, 50 young people from the region are participating, and lectures and panel discussions will be held by 20 lecturers.
Bonus video:
