The Party of European Progress (SEP) announced today that it strongly condemns the decision to stop the erection of a memorial to Joka Baletić, the heroine of Nikšić and Montenegro, whose name belongs to the brightest pages of our freedom-loving and anti-fascist tradition.
According to them, this decision represents a political and moral disgrace for Nikšić.
"Being restrained when deciding whether the city should pay tribute to a woman who gave her life fighting fascism is not 'neutrality'. It is not a procedural reservation. It is not administrative restraint. It is cowardice. It is political evasion of the truth. It is a message that in today's Nikšić there are those who are bothered by the very memory of Montenegro's anti-fascist honor," the SEP statement emphasizes.
The party adds that Joka Baletić is "a pledge of freedom, a symbol of resistance to the occupier and a warning to all those who today think they can relativize the values on which modern Montenegro is based."
"Joka Baletić belongs to Nikšić, Montenegro and the anti-fascist heritage that obligates every responsible public function and every generation that values freedom. Therefore, the decision to stop the erection of the memorial is not only a bad political decision, but an act of deep moral and civilizational failure. It is especially devastating that the representatives of the authorities tried to hide behind restraint, as if this miserable political maneuver could conceal the essence. It cannot. Restraint in the face of heroism is a stance. Restraint in the face of anti-fascism is a dangerous and devastating message," it states.
The SEP adds that Nikšić does not belong to those who would rewrite memory, nor to those who would humiliate with silence those who gave everything for freedom.
They also said that "a city that does not know how to bow to Joka Baletić risks renouncing itself."
"The European Progress Party therefore sends a clear message: the fight for a worthy memorial to Joka Baletić does not end with this shameful decision. On the contrary. It is just beginning. And every citizen who cares about truth, freedom and the anti-fascist image of Montenegro has an obligation to raise their voice against this disgrace. Because not only one initiative has been defeated. A part of the local government in Nikšić failed the test. It failed before history. It failed before the truth. It failed before the victim of a nineteen-year-old girl who had more courage under the gallows than they have at the polls. And therefore let it be clear: Joka Baletić deserves a monument. And those who tried to prevent it deserve the political contempt of every free man," the SEP statement concludes.
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