EU Ambassador in Montenegro’s Letter of Support to WRC

Ms. Oana Cristina Popa, EU Ambassador to Montenegro, sent a letter of support to Women’s Rights Center regarding our public response to the unacceptably low level of  political representation of women – the declining number of women in the Montenegrin Parliament and the exclusion of women from political negotiations for composing a new Government.

Ambassador Popa stated that gender equality in politics is a matter of democratic representation and that it is unacceptable and unsustainable that more than half of the citizens are not represented in the executive and legislative spheres, emphasizing that without equality there is no prosperity. She also pointed out that gender equality is an important component of negotiations on accession to the European Union and that the EU requires that gender equality be included in policy making at all levels, not only in politics, but also in the economy, business, health, social protection, education, cultures and other areas. The letter also states that her task as the newly appointed EU ambassador to Montenegro will be to provide support to organizations fighting for gender equality in Montenegro and work with the competent institutions to build an equal and just society. In her letter, Ambassador Popa especially emphasizes that in the current atmosphere of political changes and promises of a better future, politicians must move from words to deeds in order to provide women with the place that belongs to them. She added that politicians have a great responsibility in solving the permanent problem of weak political representation and participation of women in Montenegro. “Politics must serve as an example. There is no better time than this now to substantiate words with deeds, in order to build a democratic society based on pluralism, equality and tolerance, “the ambassador emphasized. The Center for Women’s Rights sincerely thanks the EU Ambassador to Montenegro for her support in our fight for gender equality, personal advocacy for women’s rights, and contribution to promoting the importance of equality for the prosperity of society as a whole. We look forward to working together to create a better, more equal future. You can read the correspondence with the EU Ambassador and the Head of the European Union Delegation to Montenegro in the attachment.