The agenda of part of the current government to ethno-federalize Montenegro, using the expected results of the census as a reason for such a scenario, has failed, Damir Šehović, president of the Social Democrats of Montenegro (SD) and one of the leaders of the European Union, announced today.
"After ours was not accepted, as well as the proposal of civil society, that, following the example of a large number of democratic states, sensitive data on ethnicity, religion and language should not be collected through the census in a period of pronounced social instability, in order to protect this statistical process from turning it into a political issue, it is obvious that the deliberate politicization of the census by a large number of political entities did not produce the expected result. On the contrary," Šehović pointed out in the statement.
He added that attempts to change the identity image of Montenegro through artificial ethnic engineering definitely failed.
"The agenda of part of the current government to ethnofederalize Montenegro, using the expected results of the census as a reason for such a scenario, has failed. The citizens of Montenegro have shown maturity and resilience, because they did not succumb to the pressures, the coordinated campaign that was conducted in Montenegro and outside it, but also by numerous promises of various benefits by some well-known regional power centers in exchange for a desirable statement on the mentioned sensitive issues. On the contrary, Montenegro rejected all manipulative intentions and remained consistent with its civil values. We also emphasize the important role of civil society and national councils, which with their significant engagement, together with the opposition, they stood up for the protection of national interests, in contrast to numerous other social factors who did everything to hold the census in a tense environment," Šehović said.
He said that the results show that, despite the considerable challenges it has faced in recent years, Montenegro is still a fairly resilient multi-ethnic and civil state, ready to face numerous challenges and preserve the values that form the basis of its society.
"It is clear that due to the minor changes recorded in the list, there are no winners and losers. The fact that, despite everything, the civic concept won, does not mean that anyone has lost. Only together can we build an advanced European society, which is the determination of the vast majority of our citizens ", concluded Šehović.
DON'T MISS IT
Bonus video:
