Montenegrin Award for Russian Propagandists!

By Nevena Kovačević

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It seems that the information that the Association of Journalists of Montenegro posthumously awarded the lifetime achievement award to Darja Dugina, whose father Aleksandar Dugin is considered one of Vladimir Putin's closest associates and the creator of the idea of the Russian world and the Kremlin's policy towards Ukraine, is somehow passing under the radar.

Furthermore, the award for the best portal was given to the portal Sputnik from Belgrade, and the Union of Journalists of Russia was also among the awardees.

One of the awards was also given to a journalist from the Russian-Serbian proxy in4S, which operates in Montenegro and has been spreading the crudest hate speech against members of the Montenegrin nation and all opponents of Greater Serbian and pro-Russian policies for years.

Representatives of certain Montenegrin media, who openly serve Serbian-Russian propaganda, with undisguised alignment with certain government structures, were also awarded. A good part of the public clearly looks favorably on this new example of evident violation of sanctions against Russia, as we witness a lack of reaction from some of the loudest formal proponents of pro-Western policies.

In the Montenegrin PEN center, such a decision by the jury of the Association of Journalists is considered scandalous, emphasizing that the awarding of prizes to Putin's protagonists is a consequence of the overall environment created by the last two Montenegrin governments. And indeed, the entire social and political situation we have been experiencing for the past two and a half years indicates that the aforementioned award ceremony cannot be viewed as an isolated case by any means.

We were mistaken if we accidentally thought that the finger-poking at Western and European partners and the shaming of the country would stop at the applause of Montenegrin ministers for Vladimir Putin. With another shameful act, the region and the world have been sent a far from pleasant image of Montenegro, which supports aggression and celebrates genocide, awarding aggressors and ideologues of the most massive conflict and the most monstrous crimes of recent times, and the silence of institutions, as well as the public as a whole, is too loud.

Although we have a new example of evident violation of sanctions against Russia, the implementation of which is indeed very questionable, the state will not react this time either. While journalists of the Public Service have their basic labor and human rights violated by the editorial staff and management by prohibiting the use of the jotovan variant of the Montenegrin language, and critically oriented media face constant targeting and numerous threats without any protection, media and organizations managed from outside Montenegro, which are among the fiercest promoters of disastrous policies, are awarded.

While Montenegrin journalists are exposed to various forms of censorship, awards go to those whose work is characterized by constant violations of journalistic standards. Awards to the Russian-Serbian propaganda machine close to parts of the local government are a consequence of two years of bad internal policy and the state's inability to adequately sanction the growing number of propaganda outlets, whose editorial policies are primarily aimed at glorifying hegemonic ideas and presenting a new distorted reality, contrary to the European and pro-Western course, which is the only correct solution for Montenegro.

Thanks to the anti-state actions of the actors in power, especially those who make up Dritan Abazović's government, whose actions have brought the country to the brink of freezing negotiations with the European Union, Montenegro has become fertile ground for the development and spread of various forms of propaganda, especially that disseminated through the media, mostly financed from abroad.

One-sided reporting, devoid of respect for professional and ethical standards, has long been an integral part of the deeply polarized media scene and, unfortunately, has taken precedence over objective and truthful information.

Hate speech, which includes comments on portals, mostly goes unpunished, while, on the contrary, critics of the government are threatened with censorship, and even shutdown, directly by holders of the highest state positions, with the acting Prime Minister being the most active in this regard. It is precisely this attitude towards the media and media workers that has paved the way for the penetration of strong and systemic propaganda, which, in addition to celebrating criminal policies, is also based on the denial of Montenegrin national, cultural, and historical identity.

The way this dangerous propaganda is carried out, its aggressiveness and reach, have for some time now exceeded the framework of political action and are slowly succeeding in infiltrating all areas of social life. The creators of propaganda ideas and their supporters, encouraged by the government's actions, are imposing a serious disruption of the overall social consciousness on us, embodied in a kind of parallel reality and historical revisionism.

Awards to the ideologues and propaganda tools of Vladimir Putin undoubtedly represent another attempt to introduce Montenegrin society into the process of Putinization, which must not be silenced and to which we must resist as quickly and strongly as possible, if we still strive for true and democratic emancipation. It is our obligation to more strongly oppose the growing influence of Russian players, and the responsibility lies with all actors and society as a whole.