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Vuković: Freedom is an absolute category, the Capital provides full support to the LGBTQ population

Today, the Mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vuković, PhD, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with representatives of NGO representing the rights of LGBTQ people in Montenegro. On that occasion, Mayor Vuković pointed out that the memorandum is a matter of trust, but also the result of previous successful cooperation with the LGBTQ community.

"We see the memorandum of cooperation that we signed as an expression of trust of non-governmental organizations dealing with protection, promotion of interests and everything that is important for LGBTQ people in Montenegro, and bearing in mind that we have been successfully cooperating on various projects for a long time, we see it as a logical continuation of that cooperation", Mayor Vuković pointed out and added that the Capital is committed with the Local action plan for social inclusion to pay due attention to these issues in accordance with what are the best European practices and obligations on integrated planning.

"However, even if we didn’t have that document, and didn’t have any formal legal obligations of that kind, and even if Montenegro wasn’t a candidate for membership in the European Union, and therefore didn’t have a part of obligations in the field of human rights protection related to this population, I think that our obligation as of a state and city administration would not be any less", Vuković emphasized.

He reminded the representatives of non-governmental organizations that in the current city administration they always have a friend and partner and that freedom belongs to all citizens of Montenegro.

"We, from the city administration, perceive freedom as an absolute category, as something that is indivisible and while there is one man in Montenegro who is not free and does not feel that way, I think that none of us has the right to say that he is completely free", the Mayor emphasized.

He said that the doors of local government will always be open to all representatives of the LGBTQ population.

"This is not a political obligation, it is not a declarative position, because we are not interested in whether we will gain or lose some political points because of this, nor are we occupied with what our partners will think, we are here to ensure that all people in Podgorica, preferably throughout the whole Montenegro, enjoy equal rights and feel comfortable, love those they love and be proud of it and if possible be happy about it, and everything else we are committed to will come itself ", Mayor Vuković concluded.

The representative of the NGO Queer Montenegro, Danijel Kalezić, thanked Mayor Vuković for his support on behalf of the NGOs that signed the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Capital today, adding that they rarely have the opportunity to hear such sincere words of support from politicians and decision makers which are not politically motivated.

"I thank the Capital for the cooperation so far and for understanding that we are working together in this process because many people in this city cannot live their lives freely and I am glad that Podgorica, especially the Capital and all city services are at the forefront of these processes.”

He reminded that non-governmental organizations have been initiating procedures since 2015 to decentralize their activities from the level of the Government to local self-governments and to start working in all cities on improvement of the quality of LGBTQ people in everyday life.

"In that sense, it is a pleasure that we have been cooperating with the Capital for a long time successfully, and that we will continue our cooperation more concretely, perhaps in a more formal way, in relation to things we have expressed our will to work on in the future", Kalezić  said and expressed his belief that through cooperation with all city services, people in Podgorica, but also throughout Montenegro, will live more freely, and thus happier.