Initiative to erect a monument to the heroine of World War II Joki Baletic in Nikšić, opened a new round of social divisions by raising the issue of relations towards the past, for which the analyst Miloš Perović warns that it must be viewed without relativizing key values, among which anti-fascism remains fundamental.
Perović told "Vijesti" that the erection of a monument to Joka Baletić is not only a local issue of historical recognition, but also a signal of how the city understands the European concept of culture: as a space of pluralism, a critical attitude towards the past, and inclusive memory.
“In other words, it is not only crucial whether the monument will be erected, but how it will be contextualized - whether as part of a broader, thoughtful narrative about the history of Nikšić, or as an isolated symbol without dialogue with the complex heritage.”
Nineteen-year-old Baletić was captured with her comrade, the company commissar, after fighting with the Chetniks at Kablena Glavica near Nikšić in April 1942. Ljubo ČupićAt the beginning of the public trial, organized by Italian fascists and Chetnik collaborators, Baletić shouted with a clenched fist: “Death to fascism.” She was hanged under Trebjes on May 9, 1942, the same day that Ljubo Čupić was shot, who received a monument on the main city square in Nikšić.
The Council for proposing names for settlements, streets and squares adopted on March 14 an initiative by the European Union (EU) to erect a memorial to heroin in Nikšić. A similar initiative by the GP URA had previously been rejected.
The ES initiative was supported by the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the ruling Europe Now Movement (PES). A representative of the Democrats did not attend the session, while a representative of the For the Future of Nikšić (ZBNK) coalition abstained.
The initiative is expected to be decided on at the next session of the local parliament, scheduled for April 21st and 22nd.
For the initiative to be adopted, 21 votes are required in the Niksic parliament, which has a total of 41 councilors.
Odbornik ES Ivan Radojicic He told "Vijesti" that they expect more than 21 councilors to support the initiative.
"We should have more than 21 councilors who will raise their hands for the memorial, but we will see at the meeting whether it is the way people reacted on the committees and as they told us in private communication that they would support it."
Radojičić also expects support, "at least from some" of the Democrats, who have three councilors in the Nikšić Municipal Assembly (MA).
Vojinović: Sacrifice for the homeland must not be the subject of political trade
Democratic Montenegro told "Vijesti" that they would support the initiative.
Democratic Councilor Anđela Vojinović says that Joka Baletić represents a pledge of freedom, a symbol of courage, but also of the unwavering sacrifice on which the dignity of this country rests.
"People like her have woven their lives into the foundations of Montenegro and therefore deserve a lasting memory and dignified commemoration," Vojinović told Vijesti.
He adds that this is precisely why it is a bit bitter to hear people who have no essential connection to the values she lived speak about Joka Baletić today.
"If the bearers of partisan monuments and national heroes were among us today, we believe they would ask for one thing - that, for example, the DPS not appropriate them, because that would be a humiliation for them," said Vojinović, who is also a member of the state parliament.
He says that Democrats do not measure history by party standards and that all heroes of the anti-fascist struggle, every name woven into the fight for the freedom of this country, will have their support.
"Because the sacrifice for the homeland must not be the subject of political commerce, but a permanent obligation to remember it - honorably, sincerely and long-lastingly," said Vojinović.
ES has two councilors, DPS has 16, PES has five, which means that, including the Democrats, a total of 26 councilors would support the initiative.
The government in Nikšić consists of ZBNK (15 councilors), PES and the Democrats.
It was time for it to be built long ago.
Perović said that this issue touches on two important directions - cultural policy as a strategic direction and the culture of memory as a space for political competition.
"If Nikšić really wants to justify its ambition to be the European Capital of Culture 2030, then every decision in the domain of public memory, including the erection of monuments, becomes a kind of test of the maturity of cultural policy."
Perović believes that there was both time and space for that monument to be in Nikšić a long time ago, and why the government at the time, and the current opposition, did not decide on it - that is another question.
"Of course, this is where we come to the other dimension - the political one. The initiative can hardly be viewed outside of the contemporary political context," said Perović, adding that in that sense it can indeed be read as a message about the values that the local government wants to highlight, or a selective attitude towards the past, in which history is used in accordance with current political needs.
It is particularly interesting, he says, to observe this initiative in parallel with the proposal of the New Serbian Democracy (ZBNK coalition) to erect a monument to those killed by communists in the Kotor Cave near Nikšić.
“These two proposals together raise the question of balance in the culture of remembrance: whether the city is moving towards an inclusive model that acknowledges all victims, or towards fragmenting history through parallel, often conflicting narratives.”
This is why, as Perović says, the "ability" to present the complexity of the past without relativizing key values - among which anti-fascism must continue to be fundamental - is important.
According to him, this is precisely where the challenge for Nikšić lies: can it simultaneously be a city that cherishes anti-fascist heritage and opens up space for confronting all layers of history, without falling into political instrumentalization.
“Ultimately, the issue of the monument to Joka Baletić is not just a question of one person - but a mirror of the way the city defines itself before its own citizens and before Europe.”
ZBNK seeks monument for victims of "left turns"
The ZBNK coalition announced this week that they would not be against the monument, if the Municipal Assembly supports the erection of a monument to the victims of "left turns".
On Wednesday, the ZBNK coalition's parliamentary club submitted the Initiative for Establishing a Culture of Remembrance for the Victims of Ideological Liquidations Committed During and Immediately After World War II, with Special Reference to the Kotor Caves Execution Site in Gornje Polje, to the parliamentary procedure.
This initiative, as they stated, stems from "a moral and civilizational obligation to correct decades of injustice towards the innocent citizens of the Nikšić region, who were liquidated without trial or verdict during the time of ideological confrontations among the people known as 'left turns', and then left to oblivion and silence."
The goal, they say, is to build a dignified memorial and form a municipal commission that will professionally and responsibly approach the listing of victims, establishing the facts, locating the execution site, and creating conditions for their dignified commemoration and burial.
Radojičić said that representatives of the ZBNK were trading and that they had the authority, position and power, state institutions and judicial instances, to react and conduct an investigation into the matter.
"At this moment when they have been checked, they want to somehow get revenge and save their position in a political sense, with this initiative. It is sad that someone is trading in dead bones regardless of which side of the historical context they are on," said Radojičić, adding that he is in favor of everything that needs to be investigated, to be investigated to the end, and to establish all responsibility.
According to him, no one prevented the mayor, all institutions in the municipality, the Supreme State Prosecutor, or any legal and administrative instances from launching an investigation and establishing the truth about this.
He recalls that the non-governmental sector raised the issue, but nothing was done.
"Vijesti" reported two years ago that the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) is still investigating allegations that 300 bodies killed in the period from 1942 to 1943 in the territory of the Nikšić municipality by the communist regime were thrown into the Kotor pit, in the Nikšić village of Kuline.
SDT did not respond to "Vijesti's" questions about the stage of the investigation and when a concrete epilogue can be expected.
Radojičić points out that at this moment there is no legal or administrative epilogue, only insinuations that something happened.
"We don't have something that would be a basis for us to decide. Until we have that, we think that this is just a hasty reaction of the current government to our proposal for a memorial to Joko Baletić and that we cannot trade with absolute values, we cannot relativize history, we cannot equate what cannot be equated."
When asked at what location the monument to Joko Baletić will be erected, Radojičić replied that it would be under the jurisdiction of municipal services.
"The President of the Assembly, if the Assembly votes on the initiative, should take on the obligation, as stated in the conclusions of our initiative, to alert all services in the next 60 days so that they can provide adequate solutions."
Radojičić recalls that the idea of GP URA was to have the monument on the main city square, where the monument to Ljubo Čupić is also located.
He also said that there is a conceptual design for how the monument should look, what dimensions it should have, and what material it should be built from.
Response to attempts to relativize the anti-fascist struggle
The European Union initiative states that in the context of contemporary social challenges, including attempts to relativize the anti-fascist struggle and historical facts, the erection of a memorial to Joko Baletić represents a clear institutional response that reaffirms the fundamental values of Montenegrin society.
"Based on all of the above, we assess that the historical, social and moral conditions have been met for the Nikšić Municipal Assembly to make a decision to erect a memorial to Joka Baletić, which would preserve the memory of her work and contribution to freedom in a lasting and dignified manner."
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
