Reaction to the attack on the premises of the LGBTIQ Drop in Centre

The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights strongly condemns yesterday's attack on the premises of the LGBTIQ Drop in Centre in Podgorica, as well as any other way of promoting attitudes and messages that encourage intolerance and hatred towards others because of any of their peculiarities.

The Ministry calls for respect and acceptance of basic human rights and freedoms of every citizen of Montenegro.

We are a society that is being built in the direction of respecting fundamental values, following the European path of our country and recognizing the consequences of the negative phenomenon of discrimination. Montenegro has made visible progress in the area of respecting the rights and freedoms of the LGBTIQ community and strives to complete the legal framework for their protection. With the support and quality long-term cooperation with the non-governmental organizations and international and domestic partners, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights has improved anti-discrimination policies and is working to raise the awareness of the general and professional public about the importance of respecting and realizing the basic human rights of every citizen in Montenegro.

Isolated outbursts, such as yesterday's attack on the LGBTIQ Drop-in Centre confirm that the challenges are still present, but also that the ever-present hate speech still alerts especially when it is accompanied by fascist motives, as it was in this case.

With the aim of full inclusion of everyone in society, greater respect for human rights and freedoms and reducing hate speech to the lowest possible level, the M            inistry of Human and Minority Rights calls on the competent institutions to find and sanction the perpetrators of this attack as soon as possible.