Ius Forum: "Montenegro between EU integration and internal confrontations".

SOURCE:ANTENA M – AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

The 33rd session of the Ius Forum was held tonight, organized by the Association of Lawyers of Montenegro, on the topic: "Montenegro between EU integration and internal confrontations".

The sessions of the Ius Forum are organized in the form of a dialogue forum with the aim of improving social dialogue on topics in the field of law and other related areas.

Opening the Ius Forum, Prof. Dr. Branislav Radulović, President of the Association of Lawyers of Montenegro, emphasized that the choice of the title of tonight's session is contained in the question of whether the "long and slow path" of Montenegro to the EU is accompanied by a substantial internal transformation of Montenegrin society into a European one.

He especially emphasized that in the areas of the rule of law, education, healthcare, and development of road infrastructure, instead of progress, we have either stagnation or even regression compared to previous indicators. He sees internal confrontations in the clearly demonstrated strategy of "disabling Montenegrin society" from engaging in strategic and development policies, by constantly introducing topics from the clerical-nationalist and right-wing corps into the airwaves. This creates a state "without society", a form without content, without effective and essential "Europeanization", prone to conflicts, violence and populism.

The President of the Montenegrin Pan-European Union, Prof. Dr. Gordana Đurović, stressed that the EU's win-win compromise should be applied when it comes to the goal of EU integration by 2028 and the growth of internal confrontations that threaten to jeopardize it.

A win-win compromise in the EU means an agreement in which all parties involved benefit, without anyone feeling like a loser, and solutions are based on democratic values, a balance of economic interests, flexibility and solidarity. This is how the EU negotiates, for example, on the budget, migrants, trade agreements. The win-win compromise (winner - winner compromise) should also be applied to reducing Montenegro's internal confrontations, so as not to slow down the path of EU integration again and miss this unique opportunity. Asking the key question of whether a win-win compromise is possible today and who will be to blame if it does not happen, Đurović emphasizes that EU integration is more important than, for example, changing the status of the official language and changing the conditions for acquiring dual citizenship and the right to vote, which are issues that destabilize society and strengthen distrust. Anyone who insists on these issues is not in favor of Montenegro's EU integration and will be to blame if this unique opportunity is missed. The elaboration of a win-win compromise regarding these two topics should be linked to good European practices of small countries that inherit the concept of a civil state, because in that case Montenegro wins and no one loses, emphasized Prof. Đurović. Psychologist and business communicologist Radoje Cerović, speaking about "internal confrontations", pointed out that psychology views civilization as a process of "domestication". This means a progressive reduction in violence and a gradual increase in openness and trust between people and between groups, identity units. Among the most important factors that led to this are: the creation of cultural achievements - laws, as well as institutions of society, such as courts, police. The next element is the constant reduction of inequality from slavery to the present day. Then there are social achievements such as public health, public pension systems or public social policies that create solidary and peaceful societies. And what about Montenegro? Devastating data on low mutual trust and empathy, on dizzying stratification, on the burden of hierarchies, as well as the very and increasingly deteriorating status of the institutions of the system indicate the fact that we are on the threshold of the EU, but turned backwards.

Co-President of the Igman Initiative for Serbia Aleksandar Popov, provided a broader context of European integration in the region from the perspective of the situation in Serbia. He pointed out that, as far as Serbia's relations with Montenegro are concerned, they were marked by last year's adoption of the Jasenovac Declaration in the Parliament, under pressure from pro-Serbian forces that form part of the ruling majority, and of course Belgrade, which complicated relations with Croatia, but also slowed down Montenegro's path towards the European Union. Speaking about the student protests, he recalled that the Serbian authorities tried to accuse Croatia and its citizens of being behind the protests. However, this is not working, especially since they have not encountered a harsher reaction from Croatia that would give it an alibi for further worsening relations and diverting attention from the students' demands. When it comes to relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, they are characterized by separatist actions and nationalist rhetoric by Dodik, who, in accordance with the doctrine of the "Serbian world", uses every opportunity to announce the withdrawal of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and even its annexation to Serbia, which additionally "makes senseless" any EU strategy that would integrate the Western Balkans into the EU more quickly.

Writer Balša Brković pointed out to the participants of the Ius Forum that the current confrontations in Montenegrin society do not quite fall into those conflicts that, through dialectical logic, lead a society forward or towards maturity and awareness. On the contrary, we are talking about conflicts that tear society apart. It is always like this when one of the parties in the conflict does not want a better society, but simply put, the disappearance and destruction of that society. Brković emphasized that this is exactly what is happening to us in Montenegro today. That's why you have the media and politicians who openly and almost lasciviously cheer for Putin and wish for the downfall of not only the unfallen Ukraine but also the European idea as such. That is why today's moment in Montenegro is actually - to be or not to be one society and one state.