Montenegro Succumbed to Ethno-nationalism Without Resistance

The radicalization of, and extremism in, society has significantly intensified since 2012. It has become especially apparent since 2015, with the beginning of the anti-NATO protests of the opposition Democratic Front. Only those who saw their political opportunity in these protests failed to notice.

A smaller part of society wants finally to see things being called by their proper name, and see their heroes - war criminals from several different periods - finally get their deserved place in history. They want to see Montenegro become a clerical society, in which priests preach, mullahs mull, and others blindly follow. 

A second part of society sees in the first one an opportunity for a demonstration exercise - showing what society would look like if they came to power - therefore cementing their own rule for the next 30 years. 

And the third, civic and progressive part of the society, ashamed of both the first and the second, withdraws and keeps quiet. This is the part that is dominant in Montenegro, in terms of both numbers and quality.

This silence, passivity, and lack of reaction of the best and brightest in the society has brought us to our current situation in which the only state in the region whose independence movement was not predominantly nationalistic is now experiencing a flourishing of ethno-nationalism that is increasingly turning into fascism.

In relation to these phenomena, we have allowed a vicious circle of half-done "reactions" from those who occasionally get peeved by certain incidents. Most of these "reactions" are directed against their opponents - whoever they happen to be in a given configuration; very few people react against the real danger - which is any form of ethno-nationalism, clericalism, or fascism.