National council polls - affirmation of Montenegrin minority

PODGORICA - The council of the Montenegrin national minority will for the first time be set up in the elections for national minority councils in Serbia on Sunday, October 26.

The Montenegrin national community of Serbia which gathers 14 associations stated on Friday that the elections are a historic event and underscored that the elections are a recognition of the existence, affirmation and protection of individual and collective identities and values of Montenegrins in Serbia.

Through the elections for national councils, the Montenegrin national minority achieved their citizenship rights and their full significance in the legal order of the Republic of Serbia, states the release issued by the community as quoted by the Montenegrin portal CdM.

The portal recalls that 14 Montenegrin associations have set up a unified list headed by famous academic painter Ratko Soc who was born in Cetinje and is currently living in Vrbas, Serbian province of Vojvodina.

In the immediate elections for national minority councils in Serbia on October 26, 22 lists will run for 17 national minority councils. A total of 454,596 people with the right to vote will cast their ballots at 881 polling stations, while 32,775 Montenegrin, Croatian and Macedonian voters will choose their national councils through electronic assemblies.

The Hungarian national minority has the greatest number of voters registered for the forthcoming elections (137,057) while Czech minority has the smallest number of voters (1,269).

The elections will be monitored by 350 local and 50 foreign observers, including observers from the European Commission, OSCE and foreign embassies.