The young fighter lost his match the night before last. Many people in Montenegro were disappointed, but many others were happy. I was disappointed the night before last, but also long before Milos stepped into the octagon.

Milos is a Serb, but he considers Montenegro to be his country. In his own way, which he has every right to do. Montenegro is no more mine, or the country of someone who was at Belvedere, than it is Milos Janicic’s or Vladislav Dajkovic’s.

Some people see Montenegro one way, others see it another. What matters is that we understand that the piece of land we live on should always come first, whatever our other loyalties may be and however many of them we have.

Above all, I am glad that Milos chose to fight for Montenegro. I saw the Montenegrin national flag displayed on the big screen, which, as I understand it, Milos refuses to carry, choosing instead to carry the tricolour flag, which he believes to be the flag of the Kingdom of Montenegro. Again, no matter how much I or anyone else may disagree, Milos has every right to do that.

The fact that it is not actually the Kingdom’s tricolour, but an adaptation of the flag created by the Socialist People’s Party (SNP) together with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) after the referendum defeat, is a completely different matter. The same goes for the so-called Gaeta flag, which did not exist in Gaeta but was created in the 1990s based on a medal awarded for participation in the Christmas Uprising. I have yet to see evidence to the contrary. Even so, I personally feel closer to that flag, I keep it in my room, and I have every right to do so.

I have made a great effort to understand the young Janicic, because I sincerely believe that we can only understand one another if we try to explain certain things to each other and keep talking. Milos is not a politician or the creator of harmful narratives. He interprets Montenegro’s history based on his own experiences, surroundings and influences. Just as each of us does.

So, what do I hold against Milos, if I have this much understanding for him, understanding for which I will likely be criticised by many on the political and ideological side to which I belong?

I object to his intolerance. The intolerance he has shown toward more than half of his fellow citizens who are not Serbs, or rather those who are critical of Serbia’s influence in Montenegro. His intolerance toward the country’s official state symbols, which are older than the tricolour he considers his own. His intolerance toward people of a different sexual orientation. His intolerance toward those who believe Kosovo is, and should remain, an independent state.

He does not have to agree with any of these positions, but he must show tolerance if he wants to represent the entire country, rather than just one part of it. He can, of course, do whatever he wants, but then he should not expect the entire country to support him, and that would be a shame.

Tolerance is something we all have to learn, however difficult it may be. It would not be called tolerance if it meant reacting to something pleasant. I find many of the actions of Serbian Orthodox Church clergy and Serbian politicians in Montenegro unpleasant. But I have to practice patience every day. We live in the same house. Unless we intend to blow it up from within, we have to find another way.

Just as in a family, unless things descend into pathology or violence, we have to learn to live with our differences. That is perhaps my biggest criticism of Serbian nationalism in Montenegro: that it is intolerant and unwilling to accept others. It strives for complete dominance. A Serbian Montenegro, or an Albanian Ulcinj, as Gjeloshaj put it, or a Croatian or Serbian Bay of Kotor, is not the path we should follow. Montenegro is the home of everyone who lives here; it does not need adjectives for anyone to feel more comfortable.

For those surprised by this text, here are a few earlier attempts to stress the need for mutual understanding, which requires respect rather than forced equivalence or assimilation of the kind advocated by Fedja Pavlovic and the self-styled “reconcilers”:

Who Divides Montenegro? (2022)

The Securitization of Montenegrin Identity (2025)

(Columnists’ opinions and views do not necessarily reflect those of the CdM editorial board)