“Montenegro was not a victim of a terrorist attack, that is merely a legal term – what had happened was an attempt to provoke a civil war. Consequence, of course, of Montenegro’s rapid progress towards West, which if it becomes official will be a hallmark of stateship, however if it doesn’t – there can be many dangerous developments”, said President of Matica crnogorska, Dragan Radulovic.
VN: Mr Radulovic, in one of your previous interviews you said that a small nation cannot be protected unless it has a clear patriotic platform within the system. What did you mean specifically?
RADULOVIC: Clear patriotic platform with institutions of a system is a condition of progress for any nation, smaller ones especially. Montenegro is no exception. Montenegro lost its statehood several times, and gained it back with many difficulties. Nothing is guaranteed. Small nations have freedom only while their neighbors are democratic countries who respect international law.
VN: Have the events of recent months demonstrated the existence of such a platform?
RADULOVIC: Montenegro is protected by its system. Events of the past few months demonstrated the readiness of the institutions and their ability to respond to challenges. Judicial epilogue of that case will also demonstrate the abilities of our institutions.
VN: Has Montenegrin intellectual elite responded adequately to these events?
RADULOVIC: Intellectuals here are better when they are silent, because they usually express disdain for our culture. Some of them wait to see what will happen, so they can realign accordingly. In my opinion however, it is better to speak up, cleverly and with arguments, because that is the only value an intellectual can have.
VN: You say the silence of intellectuals is a luxury…
RADULOVIC: In these troubled times, silence and lack of interest are a luxury that patriots cannot afford. However, let us not forget those who were not silent, those who were brave.
VN: How to conquer our divides and face future?
RADULOVIC: Montenegro has made progress in its integrations, and it is clear that Montenegro wants to be a part of Western civilization. Our divides are political. While we were “a beach” for Russians and Serbians, there were no problems, now that we want to use our sovereignty, there are. In Montenegro, we live with each other, we need each other, but we need to follow established principles of democracy.
VN: Is the state putting enough effort in making people welcome?
RADULOVIC: The state must work on itself all the time, but it is not up to the state to deal with citizens’ feelings. The state must work every day to ensure the rule of law, safety, independent justice system, good healthcare, good education… The state is not a metaphysical entity that cannot be measured in reality, on the contrary.
VN: Matica recently published a call for essays on the subject of our education system.
RADULOVIC: We have calls every year, with topics relevant to our society. All the information is up on our website. This year we wanted to talk about education in Montenegro, and the reforms being implemented.
VN: There are some paradoxes in the educational system…
RADULOVIC: Correct. Reforms made them visible. I have an example from one high school: logic, as an obligatory class, was canceled and offered as a facultative class. This decision diminishes development of critical thinking in young people. Psychology in second, logic in third, and philosophy and sociology in fourth year – all these classes are mandatory except logic. Logic must be a mandatory class, people must be taught to argument their opinions.
The price of political deals
VN: Is Montenegrin identity endangered?
RADULOVIC: Our enemies work to make it less important, they appropriate our culture, they threaten… But they are expected to do so, that’s their job, and we fight that. The problem begins when our leadership makes political deals with such individuals, endangering our identity. Lack of strong patriotic ground leads to unstable society.
VN: Montenegro is proud of its many ethnicities and religions. How is the identity kept in such an environment?
RADULOVIC: Multiethnic and multireligious tolerance does not endanger Montenegrin identity, on the contrary.
VN: Montenegrin society is deeply divided?
RADULOVIC: Divided society is not necessarily bad, because there can be vitality in politics, there are different ideas and conditions, society can becomes stronger. There are no homogenic societies, but there are destructive divides that quickly turn pathological. We must pay attention to these occurrences, because they can lead to bloodshed, and in the case of such conflicts in Montenegro, there will be no winners.
Montenegro has always been interesting for conquerors, but it is a tough bite to swallow. Many tried and failed, which does not mean they will give up. We must continue our alliance with our partners, that are many in the modern world, and more importantly, they are willing to help.
