Author: Bojan Drincic

The event “Referendum caravan” which was launched on February 20 aims to attract the attention of the international community to the problem of Montenegrin people’s plebiscite violation and make Montenegro’s leadership hold a referendum on joining NATO.

The event will last 12 days and will be held as motor rally from Podgorica through Kosovska Mitrovica, then Skopje, Belgrade, Banka Luka and Zagreb, Ljubljana, Vienna, Prague and Berlin. The end point of the route will be Brussels, where NATO headquarters is located.

Montenegrin social and political activist, head of “Resistance to Hopelessness” movement Marko Milacic is the organizer of “Referendum caravan”. According to him the participants of the event intend to show to the international community that democracy in Montenegro is just an illusion.

Violence becomes an open dictatorship in which opposition and all those who criticize the country’s leadership or advocate neutrality and favor a referendum are prosecuted.

According to Montenegrin government’s official position the people of the country fully support the actions of its leadership including the issue of North Atlantic integration, and street protests are just a performance of the opposition.

However, 84% of citizens stand for holding a popular vote on the accession of Montenegro to NATO. Therefore the republic’s leadership is trying to “rush” the decision on the accession to the alliance through Parliament in which it has the majority of votes.

If the government really cared about public opinion, the vote would have already taken place. However, the harsh suppression of demonstrations and attempts to isolate all opponents from the opportunity to influence the decision-making in the country testifies to the absence of democracy. This idea the participants of “Referendum caravan” will try to convey to the leadership of the European countries and the Western community.

Bojan Drinci is a freelance journalist, his opinion does not represent the editorial stance.