Displaying the tricolor on the buildings of the Žabljak assembly and municipality, as well as on the buildings of local institutions established by the local parliament, is illegal or legally questionable, and the claim by the New Serbian Democracy (NSD) that Serbs, as the majority in the town at the foot of Durmitor, have a "guaranteed right" to have "their symbol, the tricolor" flown is unfounded.
These assessments arise from the provisions of several regulations - the Constitution, the Law on Minority Rights and Freedoms, the Law on the Selection, Use and Public Display of National Symbols, and the act on state symbols and the Statehood Day of Montenegro.
The decision, i.e. the conclusion that the “flags of the Serbian people” should be flown in Žabljak, was made by the local Municipal Assembly (MA) the day before yesterday, at the request of the ruling NSD, which was supported by its coalition partners - the Durmitor Initiative (close to the Europe Now Movement) and the Democrats. In explaining the conclusion, the NSD stated that “every national community has the right to display its national symbols in local communities where it is represented in the majority, as is the case with the Serbs in Žabljak”, adding that the legal basis for displaying “Serbian national symbols” is found in laws and international agreements.
Yesterday, on the old building of the Municipality of Žabljak, where some city companies are located, the tricolor was displayed alongside the national flag (it is not clear whether it has a coat of arms), while in front of the new building (which also houses the Municipal Assembly) there was none. Yesterday, the top management of the Municipality of Žabljak unofficially told "Vijesti" that the head of the local parliament Ivan Popovic (NSD) on its own initiative, and before the conclusion was voted on, placed the tricolor on the Municipal Assembly building.
According to the regulation on the use of symbols (Article 11), the right to emphasize theirs, as in Žabljak, is granted to “members of a minority people or other minority national community” who, according to the latest census, are the majority in a city. According to data from the census conducted in the fall of 2023, Serbs are the majority people in Žabljak, but they do not have the status of a minority in the state (which Bosniaks, Albanians, Croats... have).
Montenegrin legislation does not precisely define which peoples are minorities. The Law on Minority Rights and Freedoms (Article 2) generally states that it is "any group of citizens of Montenegro, numerically smaller than the rest of the prevailing population, which has common ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics, different from the rest of the population, historically linked to Montenegro...", while the highest legal act (Articles 79 and 80) only talks about guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of members of these communities.
Although Serbs are, according to the latest census, the second largest nation (32,93 percent of citizens), they are not a national minority, nor is such status accepted by those who claim to represent them politically - including the NSD.
Serbs, as a professor at the Podgorica Faculty of Political Sciences wrote, Olivera Komar, do not qualify for minority status due to their size, recalling that, according to the recommendations of the Venice Commission, a smaller community is defined as one that makes up less than 15 percent of the (total) population.
From all of the above, it follows that Serbs, despite what the party of the head of parliament claims, Andrije Mandić, they do not have a "guaranteed right" to display the tricolor because - they are not a minority people.
Another problem with the decision to place the tricolors concerns the flag and its appearance. In the explanation of the conclusion reached by the Žabljak Assembly, it is written that it is proposed to fly the “traditional national flag of the Serbian people in Montenegro - the so-called national tricolor”. The day before yesterday, when the NSD informed the public about the adoption of the initiative, the party, along with the press release, provided the media with a photograph of the tricolor displayed on a building in Žabljak. It is not possible to discern the exact appearance of the flag from the photograph (whether it has a coat of arms and if so, what kind), but regardless of whether it is protected by law as a historical symbol, it cannot be its flag, even though the Serbian people are a minority.
This is because the law on displaying symbols (Article 4) defines that the council of a minority people determines the “standard of the coat of arms and flag, as well as the musical notation of the anthem” of that community, to which the Government gives its consent. Although Serbs are not a minority, there is a Serbian National Council in Montenegro, but according to available information, it did not define the appearance of the flag of the Serbian people, nor did the executive branch approve it. Which means that the displayed tricolor cannot be, as the NSD says, “the traditional national flag of the Serbian people in Montenegro”.
The third problem in the story from the Durmitor town comes after yesterday's announcement of its first man Radoš Žugić (Durmitor Initiative) that it will be "persistent in its position that in the process of implementing the assembly's conclusion, the "Montenegrin tricolor with the coat of arms from the time of the Kingdom of Montenegro" be displayed alongside the official state flag. Although it is unclear whether this announcement conflicts with the adopted initiative of the NSD - because, as stated, it is not known which flag they are displaying - the question is whether the tricolor from the time of the Kingdom, which is protected by law, may be displayed.
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Three years ago, when tricolor flags with the coat of arms of the Petrović Njegoš dynasty, as well as other historical symbols of Montenegro, began to appear in the offices of some municipal officials from the NSD, “Vijesti” wrote that their placement was not precisely defined, because only one article of the Law on State Symbols and the Statehood Day of Montenegro (Article 28) is dedicated to this. It stipulates that these symbols enjoy the same protection as the current state ones, and the lawyers contacted by the editorial office at the time interpreted what this meant differently. While some claimed that historical symbols can be displayed with the state flag, others said that the mentioned article only refers to the fact that historical symbols may not be destroyed.
Žugić said yesterday that the "Montenegrin tricolor" will be a reminder that identity is not preserved through exclusion. However, the question remains whether his idea of placing a tricolor with the coat of arms from the Kingdom's time will be accepted by the NSD...
The opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) assessed the display of the tricolor as "the latest provocation directed by Mandić." They pointed out that it is "clear as day" that the Durmitor Initiative was blackmailed and voted in favor of displaying the tricolor in order, according to the DPS, to secure the support of the For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG) coalition - of which the NSD is a part - and the Democrats for the controversial decision to determine the location for the construction of a public good - a city square, a public garage with access roads and accompanying facilities.
"As a reminder, until recently, the ZBCG was ardent opponents of the aforementioned decision due to legal shortcomings, which were also warned about by the chief administrator of the Municipality of Žabljak, the property protector and the head of the cadastre during the discussion at the session itself. The president of the Žabljak Municipal Assembly also confirmed in the final minutes that he would vote for a decision that was not in accordance with the law," they underlined.
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The Social Democratic Party and the Party of European Progress said yesterday that this is an attack on the Constitution.
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The decision of the Zabljak parliament came a week after the NSD's long-time coalition partner, the Democratic People's Party (DNP), Milan Knežević, submitted to the State Assembly a proposal to amend the Law on State Symbols and the Statehood Day of Montenegro, so that the tricolor (red-blue-white with equal and horizontal fields) would be standardized as a "national historical flag". The proposed amendments also seek to highlight it.
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Some state and local officials from the NSD and DNP display the tricolor in the institutions they lead. One of them is Mandić, who has a tricolor without the coat of arms in his parliamentary cabinet.
A decision like the one made in the town at the foot of Durmitor also exists in Pljevlja, but it was not voted on by the local parliament, but rather requested by the first man of the Municipality and an official of the NSD. Dario Vranes.
Bonus video:
