Parties that have been formed in Montenegro in recent years have the word "European" in their name, which, according to the "Vijesti" interlocutor, indicates their attempt to attract as many people as possible and mobilize the electorate in order to change the balance of power on the political scene.
Until the emergence of the Europe Now Movement (PES), which with its coalition partners formed the government after the elections last year, the prefix "socialist" or "social-democratic" dominated the names of parties in Montenegro. After the PES of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić was formed in June 2022, the Montenegrin European Party (CEP) was founded in November last year, headed by historian Novak Adžić.
Former prime minister and former high-ranking official of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Duško Marković introduced the Party of European Progress (SEP) at the end of June, and at the beginning of July the European Alliance was founded - a supra-party platform consisting of the Social Democrats (SD), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the Liberal Party (LP) as well as non-party associations and individuals.
Civic activist Stefan Đukić believes that the "European" character of newly created subjects on the Montenegrin political scene shows more lack of imagination - an attempt by politicians to "catch" some term with which to present themselves in public.
"Just as it was once important to preserve the socialist past and the revolution, so today it is important to have a European perspective," Đukić told "Vijesta".
Teaching assistant at the Faculty of Political Sciences (FPN) in Podgorica, Nemanja Stankov, told "Vijesta" that the "European" sign is not a sufficient political and programmatic characteristic that would separate newly formed parties from other parties, because all parties in Montenegro are nominally pro-European and they strongly support the process of integration into the European Union (EU).
He explains that the emergence of parties is not a novelty on the domestic scene, but that the recognition of the SEP and the European Union at this moment is primarily related to people, not party names or policies.
"Even during the rule of the DPS, political parties in the opposition appeared and disappeared in almost every election cycle, and it was not an exception that the formed parties automatically had coalition potential to enter the governing structures. And this last wave of party formation is based on that background", assesses the interlocutor.
Đukić says that the "European" sign is a trend, but not an overly recent one.
"It has been going like this for some time, in the end the ruling party PES also has this 'Europe', and this only shows the state and outlook of the parties both today and in the past. When they were called socialist, they were neither overly socialist, nor social-democratic, nor are they particularly European today, it's just a 'catch-all' term, which sounds progressive to everyone", assesses the interlocutor.
DPS is the successor of the Union of Communists of Montenegro, and after the split in that party in 1997, the Socialist People's Party (SNP) emerged from it. The split occurred because then Prime Minister Milo Đukanović decided to distance himself from Slobodan Milošević's pro-Serbian policy and turned to the West. The then President of Montenegro, Momir Bulatović, did not agree with that, so he formed the SNP with his supporters, which was the strongest opposition party for a long time.
DPS, in a coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the extraordinary elections in March 2009, appeared under the name "European Montenegro", emphasizing the European path of Montenegro as a priority.
"Socialist" or "social-democratic" prefix dominated the names of parties in Montenegro for decades.
The Social Democratic Party was created in 1993 by the unification of the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party of Reformists, and in 2015 a part of the members and officials left the SDP and founded the Social Democrats. In 2019, the former official of the SNP, Snežana Jonica, formed the Socialists of Montenegro.
The term "European" is the most neutral
Asked if he thinks that certain "un-European" moves of the current government, such as putting in the parliamentary procedure the Resolution on Genocide in the Jasenovac, Dachau and Mauthausen camp system - which additionally "strained" relations with Croatia, had an influence on the appointment of the SEP and the European of the alliance, Đukić replies that he thinks not, but that "European" is the most neutral term. The resolution on Jasenovac, on the initiative of the head of the parliament Andrije Mandić, was put into the parliamentary procedure by the parliamentary majority in mid-May, and it was adopted at the end of June, with amendments that added Dachau and Mauthausen camps to Jasenovac.
Đukić explains that the term "European" is the most neutral in the sense that (the parties) think that they can attract the most people by calling themselves that, and most likely they will not turn anyone away.
"Whatever the manner of this current government is, it did not affect their appointment," Djukic said.
Stankov says that these parties symbolically, with their names, signal to the electorate that their key political commitment is strictly related to the integration process, and that their external political orientation is towards Western partners.
"In the opposition bloc, the new parties will try to mobilize the electorate in order to change the balance of power. The problem here is that all new parties are fighting for voters within their bloc, positional or oppositional, with little potential to bridge differences in a divided electorate or coalition logic between parties. This is a constant of Montenegrin politics and I am not sure that it will not be so in the future," he adds.
He says that the European Union in one part deviates from the template, because it is not created as a completely new party.
He states that these are parties that are in a free fall, in the context of electoral support in the previous few election cycles, and are trying to secure sufficient support for parliamentary status by joining forces.
A constant since the 90s
The head of the parliamentary group and the vice-president of the SD Boris Mugoša told "Vijesta" that the European character of the parties that are part of the European Union is indisputable and has been a constant since the 90s of the last century.
"Based on the values, principles and vision of the Union of Reform Forces of Montenegro from the 90s, our country restored its independence and became a member of the NATO alliance. "We believe that on the basis of the fundamental values and conceptual principles of the supra-party European Union, Montenegro will become the first and next member of the EU," says Mugoša.
The interlocutor says that, in the most demanding phase of Montenegro's accession to the EU, which, he says, entails systemic, i.e. structural reforms, a broad European alliance of all social segments "who truly want a progressive, emancipated and prosperous Montenegro as the first and next member of the EU" is necessary.
Miloš Bešić, a professor at the FPN in Belgrade, recently, in a guest appearance on the show "Načisto" on Television Vijesti, said that he thinks that the European Union should not have removed the prefix "social-democratic" from the name.
"That should not have been left out. You invest a lot in the brand, and the name is an integral part of the brand. They shouldn't have lost that prefix, I think a mistake was made there," he said.
Bešić believes that the problem is creating a new brand, so that people identify with the new name.
"In a situation where the degree of political interest is decreasing, you cannot refer to some synchronic foundations on which you rest...", said Bešić.
The alliance of the three parties was announced earlier this year, and they participated together in the extraordinary local elections in Budva that took place in May. The SD-SDP-LP coalition won one mandate on that occasion.
"New era of European parties"
Dragoljub Bulatović, a member of the SEP Initiative Committee and former head of Duško Marković's cabinet, told "Vijesta" that he believes that the establishment of parties with a "European" prefix is not in line with the political or any other trend.
He points out that, although such party appointments may remind of the time when socialist or social-democratic doctrines were established, he would be more inclined to say "that this is a new era for Montenegro in every sense of the word".
"We are living in a new time in which we really need to consistently prepare for the European social system, which is actually a democratic and economic order with different civilizational origins from the previous ones. I appreciate that the 'European' in the name of the parties is a determinant for the system of values to which Montenegro, as an old European country, belonged, and to which it naturally aspires," says Bulatović.
He points out that, in the SEP, the terms "European" and "progress" include what today's Montenegro sees as a "necessary need", and which, according to him, it has not received as a state and social achievement for some time.
"It is European and progressive from our political vision when you decide sovereignly about your internal needs, when you solve open issues through dialogue, when development and a better standard represent the priorities of state policy, and the productivity of the economy and the services that the state provides to citizens are at the top of the government's priorities," he points out. interlocutor.
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