Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 16/11/2021
We have seen countless times that nationalism is one of the most critical drivers of false news. Such news has a special passage between the countries in the region due to the lack of language barriers. This time, fake news are emerging from online media in neighboring Serbia.
The website called “Nacionalist”, which has found its place in our analyzes several times, published an article on the Draft Law on the Census in Montenegro, followed by the title:
“THE GOAL IS TO MAKE SERBS INVISIBLE: The draft law on the census has not been sent to Brussels yet, nor is it known when it will be in the Assembly”.
The text states that it is almost impossible to organize a census by the end of the year and that it is uncertain when the Parliament of Montenegro will deal with this issue. They also see the reasons for the delay in the following:
“Pressures of Montenegrin nationalists seeking a census without key questions about religion, nation, language, which is clearly directed against citizens of Serbian nationality and worshippers of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Requests not to collect data on ethnic and religious affiliation, as well as on language, are justified by Montenegro’s future obligations, which “imply that censuses are conducted in a registration manner”, without a statement from citizens”.
Where is the truth?
Certainly, the initiative’s goal sent by non-governmental organizations is not “to make Serbs invisible” nor is it “directed against the worshippers of the Serbian Orthodox Church”. It is clearly stated that issues of religion, nation and language should be excluded from the census due to the extremely unstable socio-political situation and lack of trust in institutions, and that the census can be organized in October next year at the earliest.
Also, it is clear that the proposal does not represent “a pressure from Montenegrin nationalists” nor that “Montenegrin nationalists” demanded the omission of these issues, but Juventas Executive Director Ivana Vujovic, StarsUP Executive Director Sanja Baltic, Executive Director of the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) Dragan Koprivica, co-owner of DeFacto agency Olivera Komar, executive director of DAMAR agency Vuk Cedjenovic, president of the Management Board of the Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI) Zlatko Vujovic and director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) Milena Besic.
The Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare organized a public debate on the Draft Law on the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2021. It lasted from September 13 to October 3. After that, a report was made, which contains a response to the proposed amendments to the law.
It said it rejected an initiative to omit religion, nation and language issues from the list, launched by the Center for Democratic Transition, which was supported by a number of NGOs. According to the document, this was proposed due to the unstable socio-political situation and lack of trust in institutions.
At the same time, the proposal to delete the year 2021 from the title and text of the Draft Law on Census was accepted, which raised the question of whether the census will be held this year.
The text by “Nacionalist” also contains some accurate information, which refers to the statement of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic about his expectation that the census will be held next year and that the draft law will be ready for the members of the parliament around November 20.
When all this is considered, the news receives a rating for “misinformation”.
The rating “misinformation” is given to a media report that contains a “mixture” of facts and inaccurate or semi-true content. In such cases, the media are not necessarily aware of the inaccurate information published along with the truth. Also, this assessment will be given to reports that have false attributions or titles that do not reflect the text in terms of the accuracy of information.