Montenegrin municipalities should not organize celebrations of other countries' holidays, even if they are also holidays of some national communities, because that is against the law.
This was assessed by the interlocutors of "Vijesti", commenting on the fact that some local governments organize ceremonies on this occasion or support organizations that do so.
The last example is the decision of the leader of Pljevlja Daria Vraneš (New Serbian Democracy) to organize a ceremony in that city last night on the occasion of the Day of Serbian Statehood - Sretenje. On the other hand, the municipalities of Tuzi and Ulcinj have been organizing or participating in the organization of events to mark the Albanian national holiday - the Day of the Albanian Flag - for years.
Unlike Sretenje, which is a national holiday of Serbia, Day of the Albanian Flag is also a holiday of the Albanian national minority in Montenegro. That decision was made by the National Council of Albanians.
Lawyer Boris Marić says that municipalities cannot organize celebrations of other countries' holidays, even though they are also holidays of minority communities, without entering the zone of rights abuse.
"Manifestations of this type are related to the realization of the rights of certain ethnic or minority communities, and cannot be transposed to local self-government units as a whole," he pointed out to "Vijesti".
Marić states that Article 21 of the Law on Minority Rights and Freedoms provides "both the basis of the right and the framework within which that right moves". He says that in that article it is precisely stated that "minority peoples and other minority national communities and their members have the right to commemorate important dates, events and personalities from their tradition and history".
"However, this means that it is organized by associations, unions, communities, councils and similar organizational structures of those communities, and not by local governments. All local self-governments in Montenegro are multi-ethnic, multi-confessional, and this fact must be especially respected in civil society as a constitutional category and obligation," he said.
The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights indirectly told "Vijesta" that municipalities cannot organize holidays in other countries. However, that department, which he heads Fatmir Đeka, did not specify whether administrations are allowed to organize celebrations of those holidays if they are celebrated by minority peoples and communities.
It is explained that, in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 1 of the Law on Minority Rights and Freedoms, minority peoples and other minority national communities and their members have the right to express, preserve, develop, transmit and publicly manifest their national, ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity, as part of their tradition.
"The organization of celebrations on the occasion of the holiday in other countries can be organized by representatives of foreign representative offices based in Montenegro, organizations or societies that carry out their international activities within the framework of existing legal frameworks," the answer reads.
Milica Bulatović from the NGO Action for Human Rights (HRA), indicates that municipal leaders are obliged to perform their functions legally and in the common interest of all citizens.
"The Municipality of Pljevlja, according to its Statute, celebrates only the Day of the Municipality, and according to the Law on State and Other Holidays - five precisely specified state holidays, as well as New Year and May Day. Nor does the Law on Minority Peoples stipulate that a minority people have the right to celebrate a holiday of another country, but that they can only exercise their national, ethnic and other affiliations within the limits of the Constitution and the law. Officially, therefore, a municipality in Montenegro should not organize the celebration of the statehood day of another country, that is, act contrary to Art. 1 paragraph 1 of the Law on State and Other Holidays", she told "Vijesti".
Bulatović adds that the coalition government in Pljevlje is expected to prevent the official celebration of the statehood of another country, "in order to advance Montenegro on the path of consolidating the rule of law."
The partners warned Vraneš
The announcement of the ceremony in Pljevlja caused stormy reactions from part of the public and the opposition at the local and state level. Yesterday, the Europe Now Movement (PES) and the Democrats, the main coalition partners of the alliance "For the Future of Pljevlja" (New Serbian Democracy and the Democratic People's Party) reacted.
They said that the Municipality of Pljevlja does not have the authority to celebrate the holidays of other countries, not even "fraternal, neighboring and dear Serbia".
PES from Pljeval warned that the decision of Vraneš to organize the celebration of another state's holiday threatens to cause a serious crisis of the local government. They stated that since the Municipality of Pljevlja does not have the authority to celebrate the holidays of other countries, they expect Vraneš to respect that principle and legal obligation.
"As someone who is the mayor of Pljevlja, he has the obligation to focus on solving the accumulated local problems in our city, and to stop creating unnecessary crises and tensions with the purpose of making petty political points," said PES.
