Last year, the Fund for the Protection and Realization of Minority Rights spent 1,4 million euros to finance 209 projects, of which the Bosniak and Serb national communities and multinational projects received the largest amount.
According to the Report on the work of the Fund for the year 2023, which will be considered by the members of the Parliament of Montenegro, the Bosniak community received EUR 316.080 for the implementation of projects, the Serbian national community received EUR 174.770, while EUR 588.865 was allocated for multinational projects.
Among the winners of the largest amounts for the implementation of projects are the Serbian Literary Cooperative in Montenegro, which received 24.000 for publishing activities, and the Serbian Cultural Society "Vuk", which received the same amount for the audio series "Narodni dobrotvori".
22.000 euros each went to the NGO "Cultural Scene" for the video series "Serbian Cultural Scene in Montenegro and the Region" and the Conference of Serbian National Organizations from the countries of the region for the exhibition series "That's how our ancestors spoke".
The Serbian cultural center "Stefan Nemanja" portal received 18.000 euros for the "S-mediji/Srpske novine" portal, the NGO "Muslims of Bihora" received 16.150 euros for the "Let's keep cultural heritage from being forgotten" project,
The NGO Croatian umbrella association "Dux Croatorum" received 15.830 euros for Radio Dux - Voice of the Croats in Montenegro...
Although the Bosniak national community received the most money overall, the projects were approved mostly to individuals, and the amounts they received were from 2.000 euros and up. The fund supported the projects of 274 citizens and 104 legal entities.
"Since the projects categorized as "multinational" attract the most attention from the interested public, this Report tabulates a list of those projects, with the note that the statistics are based solely on the content of the projects and not on the project submitters, since no form/form implies declaring according to the nationality of the project applicants", the report states.
In that category, among others, the Serbian People's Council of Montenegro, which received 23.000 euros for the realization of the audio series "The centuries-old connection between Serbs and Bosniak Muslims in Montenegro", the NGO "Bisernica", which received 22.000 euros for the audio series "Historical Cultural Coexistence of Serbs and Albanians ” received 17.850 euros, Civic Alliance for the project “We celebrate diversity. We care for cultures" -16.048, NGO "Association for Intercultural Action" which received 13.685 euros for the project "Interculturality - our reality", Center for Civic Education (CGO) - XNUMX euros, for the implementation of the project "Education to Multicultural Society"...
Among the projects that received support from the Fund are, among others, "Creative writing workshops", "On the wings of sevdah", "Scan and discover", "Traditional Bosnian music through the SAZ instrument", "The skill of making Bihor rugs"... One pd of projects is also "Fasting in monotheistic religions/Islam, Orthodoxy and Catholicism" of the Association of Accountants and Bookkeepers of Montenegro.
In the competition for support of activities significant for the preservation and development of national, i.e. ethnic peculiarities of minority peoples and other minority national communities and their members in the field of national, cultural, linguistic and religious identity, which the Fund announced in October last year, out of 378 applicants, it was approved is 209 projects. Out of 209 approved projects, for eight of them the applicants did not sign the project financing contracts.
Originally, the competition was announced in March last year, and after the Project Evaluation Commission determined the ranking list, and the Fund's director, Emir Dacić, made a decision to distribute 1,4 million euros to 187 projects, the Fund's Board of Directors made a decision to cancel the competition. .
A new competition was announced in October, and in December, the director of the Fund made a decision on the distribution of money for 2023. Projects in the competition were submitted by 274 citizens and 104 legal entities.
The Fund initiated 30 court proceedings
In the report of the Fund, it is stated that the return of funds, at the expense of the state budget in 2023, was made by 64 beneficiaries of the Fund's funds in the total amount of 50.657 euros, which, according to the findings of the Expert Service, did not adequately justify the allocated funds.
"In addition to the above, one user voluntarily returned the entire allocated amount of 2.000 euros".
The document states that for the beneficiaries of the funds of the Fund, who did not return a portion of the money that was inadequately justified after the request was sent, proceedings were initiated before the judicial authorities.
"In court cases where the Fund for the Protection and Realization of Minority Rights is the plaintiff, in 2023, 30 court proceedings were initiated, in the total amount of 108.587 euros," the document says.
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