Albanians in Montenegro are calling for guaranteed seats in the Montenegrin Parliament, highlighting persistent issues with minority representation in the country. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development, Nik Gjeloshaj, acting on behalf of the Albanian community, has sent letters to EU ambassadors in Podgorica and representatives of other international partners, urging formal protections for Albanians in the political system.
In the letter, Gjeloshaj emphasized that Albanians are the only non-Slavic autochthonous national and linguistic minority in Montenegro, contributing to the country’s identity and development for centuries.
The Albanian Forum stressed that current representation depends on electoral thresholds and fragmented votes, offering no constitutional or legal guarantees, which they argue is incompatible with European standards and a source of ongoing political instability.
The letter points to European precedents: in Slovenia, Italian and Hungarian minorities—together less than 0.5% of the population—each have a guaranteed parliamentary seat and veto rights on laws affecting their communities (Constitution, Article 64). In Croatia, the Serb minority, around 4.4% of the population, has three guaranteed mandates, with five additional seats reserved for other minorities.
Albanians in Montenegro comprise approximately 5% of the population, significantly larger than the minorities in Slovenia, yet have no guaranteed representation in Parliament. According to the Albanian Forum, their political weight is effectively reduced to electoral arithmetic, ignoring both their demographic significance and historical contributions, while undermining the European standards Montenegro aims to uphold.
The Forum proposes amendments to electoral legislation to guarantee at least four parliamentary mandates for Albanians, along with veto rights for Albanian deputies on laws directly affecting minority rights and freedoms.