They remind that this is another in a series of decisions that the first man of Pljevlja makes without consulting the coalition partners.
"The arbitrariness of the President of the Municipality to a large extent deviates from what his political party does at the state level, which shows that he does not even respect the policy of the entity he currently represents. Therefore, if these individual departures continue, it is logical that all the consequences for the political crisis in Pljevlja will be borne by the one who thinks he can rule alone, without cooperation with other coalition partners", PES warned.
The Pljeval committee of the Democrats said that they were not consulted in connection with the organization of the ceremony on the occasion of the 220th anniversary of the First Serbian Uprising and the 189th anniversary of the promulgation of the Sretenji Constitution.
"We were informed about the event by the invitation of the President of the Municipality and information from the media," announced the Democrats.
They remind that Pljevlja is a "multinational and multicultural environment in principle", saying that the marking of dates from the history and cultural heritage of all peoples living in the municipality must be done exclusively with respect for the Constitution, respect for proportionality and balance in the spending of public money in the part of cultural events.
"Any decision that divides the citizens of Pljevlja is not good. That is why it is important to reach the best and most optimal solutions through broader consultations... In accordance with that, committed to the coalition agreement and the special agreement concluded by the Democratic and PES aldermen's clubs, we insist on a prior agreement regarding all issues that may cause divisions, public reaction, dissatisfaction, and especially issues of proportionate capital investment, social policy measures, personnel policy...", they stated.
Democrats and PES recently signed an agreement on joint action. These two parties have eight councilors in the local parliament, and without their support the government in Pljevlja would not be able to function.
Vraneš: It's as if someone is still bothered by everything Serbian
Dario Vraneš told Portal RTCG yesterday that many nations cherish traditions and respect their ancestors who freed them from various occupiers.
"The Academy is on the occasion of the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising, in which tens and hundreds of our ancestors from the Pljeval region participated. There is no family in the Pljeval region from which someone did not start the Karađorđe uprising. I do not understand the understanding of colleagues from PES, why they are irritated by the academy on the occasion of a nationwide uprising of our ancestors. It's like you're condemning the academy because of Victory Day over fascism," said Vraneš.
He also said that "unfortunately, it seems that someone in Montenegro is still bothered by the fact that he is Serbian".
"If they don't mind the celebration of Halloween, various new years, I don't know what the problem is when the majority of Serbian people in Pljevlja celebrate their ancestors," added Vraneš.
Sekulović: The majority of Serbs perceive Montenegro as their only state
Former Interior Minister Sergej Sekulović said yesterday in "Colors of the Morning" on "TV Vijesti" that Montenegro is struggling with whether it will stabilize itself as a country, build institutions, be a healthy inclusive society. He adds that he is concerned that the behavior of Vraneš "introduces a disintegrating element into the whole story".
"The fact is that a number of Montenegrin citizens feel that Serbia is their home country, but it is bad that this message is clearly sent through the institutions. But I deeply believe that the majority of the Serbian people perceive Montenegro as their only country, and in that sense there is no need to celebrate dates in that way, but other countries. Private - yes, in certain other forms - yes, this is a free country. However, officially our only country is Montenegro", he said.
The Democrats condemned the insulting of the "Vijesti" journalist.
Democrats appealed to all public employees to respect journalists, the media and the journalistic profession.
"We condemn every public statement aimed at insulting and humiliating journalists in Montenegro," they said.
They said this after Vraneš on Tuesday, instead of answering the question of how much money from the budget will be allocated for the maintenance of the ceremonial academy, sent a message to the "Vijesti" journalist in which he insulted him and humiliated the journalistic profession.
"When I hire these 31, I will let you know," Vraneš wrote with a smiley face in a message on Viber, alluding to the text that the "Vijesti" journalist recently published about the intention of the Municipality of Pljevlja to hire 31 new employees this year.
When the journalist stated that he was only quoting the personnel plan of the Municipality of Pljevlja signed by Vraneš, the President of the Municipality sent a smiley with the message: "Get an honorable job, don't be a fool."
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