The persistent actualization of the proposals of the coalition For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG), which are unimaginable for the European path of Montenegro, obviously aim at normalizing the absurd, in order to push through some of their wider agenda, which is currently unknown, assessed the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights rights (CEDEM) Nevenka Vuksanović, commenting on the fact that this coalition is increasingly mentioning initiatives that they are aware that they can hardly or hardly pass.
The latest such proposal is the request to urgently pass the Law on Foreign Agents, and a few months ago the announcement of the restoration of Njegoš's chapel in Lovcen.
"Obviously, they have a broader agenda, and drop by drop they reveal to us parts that become normalized over time in the public discourse, to the extent that they seem familiar to all citizens, and then at some point it will also be acceptable. What that agenda is, however, is not clear at this moment," said Vuksanović for "Vijesti".
She pointed out that the goal of this is for the resistance of the civil sector and the public to soften over time, and that it will then be easier to push that agenda.
"Such proposals move them away from their supposedly European orientation, and time and procedures will show what that orientation actually is," Vuksanović assessed.
On Wednesday, the ZBCG coalition came out with a new initiative - the urgent adoption of the Law on Foreign Agents, which will regulate the functioning of "various foreign agencies", which, they claim, are trying to influence the internal and foreign policy of the state under the guise of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
It is not clear why one of the deputies of this coalition, of which there are 13 in the parliament, does not propose such a law to the assembly, but asks that it be "passed urgently", because every member of the parliament has the right to propose laws in the assembly.
The coalition partners of ZBCG have clearly stated that they will not support such a law, and sharp reactions have also been sent from the civil sector and opposition parties.
The ZBCG, which is part of the former Democratic Front (DF) parties, announced that political organizations are obliged by law to make their finances public and that their control is carried out, and that "this is not the case with these agencies that abuse the name NGO, while their million dollar injections are injected into the budget smoothly on a regular basis". They claim that in Montenegro only because of the lack of an adequate law, there are "not one, but several NGOs that function outside and above the law", and that "those agencies subvert, lie and lead a very precise campaign for the needs of the foreign client they work for".
Vuksanović said that the ZBCG coalition made an extremely radical proposal, "which is of course modeled on totalitarian systems that enforce the law, despite their statements in the media."
The ZBCG coalition announced yesterday that the concept on which the proposal for the Law on the Registration of Foreign Agents will be based is based on the model in the USA, called the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
"The reactions of several actors, both systemic, international and from the civil sector, indicate that such a proposal will not pass, and it seems unlikely that ZBCG were not aware of this. This indicates some more serious intentions to deal with the civil sector, which will be unacceptable," Vuksanović pointed out.
Eight non-governmental organizations announced yesterday that the initiative of the coalition For the Future of Montenegro to adopt the law on foreign agents is a potential threat to human rights and the integration of Montenegro into the European Union (UN).
In the announcement of the Action for Human Rights, the Center for Democracy and Human Rights, the Center for Women's Rights, the Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations, the Center for Democratic Transition, the Media Institute, the Association of Lawyers and the Association for Responsible and Sustainable Development, it is stated that Montenegro is seriously through politics and fundamental improvement of the rule of law, peace and economic security, it must fight to preserve its future.
Those NGOs assessed that this future is also threatened by initiatives like this, which, as they said, are reminiscent of medieval announcements of witch hunts.
NGOs welcomed the decisive and urgent reaction of all other parliamentary political parties who, as they said, recognized the danger of this proposal and advocated for the defense of a free and democratic society and decisively and publicly refused to support the proposal.
They said that it is clear from the ZBCG statement that the goal of that coalition of Serbian nationalist parties in Montenegro is to declare at least the most vocal NGOs in the country as "agents of foreign influence" just because they receive donations from abroad, although this is not what the Law on the Registration of Foreign agents (FARA) in the United States of America (USA).
Another initiative was when the President of the Parliament of Montenegro and the leader of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) Andrija Mandic in July mentioned the restoration of Njegoš's votive chapel in Lovcen.
The first member of the parliament said in the Government House in Cetinje that by "nothing more being demolished, but built" in Lovcen, a message will be sent to the new generations in Montenegro that our country will be according to the measure of all its citizens and in it, exactly as in Lovcen, to be a place for everyone".
Mandić's initiative to restore Njegoš's chapel in Lovcen was strongly condemned by opposition representatives, and the coalition partners, the president and the government remained silent.
Two days ago, at the session of the Assembly in Cetinje, Mandić presented the new logo of the Parliament of Montenegro, which features the building of the Assembly of the Capital of Cetinje, that is, the former Zeta Banovina. He explained that he made the decision with an authorized representative of the General Secretariat of the Assembly, stating that it was all his idea and realization.
"Which is logical in the representative building in which we are still sitting now, the building of the former Zetska banovina, where all the most important institutions of the Republic of Montenegro were located after the Second World War. In this way, we as the Assembly want to respect the capital and us as deputies, and to say how important this city is for all of us, that we have the privilege of being the continuation of that great work. This will be the new logo of the Assembly, this building where the Assembly is sitting today," said Mandić, also mentioning the king. Aleksandar Karađorđević, "the only king who was born in Cetinje".
The opposition had objections at the session, stating that it was a continuation of the abuse of the Assembly, a continuation of provocations towards the citizens of Cetinje and Montenegro, and that it would have been correct and polite if Mandić had discussed this with the heads of parliamentary clubs.
DFC: Abuse of American law for authoritarian purposes
The Digital Forensic Center (DFC) announced yesterday that the ZBCG coalition's reference to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) is already established disinformation by pro-Russian proxies across Europe.
"They use the existence of that law to implement an agenda in their countries that is contrary to democratic values and implement authoritarian tendencies, stifling the freedom of civil society and limiting the activities of independent media and non-governmental organizations."
"After the passing of the Law on Foreign Agents in Georgia, the proponents of its enactment tried to relativize its discriminatory and anti-European provisions by comparing it with the US Law on the Registration of Foreign Agents. Basically, the Law on Agents of Foreign Influence propagated by pro-Russian and pro-Serbian proxy actors defines the term agent differently than the American FARA law. The FARA law was created in 1938 with the aim of suppressing Nazi and later Bolshevik propaganda. The amendments to that law were purposefully created to target money laundering, corruption, terrorism and the circumvention of sanctions", the DFC announced.
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