Anti-Montenegrin sentiment

After the dissolution of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and the Montenegrin independence that followed, Serbian influence has become more and more apparent. Serbia wields its media influence to spread narratives and disinformation, employing bombastic headlines regarding Montenegro’s development as a country. Serbia also exerts its influence through a church in Montenegro: the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, which is the largest eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Outside of these vectors for influence, the relationship between the two countries is generally cooperative, with ongoing collaboration on many other matters. Serbian tourists visit Montenegro in large numbers. In summer 2019, for example, upwards of 460,000 Serbian tourists visited the country. Because of the tourism industry’s significant importance as a means of national income and the intense Serbian interest in vacationing in the country, the industry is high on the list of targets against which Serbian media spread disinformation, especially in the lead up to the summer season. Many articles from Serbian outlets cast Montenegro as an expensive and unsafe tourist destination with dirty beaches and aggressive locals, featuring headlines such as: “Tourists massively cancel their vacations in Montenegro” and “Snakes came out from the sea and went after people on the Buljarica beach.” Similar propaganda has been observed in prior years, but so far it has not impacted the number of Serbian visitors or the overall tourism economy.[1]

City of Vrbas does not allow official usage of Montenegrin language, although it had constitutional obligation to implement it. So far, the only municipality in Serbia where Montenegrin has the status of official language is Mali Iđoš.[2]

On 2 January 2020, in Belgrade were organised protests in front of Montenegrin embassy, resulting the burning of Montenegrin flag and writing anti-Montenegrin graffiti.[3]

Serbian Minister of Healh Zlatibor Lončar claimed that there are too many Montenegrins and that he tends not to have Montenegrins working in Serbian institutions.[4]

Kosta Čavoški of SANU gave instructions for reducing Montenegrins in 2021 census in Montenegro and in Serbia.[5] Similar opinion on the essence of 2021 cenzus was provided by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.[6]

In Serbia, according to cenzus, the number of Montenegrins in Serbia has been reduced from 120.438 in 1981 to only 38.527 in 2011.

In 2020, Happy TV and TV Pink S were suspended from broadcasting on Montenegrin cable TV by Regulatory media authority for 3 months because their talk-show programs they promoted hatred speech, intolerance and discrimination against members of the Montenegrin nationality.[7]

The rhetoric used during the June 2020 plenary session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska consisted of plenty of nationalistic and anti-Montenegrin positions, along with heavy insults against the highest officials of our state, which most certainly do not contribute to good neighbourly and friendly relations.[8]

Since the nineties, religious figures of Serbian Orthodox Church, including Amfilohije and Irinej dispute existence of Montenegrins as a nation, calling them "the bastards of Milovan Đilas".[9] Also, Serbian Orthodox Church actively criticise the existence of Montenegrin language, calling it as an artificial one.[10]

Russia has meddled in Montenegrin politics as well as Economics. The most glaring example was an attempted coup in October 2016, which appeared to be the work of a Russian-backed opposition coalition in Montenegro — the Democratic Front — and the GRU, according to analysis conducted by Bellingcat and The Insider. Ultimately, the High Court of Montenegro found two Russian citizens, nine Serbian citizens, and three politicians from the Democratic Front guilty of the failed plot. Throughout Montenegro’s NATO integration process, Russian influence has included diplomatic reactions and media attacks against the government, import bans on Montenegrin state-owned winemaker Plantaže, and a boycott by pro-Russian opposition parties of the 2017 NATO membership ratification vote in parliament. But that was not the end of it. In March 2017, Russian state media outlet Rossiya 1 released a short documentary claiming that Montenegro was “dangerous for Russian tourists, with a high risk of contracting infectious diseases,” as well as “dirty beaches, minefields, and political instability, followed by arrests of Russian citizens for unknown reasons.”

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued the negative campaign, citing “a surge of anti-Russian hysteria there (Montenegro)” and stating, “We note the growth of a negative attitude towards Russian business and our compatriots. We do not exclude possible provocations, detention for dubious reasons, attempts to extradite Russian citizens to third countries, especially the United States.” The Russian Federal Tourism Agency used the same line of attack when it urged tour operators to inform customers of the “unfavorable situation” for Russians in Montenegro. Despite these negative narratives on the part of the Russian government, the year ended with more than three million overnight stays in Montenegro by Russian tourists.[1]

Project of Montenegrin language Wikipedia has been actively rejected by the LangCom due to absence of language code for Montenegrin language. In 2017, the language code has been granted, CNR incubator started, however, still the Montenegrin Wikipedia project is being rejected with active pressure of the Serbia-based administrators. By Serbian media, Montenegrin Wikipedia is commented as "written by Ante Pavelić, (Croatian Fascist leader)"[11][12][13][14]

In English Wikipedia, several pages that derogate Montenegrin nation have been created, such as "Controversy over ethnic and linguistic identity in Montenegro", which actively show the Serbian propaganda tools. Serbian Wikipedia shows page titled "Montenegrins" as disambiguation page, claiming that the word should be used as a geographical concept and not a nation.[15]