In the opinion of citizens, the highest degree of discrimination in the field of employment and against persons with different political beliefs is found in Montenegro, according to research by the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM).
The research was conducted from March 2 to 20, on 1038 respondents for the needs of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, as part of the joint project of the EU and the Council of Europe "Support to national institutions in the prevention of discrimination in Montenegro" (PREDIM).
The chief methodologist of CEDEM, Miloš Bešić, said that the research identified discrimination in the areas of employment, education, access to health care, work of public services and in the area of culture and cultural protection.
"The groups that are at the greatest risk of discrimination and which we dealt with are discrimination based on sex/gender, based on ethnic criteria, religion, political belief, years of experience, people with disabilities and the LGBT population," said Bešić at the presentation of the research.
He pointed out that the greatest degree of discrimination, in the opinion of citizens, is against people who have different political beliefs.
"Supporters of certain political groups and national groups perceive discrimination on the basis of political beliefs at a much higher level than members of others. It's not just about perception based on objective criteria, but also about perception based on political criteria," explained Bešić.
He said that there is little difference compared to 2000 and 2015 and that the trends compared to 2017 are stable.
Bešić said that 52 percent of citizens believe that they are discriminated against in the field of employment, and that discrimination occurs in a much smaller percentage in other areas.
He said that, in terms of social distance, 16,7 percent of Montenegrin citizens do not want to have members of another race as neighbors, 10,6 percent do not want people with large families, which are synonymous with certain religious groups, and 12,8 percent of citizens do not want Muslims in their neighborhood.
"29,2 percent of citizens do not want Roma as neighbors, 21,9 do not want Jews, and 4,8 do not want Christians," specified Bešić, stating that in Western Europe 34,7 percent of citizens do not want Roma as neighbors.
He pointed out that the level of ethnic discrimination in Montenegro is at a significantly lower level than is the case with the countries of Western and Eastern Europe.
"More than every fifth citizen of Montenegro does not want to have Jews in the neighborhood, and that is more compared to Western and post-communist Europe and the former Yugoslavia. "I don't know if there are any historical reasons for this in Montenegro, but this information requires an explanation," says Bešić.
He clarifies that the research also examined behavioral distance, which concerns the relationship towards certain persons that arose because of their behavior.
"60,3 percent of Montenegrin citizens do not want to have people with a criminal past in their neighborhood, 54,3 percent do not want to have alcoholics, 39,5 percent do not want emotionally unstable people, 49,3 percent of citizens do not want people with AIDS nearby, 69,3 percent don't want drug addicts, and 50,4 percent don't want homosexuals," specified Bešić.
He added that the behavioral distance is significantly greater than the ethnic distance, but that this is not an isolated case because the situation is the same in the countries of Western and Eastern Europe as well as the former Yugoslavia.
Bešić points out that the research showed that the institutions that contribute the most in the fight against discrimination are educational, media and non-governmental organizations, followed by the church, the state and political parties.
"Of the state institutions, citizens believe that the Ombudsman makes the greatest contribution in the fight against discrimination - 51 percent of citizens, while 49 percent of them believe that it is the Center for Social Work, and these are the key institutions," said Bešić.
The representative of the Council of Europe, Boris Ristović, said that the research is part of the project to support national institutions in the fight against discrimination.
According to him, the aim of the research is for the results to serve as a basis for further activities in state institutions.
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