Na poziv Savezne Unije Evropskih manjina, predsjednik udruženja ZCGA i predstavnik Crnogorske manjine u Albaniji g. Marinko Ćulafić učestvovao je na 66. Kongresu ove organizacije koji je održan u Berlinu od 29.09.2022. do 2.10.2022. Prvog dana Kongresa g. Ćulafić je zajedno sa grupom delegata posjetio Njemački Parlament, gdje ih je primila poslanica Denise Loope iz stranke Zelenih. On je njemačkog poslanika upoznao sa istorijom crnogorske manjine u Albaniji, aktuelnim problemima itd.
Ćulafić je imao i susrete sa visokim predstavnicima manjina, među kojima je bratski razgovor sa Predsjednikom FUEN-a g. Lorant Vincze, koji je i poslanik u Evropskom Parlamentu.
Predsjednik udruženja “Zajednica Crnogoraca u Albaniji” je 1. oktobra održao govor pred delegatima Kongresa, prvi govor predstavnika crnogorske manjine u dugoj istoriji FUEN-a. Govor je bio dugo aplaudiran od strane delegata Kongresa koji su jednoglasno glasali za članstvo udruženja “Zajednica Crnogoraca u Albaniji” u FUEN-u.
U nastavku možete pronaći cijeli govor predsjednika ZCGA:
SPEECH OF THE CHAIRMAN OF ZCGA ASSOCIATION Mr. MARINKO CULAFIC
Dear President of FUEN Mr. Lorant Vinçe!
Dear Vice President Mr. Vladimir Han
Dear delegates and representatives of minorities who are present at the 66th Congress of FUEN!
First, I want to thank the organizers of this important event for the invitation. My name is Marinko Culafic and I come to this congress as the President of the “Montenegrin Community in Albania” association, but also as a legal representative of the Montenegrin minority in the Committee for National Minorities in the Republic of Albania.
Today, I have the honor and pleasure to be the first representative of the Montenegrin minority to give a speech in the long history of FUEN. Also, if voted by the delegates, our association “Montenegrin Community in Albania” will be the first association of a Montenegrin minority to become a member of FUEN.
Now, I want to briefly introduce the minority that I represent.
The Montenegrin minority is one of the oldest minorities in the Republic of Albania, located mainly in the northern part on the border with Montenegro. For historical reasons, after the forcible incorporation of Montenegro in 1918 into the then Kingdom of Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian and then into Yugoslavia, and after 1991 into the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro, this minority is recognized by law until 2017 as the Serbo-Montenegrin minority. But in 2006, after a referendum, Montenegro was declared an independent sovereign state, and there began efforts to recognize the Montenegrin minority as a separate minority. Finally, in 2017, the Albanian Parliament recognized the Montenegrin minority by law alongside the other minorities in Albania.
It was at this moment that I took the initiative and together with a group of prominent Montenegrin minority intellectuals we created the “Montenegrin Community in Albania” association. Our association these 5 years of its existence has had a very rich program with activities and important meetings with the high head of the Albanian state. The main purpose of this program was and is the research, discovery and promotion of historical figures and events that have left their mark on Albanian society. Also, our association has continuously fought for the rights of the Montenegrin minority in the framework of the law on national minorities in the Republic of Albania.
I would like to emphasize here that the Montenegrin minority, although small in number, has historically played an important role in the development of Albanian society, producing outstanding figures in the fields of education, science, literature, music, sports, etc. In honor of the contribution they have made, I would like to mention some of the most prominent names such as the Albanian football legends of the 80s and 90s, the Krcic brothers, the sisters Diana and Snezhana Soskic and Marina Culafic in basketball, the well-known writer Drago Silic, the doctor Ali Suknic, the distinguished professors Drago Rashović, Boro Soskic, Vllado Culafic, the well-known activists for the rights of Montenegrins in the city of Shkodra Blagoje Zlaticanin, Miljana Dabovic, Milan Zlaticanin, Burhan Culiq, etc.
I cannot fail to mention here my grandfather Milovan Culafic (Tatko) who until the end of his life played a unifying role for the Montenegrins of Albania and their most dignified representation in Albanian society!
Also, the Montenegrins living in the Republic of Albania have resisted the challenges and efforts that have been made to assimilate them in different periods of history. Unfortunately, these challenges still continue today with the efforts made by third parties outside Albania. By becoming part of FUEN with your vote, I believe that the Montenegrin Minority in Albania will have an important shield to protect their rights in the future!
We Montenegrins associate the city of Berlin with a very important historical event. On July 13, 1878, the Congress held by the Great Powers in Berlin recognized Montenegro as an independent state from the Turkish Empire. I hope that this Congress held by FUEN here in Berlin today will remain in the history of the Montenegrin minority as the congress where for the first time an association of this minority becomes an integral part of the big family of the Federal Union of European Minorities.
I thank you for your attention and I hope that with your vote today the “Montenegrin Community in Albania” association will become a member of FUEN.
Thank you very much!
Berlin, 01.10.2022
Be the first to comment