At the ceremony in villa “Gorica" today, President of the Parliament of Montenegro Mr Darko Pajović presented a total of 2,593 certificates of attendance at the educational programme Democracy Workshops of the Montenegrin Parliament to 54 representatives of Montenegrin primary schools from 17 municipalities.

“Democracy Workshops - Barbara Prammer” is an educational programme of the Parliament of Montenegro, aimed at stimulating young people’s interest in politics and democratic processes and enabling them, through workshops on the topic Democracy and the Parliament, to be informed on the work of MPs and the parliament as an institution. In addition, through workshops on the topic the European Union, the students have the opportunity to be informed on the creation, institutions and the rights of the citizens in the European Union. Workshops on the topic Human Rights enable them to be informed on development of human rights throughout history, with focus on the rights of the child, as well as significant issues such as tolerance, non-discrimination, inter-culturalism, and other issues from this field.

Speaking to attendees of Democracy Workshops on significance of democracy as a special knowledge that must be developed and learned, President of the Parliament of Montenegro said that it includes terms such as civic society, tolerance, political unity, professionalism and responsibility, strong institutions, and the rule of law.

- You have learned in the workshops, I am convinced, that democracy means professionalism and responsibility. Democratic countries are economically developed countries, and you cannot be economically developed if people do not know their jobs which they should do for the benefit of all. Democracy can be developed only if we have strong institutions and the rule of law. The latter, the rule of law, is the word you have often heard, and that is something that you will equally have to strengthen. That word, seemingly complex, means that everyone must observe the laws of their own countries, but also that the law must be equal for everyone - said Mr Pajović.

Democracy Workshops project was first launched in the Austrian Parliament, upon the initiative of the late President of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Austria Ms Barbara Prammer, based on whom Democracy Workshops in Montenegro got their name. In addition to the Parliament of Austria, Montenegrin Parliament is the only one in Europe that implements this kind of programme. So far, nearly 20,000 students of primary schools in Montenegro attended the Democracy Workshops programme.