Montenegro continues to face foreign influences that undermine its democratic processes and integration into the European Union (EU), it was announced at the conference of the Digital Forensic Center (DFC), and it was said that the fight against these influences requires broad cooperation.
DFC analyst Marko Banović said that in a time when information manipulation, historical revisionism and nationalist policies serve as key tools of foreign actors in an attempt to shape political decisions and the direction of the state, Montenegro has shown a special vulnerability to hybrid threats.
Those attacks, he said, undermine its democratic development, civic character and pro-Western orientation.
"Unfortunately, the volume and frequency of disinformation narratives have become so great that many of them have already been accepted in our society," said Banović.
He said that the role of the DFC in uncovering these processes is extremely important, emphasizing that the Center works tirelessly to suppress hybrid activities that threaten the democratization and stability of Montenegrin society through analysis, studies, research, education and monitoring.
According to Banović, one of the most important mechanisms in the fight against malignant influences is education, especially for young people.
"Through our workshops and educational programs, we strengthen media literacy and critical thinking, because this is the basis for building a resilient and aware society. By investing in education, we strengthen not only individual resistance to manipulations, but also the collective spirit of democratic and civil Montenegro," Banović pointed out.
He said that the situation related to foreign influence is further contributed to by the passivity of certain state institutions, as well as the ignoring and relativization of the problem of foreign interference by political elites.
Banović said that, despite the challenges, pressures and discrediting attempts to which they are often exposed, DFC remains dedicated to its goal.
"And that goal is clear - the preservation of democratic values, civil society and the pro-Western orientation of Montenegro," said Banović.
Head of the Department of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of the United States of America in Montenegro, Steven Drakeorn said that the DFC plays an important role in preserving Montenegro's democratic future and strengthening its democratic institutions in the fight against malignant foreign influences.
He said that Montenegro continues to face foreign influences that undermine its democratic processes and integration into the EU.
"From campaigns, disinformation, to false narratives, Russia-linked actors are trying to revise history and polarize the community and reinforce divisions in society. They use sophisticated tools along the way, including social networks, digital tools, to spread mistrust," Drakeorn said.
He said that in this year's report, the DFC emphasized Serbia's influence, which is often linked to Russia's, and which is exerted on the Montenegrin political and social landscape.
Drejkor also said that the document says that this influence is not accidental, but that it is a calculated geopolitical strategy that should revise historical and cultural ties, undermining Montenegrin independence.
He stated that it works through a wide range of tactics – from revising history, to using media channels, and added that the efforts of the DFC were crucial in resisting those malign influences, but that the DFC cannot succeed alone.
"This requires strategic, cross-sectoral support and approach, as well as legal mechanisms that will make it illegal to spread fake news and disinformation. The key recommendation for Montenegro is to strengthen the institutional framework," said Drajkor
He reiterated that the fight against foreign influences requires broad cooperation between state institutions, the media, civil society and international partners.
"Let's remain united in the campaign against misinformation and old influences and dedicated to the Euro-Atlantic path of Montenegro as a protection mechanism for its democratic future. The people of Montenegro chose that path, and we are in a position to make sure that no foreign actors can disrupt that vision of the citizens," Drajkorn pointed out.
The Executive Director of the Center for Civic Education Daliborka Uljarević said on the panel "Hidden influence and visible consequences - foreign interference in Montenegro" that after the change of government in Montenegro four years ago in the extraordinary parliamentary elections, there were no fundamental changes.
"We got replacements and they were quite unconvincing. So today, everything that was bad during the rule of the previous regime is reinforced, in some cases even more aggressive, more visible," said Uljarević.
She said that she is additionally concerned that society has not found enough ways and strength to resist those changes that have come in abundance, which she does not consider progressive.
"I'm talking about ethno-nationalism, clericalism, what foreign influences have brought us. "There is no doubt, because empirical research shows that the majority of citizens of Montenegro feel dissatisfaction with the changes," said Uljarević.
Speaking about foreign influences, Uljarević pointed out that she sees the continuous growth of the influence of Serbia and Russia, and that there are fewer and fewer citizens who believe that the EU is the main foreign policy pillar of Montenegro.
She said that the vision of Montenegro's entry into the EU is being systematically undermined and that even the EU is of no help to the civic-oriented part of Montenegro.
"During the process of obtaining the IBAR, the criteria were lowered to an unacceptable level, and all of us who sincerely advocate for the Europeanization of Montenegro do not see that Montenegro became a new society the day after we received the IBAR. "It demonstrates an extreme lack of seriousness on the part of the authorities," said Uljarević.
When asked to what extent foreign influence is present in Montenegro in the right spheres, Uljarević said that no adequate mapping of foreign malignant influence has been done, but that education plays a key role and that it is not surprising that the parties of the Democratic Front (DF) insisted on getting Department of Education.
She said that foreign interference was significantly relativized with the entry of the DF into power and added that in the last four years, attempts have been made to systematically change the "fabric of Montenegrin society".
"Belgrade may have given up the view that it can assimilate Montenegro, but it has never changed its view of Montenegro as a temporarily confiscated territory, with the fact that it is now more satisfied because it has an established political authority on that territory, and I would say cultural and educational authority as well", stated Uljarević.
Historian Miloš Vukanović said that there is no society in the world that is not susceptible to the manipulation of historical data, but that some have strong institutions and developed critical awareness that suppress certain manipulations.
"We live and are under the influence of that model that flows from Belgrade to Montenegro, which was developed in the early 1990s, where Montenegro is an interesting, cultural and every other zone of Belgrade's influence," said Vukanović.
He said that there is a change in approach compared to the 90s, when it was considered that Montenegro fully belonged to the Serbian ethnic and cultural area, and yet the authorities in Belgrade understood that it was impossible to assimilate Montenegro, even if not completely.
"Thus, what we are seeing now, which has intensified in the last four years, is the manipulation of historical facts that should create a certain space in Montenegro that will be more loyal to Belgrade than to Podgorica and divide the ideas on which Montenegrin society was built," he said. is Vukanović.
As he added, all the historical manipulations in the last four years are aimed at breaking down the "connective links" between society and making Montenegro into small feudal visits and essentially making Montenegro a dysfunctional state.
Vukanović said that there is no segment of Montenegrin history or event that is not a target of revisionism and misinformation.
"I don't think it's a problem as much as the systematic destruction of the Montenegrin sacred Orthodox cultural treasure that has been happening for three decades, which represents the legacy and key evidence of the multi-layered cultural influences that created the Montenegrin nation, the Montenegrin community, everything that makes it a separate state," he said. Vukanović.
Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, Dinko Gruhonjić, said that the problem is that the regime of Aleksandar Vučič no longer has natural enemies in Serbia, and that there is no or weak pressure on him from the West.
"The ideology of the Vučić regime is to feed on enemies. If you don't have natural enemies, then you have internal enemies on duty - the media, civil society, the academic community," Gruhonjić said, adding that it resembles the regime of Russian President Vladamir Putin.
Gruhonjić said that the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) is the main political player in Serbia and that, wherever the "Serbian world" has mini-imperialisms, it spreads them through the SPC - in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and even in Kosovo.
DFC analyst, Jelena Danilović, presented a publication summarizing everything that the DFC team has done in the past 12 months.
Bonus video:
