Koprivica: Has the Armed Forces of Montenegro renounced its anti-fascist heritage or is this the work of irresponsible individuals?

The Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) called on the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Army of Montenegro (AVCG) to announce their position as soon as possible and complete legal procedures related to the recording in which members of the VCG in uniform sing songs in praise of the collaborator of the fascists and Nazis, Dragoljub Draža Mihailović.

CDT Executive Director Dragan Koprivica said that state officials who hold the most responsible positions and whose scope of work included the Armed Forces of Montenegro, on several ceremonial occasions emphasized the important connection with the anti-fascist, partisan struggle in Montenegro and Yugoslavia during World War II.

"This value determinant of our army was not tied to ideologies, regimes, political parties, ministers or the most responsible officers, but is, rightly, part of the value concept that is specific to Montenegro," said Koprivica.

As he emphasized, the appearance of controversial footage, but the lack of a clear definition of values ​​by those in charge, opens up a very important question - Has the VCG, in the meantime, "changed sides" and renounced its anti-fascist heritage, or is this an isolated case that is not part of the VCG's values, but rather the work of irresponsible individuals?

"We note that this case comes in the context of constant attempts to revise historical events and attempts to change facts related to World War II, in a way that proven collaborators of fascists, Nazis, Ustashas, ​​Nedić's formations and various other pro-fascist formations are trying to position themselves as the value destination of this society and state," said Koprivica.

According to him, glorifying such people by members of an army means glorifying betrayal of one's own state and people and is a disgrace to any army that has sworn to defend the country in the event of an attack from anyone.

"This is, in fact, a negation of the purpose of the existence of any army, including ours," warned Koprivica.

He assessed that in this context, and not only because of the individual case of two soldiers of the Army of Montenegro, the political and values-based, and then the legal position of the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Montenegro on this issue is crucially important.

"Anyone who truly appreciates the Armed Forces of Montenegro and its historical traditions expects a clear stance on this to be demonstrated primarily in precise value and political statements and explanations, but also in the procedures that must be implemented in the Armed Forces of Montenegro to remove these very dangerous phenomena from its ranks," Koprivica emphasized.

According to him, the worst thing would be to remain silent or to relativize these phenomena and try to trade with these values ​​for political profit.

"In this situation, the public must not be sent a message that sick leave carries more weight than singing Chetnik songs and that failure to deliver remittances is a more serious offense than glorifying people who sided with the occupiers against their own country," concluded Koprivica.