NGO Anima: Escalation of racist violence is a reflection of deeper structures of the unresolved past

In recent days, we have witnessed an escalation of racist violence with elements of fascism in Montenegro (Podgorica, Bar and Herceg Novi...), which seriously threatens to jeopardize social peace and mutual trust between citizens. Growing intolerance, threats and public statements that incite division show that the spirit of hatred and violence is once again seeking space to express itself and normalize itself through inaction by institutions or through confusion and support from certain media outlets that define the events as unpleasant events.

This is stated in a statement by the Center for Women's and Peace Education Anima.

As it is pointed out, these events are neither accidental nor isolated — they are a reflection of deeper structures of the unresolved past and society's collective avoidance of facing responsibility.

"The banality of evil does not emerge suddenly; it develops in everyday silence, in justification and indifference towards the humiliation of others, in getting used to hate speech, in giving up empathy and in the inaction of those who should react. When violence is relativized and hate speech becomes everyday, society inevitably slides towards repeating its darkest chapters," the statement added.

Anime therefore called on institutions, political and religious entities, media, and citizens to recognize the seriousness of the moment.

"Peace is not preserved by silence, but by clearly stated resistance to every form of hatred, revisionism and violence. Montenegro must not continue to be a space in which divisions are justified, in which perpetrators of war crimes from the past are glorified, the evil of the nineties is denied and violence in the present is fueled," the NGO added, concluding with a quote from German political theorist Hannah Arendt: "Evil is not radical, it is banal. It spreads where people refuse to think."