INTERVIEW WITH NEVENA Vuković: Montenegro is currently run by people who see themselves as avengers

(Patria) - Vice President of the Democratic Party of Socialists and professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Montenegro, Ivan Vuković, was a guest on the podcast hosted by Nevena Kovačević, where he spoke about the political situation in Montenegro, the independence referendum, the position of citizens, and the social changes the country has undergone over the past thirty years.

Speaking about the state of democracy, Vuković posed the question of why people with different political opinions feel unsafe today.

“If things were once so bad and nothing was right, how did we come to a situation where those who think differently fear for their own safety, not to mention their livelihood? How did we get to that point, and are these democratic processes or something else? I think the reason is that Montenegro today is largely run by people who see themselves as avengers,” said Vuković.

He also commented on political actors who, as he stated, present themselves as exclusive protectors of the Serbian people in Montenegro.

“Equating Serbia, Serbdom, and Serbian national identity with certain political phenomena is the greatest sin that can be committed against both Serbia and Serbian national interests. People who present themselves as exclusive protectors of Serbs in Montenegro are not that. They primarily protect their own interests. Serbs, like all other citizens of Montenegro, are equal before the law, and this is their country,” he said.

He spoke particularly emotionally about the 2006 referendum and the restoration of Montenegrin independence.

“I watched old footage and felt the same emotion again. I was on the square that day and almost held back tears. When you see how many people were gathered then and with what feeling they listened to the messages, hoping that Montenegro would restore its statehood after nearly a hundred years, it leaves a strong impression,” said Vuković.

Commenting on claims about irregular conditions of the referendum, he reminded that success required an absolute majority with an additional threshold of 55 percent of the votes.

“It’s like starting a hundred-meter race ten meters ahead of your opponent. You had a ten percent head start and still claim the conditions were not fair. That says enough about those people, and such claims hardly deserve a comment,” he stated.

Speaking about the changes that have occurred over the last three decades, Vuković emphasized that younger generations often cannot even imagine what life in Montenegro used to be like.

“Today, students can hardly understand that citizens of Montenegro needed visas to travel until 2009. I remember going to Belgrade and waiting in long lines for a visa. I remember even more the nineties, a time of isolation and scarcity. We would get up at five in the morning to wait in line for basic necessities. That is what Montenegro looked like just thirty years ago. From that perspective, our country has undergone a revolutionary change in a positive sense,” concluded Vuković.

You can watch the entire conversation below.