“It is my honour and pleasure, on behalf of the Parliament of Montenegro and on my own behalf, to greet you at the beginning of today’s Conference”.

The state of Montenegro has passed a long way in the recent period from the time when individuals were the defence of violated human and minority rights and the protection for the whole collectives, up to the present circumstances, where we have established government institutions dealing with improvement and protection of human rights. On that path, lasting for decades, the social awareness has raised in Montenegro about the fact that there are minority groups, individuals and collectives who need protection, as well as minorities striving for affirmation and institutions with presence of their representatives.

Observation of human rights and diversity affirmation ambient is the foundation of every free and democratic society. Devoted work on institutional strengthening of human rights protection is an obligation of all segments of society, and the first step on that path is the legislation governing this area.

After the Constitution, where a regulation governing the field of human and minority rights is based in a significant part, the Parliament adopted several laws, directly or indirectly promoting this area, and adoption of it was assessed as very important in the analysis and recommendations of our European partners, thus we earned the opening of negotiations with the European Union.

The good foundation to build institutions on has been created through legislative regulations in the field of human and especially minority rights protection, anti-discrimination laws and especially through the Law on Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms. Power, strength and capacity of those institutions depend on our real power to implement legal decisions in practice. Here it is necessary further to improve the role of the Parliament in the way more and better to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the adopted laws as well as review their efficiency and evaluate their effectiveness.

Therefore, we are all aware that legislation, set strategy and ratification of international documents and conventions are not sufficient by themselves. It takes a lot more than that - creating full awareness of the society that minorities represent the part of our social reality and that it is necessary to show more understanding and sensitivity in everyday life.

It can be said that minority institutions - minority councils - got their place and become recognizable institutions in society despite their initial disorientation, as well as the perceived harsh treatment by the state, when the budget is concerned. Despite the lack of funds and numerous dilemmas on the manner of regulating their functioning, Minority Fund and the Centre for the Preservation of Minority Culture have become the support to many significant projects for the preservation of the national, linguistic, cultural and religious identity of minorities. Of course, those are new institutions, in need for special care and attention. Possible disorientation or deficient should be an incentive to seek new and better solutions that will improve their functioning, and not a reason furiously to rant at them. We have to fight jointly these institutions to keep gaining strength and importance, as their strengthening provides a clearer vision of minority policy and strengthens the cohesion of society, resulted from the confidence of minorities in their institutions and the country they live in.

Electoral legislation created a mechanism for authentic minority representation in the Parliament. The fact is that this electoral law has reached almost full consensus, but the little it lacked, implies that these mechanisms should be further improved through better decisions at the state and local level, where it has not been done.

We are witnesses that adopted legislation, particularly in the field of protection of minority rights, is slowly taking root in practice, and that it is necessary to provide additional mechanisms to protect the rights of minority ethnic communities, in line with the Constitution. This is especially related to the provision of proportional representation of minorities in state and local institutions, and all branches of government. We think that numerous visible and measurable progress should be made regarding that, as integration of minorities depends primarily on their presence in decision-making process.

Finally, instead of a conclusion - statement: Since the restoration of its statehood, Montenegro has made significant progress in the field of human rights and institution building. Further construction of Montenegro as a democratic society and a society of diversity affirmation, largely depends on the achievements of the Parliament, whether it is about the legislation adoption or strengthening of its ability to exercise control or oversight law enforcement, especially regarding minority and human rights. “