The European Union held a press conference today, which, they said, sent a "clear message to the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the command of Aleksa Bečić and Danilo Šaranović" that the issue of the 35 prosecuted citizens who protested in front of the Villa Gorica in Podgorica on July 8 will not be forgotten, and that the protest was legitimate, civil and necessary.
The president of the Liberal Party (LP) and one of the leaders of the European Alliance, Vatroslav Belan, said that he would not "easily overcome attempts by the competent authorities to intimidate free-thinking people" and those who, regardless of "all possible consequences", are ready to "fight against the promotion of fascism, chauvinism and against the most brazen frauds and manipulations", which, as he said, are sponsored by the Government, the Parliament and the parliamentary majority.
At the press conference, they also said that five of their colleagues from the European Union were among the 35 prosecuted: LP vice president Aleksandar Ljumović, Social Democrats (SD) international secretary Miloš Đuričković, LP secretary general Esad Šainović, as well as two from local committees in Podgorica and Cetinje.
"We stand with them and with all the prosecuted citizens, because they were not revolting at the protest because of some unfulfilled personal or narrow-party matter or whim, but rather they were fighting for universal values on which every society and a modern, civil and European Montenegro must rest - the values of anti-fascism, civil society, justice and ethics," Belan emphasized.
He asked who disparaged the state in the above case, the Protestants or those who awarded the Thirteenth of July Award to Bećir Vuković.
"The answer is clear, but since it is entirely expected that Bečić and Šaranović will not initiate misdemeanor proceedings, let alone criminal proceedings, against Andrija Mandić, Bećir Vuković and the jury for the 13th of July Award, then it was our citizens' obligation to defend both anti-fascist Montenegro and the values on which civilized democratic societies are based," added Belan.
The LP president also asked "what message are we sending to the younger generations" when we "award the most important state award to a man who expresses chauvinistic attitudes towards a nation and a state, even his own state", for a work that "was not written and which openly and perversely, and without blinking, deceives, deceives, the entire nation that his 'work' was catalogued somewhere and at some time, when it is clear that it was not in Montenegro, nor even in Serbia."
"We want to send a message to young people that Bećir Vuković and all those who awarded him are not and should not be an example to be emulated. That this award is just a shameful excess that attempts to tarnish and mock the values of the Thirteenth of July, and that in this society, we who fight for the future of Montenegro to be based on basic and universal human values will ultimately win," said Belan.
Vice President of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and representative of the European Union, Amina Cikotić, has, as reported, expressed concern about "the direction Montenegro is taking" and what values the state "is protecting today, and what values it is punishing."
According to her, the "offense" of the prosecuted citizens was that they peacefully, publicly and responsibly expressed their disagreement with the "deeply controversial decision" of the state - awarding the Thirteenth of July Award to Bećir Vuković.
"Bećir Vuković is a mirror of today's government and he is their message of values. A message of relativizing anti-fascism, denying Montenegrin statehood and attempting to introduce historical revisionism into institutions through the greatest state recognitions. That is why the protest in front of Vila Gorica was legitimate, civil and necessary. It was an expression of conscience and responsibility towards the state that was founded on anti-fascist foundations. And then, instead of the government that tells us about EU values every day, standing up for the protection of those very values, it represses citizens who preserve those values for all of us," said Cikotić.
He believes that the state, "instead of sanctioning fascism, sanctions anti-fascism", and that instead of protecting citizens, "it protects and rewards those who deny Montenegro and relativize the values on which Montenegro was founded".
"In such a state, repression of citizens who protest becomes a regular procedure, and respect for the law and the defense of values are declared a problem. And allow me to make a personal note here. As someone who comes from the European Union, but above all as a citizen of this country, I cannot and will not accept that Montenegro is getting used to injustice. I cannot accept that anti-fascism is punished and fascism is relativized. I cannot accept that the law is trampled on, and that citizens are asked to obey and remain silent," Cikotić stressed.
She said that the European Union would not agree to such a Montenegro.
"We will not remain silent in the face of intimidation of citizens, nor will we retreat in the face of attempts to criminalize free thought. If Bećir Vuković is the person this government rewards, then these citizens are the face of Montenegro as we defend and as we want it," said Cikotić.
She and Belan called on everyone who "does not accept the abnormalities that the government wants to get us used to," who does not want "our society to be built on the anti-values represented by Bećir Vuković and his political mentor Andrija Mandić," to come to a "democratic and civilized protest" on December 19 in Gorica.
Bonus video:
