Đukanović: Russia’s hybrid actions deepen divisions in Montenegro

Montenegro today faces serious challenges that are eroding its multi-ethnic democracy, an oasis of peace in the Western Balkans and an anchor of its stability, as it was called by the highest representatives of the democratic state from the 1990s until recently. The constant Russian hybrid actions to which we are exposed are promoting retrograde policies, spreading hate speech and deepening divisions in Montenegro, as well as in other societies in the Western Balkans, said Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Đukanović said that this year’s debate is taking place in the context of the continuation of Russia’s year-long war against Ukraine, with unthinkable suffering and suffering of civilians and further serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

In a context of the erosion of the foundations of the international order based on the UN rules and Charter, tectonic earthquakes and the consequences for global security, geopolitics and the economy, including energy and food crises, inflationary pressures, and rising costs of living and doing business. Russia’s aggression has challenged the whole world, but overall it has had a sobering and cohesive effect on the international community, Đukanović said.

The attack on Ukraine, he said, is an attack on our European and global security and stability, and on binding key principles of international law and international humanitarian law.

That is why we must not remain silent when part of a sovereign state is occupied by another, when democratically elected authorities are attempted to be overthrown, or when human rights and freedoms are violated and abused by any state. For all these reasons, it is important that we see openly and clearly how states relate to their obligations to protect and promote human rights, because people’s lives, as well as peace, security and stability, depend on it. We cannot be neutral towards aggression, nor towards human rights violations – Đukanović stresses.

He welcomed the Human Rights Council’s attention to the human rights situation in Ukraine in this context. According to Đukanović, the Council is bound by its mandate to do so.

Otherwise, we risk encouraging similar threats against other countries. Today it is Ukraine, tomorrow it could be another neighbouring country. Let us say Montenegro, which, incidentally, has been heavily influenced by the so-called soft power of Russia and its branches of hybrid activity in the country and in the Western Balkans. In the past, we have too often witnessed the terrible consequences of impunity for crimes. We must learn from our mistakes. We must not repeat them – the President stresses.

Đukanović added that we need to work to preserve and improve human rights and democratic values in our societies. This is the only way to be credible and accountable to our citizens and to be reliable in our cooperation with others.

When we look at the scope of the Universal Declaration in the context of the current multiple interconnected and intertwined challenges and crises, it seems important to recall that the country I lead has preserved the peace, intercultural and inter-ethnic character of Montenegrin society in the maelstrom of evil and the war that generated retrograde policies in the area of the former Yugoslavia, in the 1990s. Today, we can look all our neighbours in the eye without turning our heads away from Srebrenica and all the other crimes, just as we did not close the door to the columns of refugees from BiH, Croatia and Kosovo who took refuge in Montenegro during the 1990s. Just like today from the large number of Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression, Đukanović said.

Nevertheless, Montenegro still faces serious challenges today, eroding its multi-ethnic democracy, an oasis of peace in the Western Balkans and an anchor of its stability, as it was called by top officials of democratic countries from the 1990s until recently, according to the President.

The constant Russian hybrid actions to which we are exposed are promoting retrograde policies, spreading hate speech and deepening divisions both in Montenegro and in other societies in the Western Balkans. But we do not have and are not looking for an alternative to the European value system. It is on the values of justice, rights, freedom and equality, with respect for the highest international standards, that Montenegro has restored its independence. It has achieved membership of NATO and found itself in the vestibule of the European Union. And we will continue on the European path, Montenegro will remain a principled voice in the face of dramatic human rights violations, crises and conflicts that have taken place in other countries around the world, concluded Đukanović./Pobjeda/