When reflecting on the 1990s, most citizens link that decade with war, bombings, and inflation.

Damir Suljević, coordinator of the “Human Rights” program, highlighted this during the unveiling of a public opinion survey that assessed citizens’ understanding of the events and perspectives concerning the 1990s in Montenegro and the surrounding region.

The “Damar” Institute conducted the survey on behalf of the Center for Civic Education (CCE) with a sample size of 1,000 respondents between January 21 and 29.

According to Suljević, this era is predominantly associated with negative memories.

“Conversely, very few respondents have positive recollections, which mainly relate to music (3.9 percent),” Suljević clarified.

He noted that 60 percent of the people surveyed consider the events of the 1990s as significant for contemporary society.

“About 30 percent hold a neutral stance, while only 11 percent deem the decade as unimportant,” he explained further.

Regarding whether young people should learn about the 1990s, around 67 percent of citizens emphasized the importance of formal education on this subject.

“A little under half of the respondents (45 percent) reported having heard of the anti-war movement, while 43 percent were unaware of its existence,” Suljević added.

More than half of the participants (54.7 percent) indicated that the ideologies underpinning the war crimes and conflicts are still prevalent in Montenegro.

Suljević mentioned that approximately four-fifths of those surveyed were aware of the attack on Dubrovnik in October 1991.

“Among those familiar with the Dubrovnik attack, 57 percent believe it was not a justifiable military operation… Additionally, many respondents are unaware of the number of Montenegrin lives lost during the Dubrovnik attack,” Suljević remarked.

Ivana Matanović, a program associate at CCE, stated that nearly half of the respondents (49.7 percent) believe that war crimes were committed in Montenegro.

“Most respondents are aware of the crimes in Štrpci, Bukovica, and the Morinj camp… However, only five percent recognized the case of the Klapuh family,” Matanović noted.

She also revealed that more than 65 percent of those knowledgeable about Srebrenica consider it to be genocide.

“Half of them believe that a crime took place, while less than a third see it merely as war and suffering,” she added.

The majority of respondents were also informed about NATO’s intervention in the FRY, with 86 percent aware of it.

“Most believe that Montenegro has yet to confront its wartime history from the 1990s (91 percent)…,” she pointed out.

Most participants, as reported, were acquainted with the rulings of international courts regarding war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

“Almost half of the respondents (47 percent) feel that the Montenegrin judiciary lacks the capability to handle war crime prosecutions,” they expressed during the survey presentation.

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