Pro-Serbian parties are trying to make Serbian the official language in Montenegro, Mandić – brother of Vučić

According to the census results of the Statistical Office of Montenegro (MONSTAT), the majority of the population in Montenegro are Montenegrins with a population share of 41.12 percent (256,436 citizens), Serbs with 32.93 percent (205,370) and Bosniaks with 9.45 percent (58,956). The majority of citizens speak Serbian – 43.18 percent (269,307) and the Montenegrin language is in second place with 34.52 percent (215,299).

This is the first census since the three-decade-long change of government by the Democratic Party of socialist Milo Djukanovic and the first since the pro-Serbian parties of the former Democratic Front came to power. The speaker of the Assembly, Andrija Mandić, said he was satisfied “as a member of the Serbian people” because the number of Serbs in Montenegro had increased compared to the last census.

These census results, which were seen as the result of the influence of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church, are to be used by pro-Serbian parties to make changes to the constitution by declaring Serbian the official language. The Montenegrin language has been the official language in Montenegro since independence in 2006. “Every third inhabitant of Montenegro is Serbian and the Serbian language is the majority language in Montenegro. I expect you to say that the majority language is Serbian, and that should be the case.“ also become the official language,” says Serbian New Democracy MP Dejan Djurović.

Officials of the former Democratic Front initially warned that they would present an initiative to officialize the Serbian language if it were the mother tongue of more than 50 percent of citizens, which was apparently their expectation.

On the other hand, DPS MP Nikolla Milović told DV that this registration ended the controversy about what the initiative to amend the Constitution could bring due to the change in the status of the Serbian language. “If the initiative is put on the agenda, of course we will be against it. If it has to be abandoned, I want it to happen now. Let’s leave some things until the end and see what the parties in power do. “Montenegro is a civil state and with this registration the story ends,” Milović adds.

While this debate is taking place in Montenegro, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has invited Andrija Mandić to Belgrade, who is not only the President of the Montenegrin Assembly, but also the leader of the New Serbian Democracy. Vučić greeted him together with the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, and called him “brother”. “I am glad that I managed to bring three presidents to a tavern in Belgrade on the water – Nikolić, Mandić and Ana. Toma and I remember the founding of SNS, grateful for Ana, who later joined us, and happy that we can host our brother“ and friend from Montenegro Andrija Mandić”./The Geopost/