Population census in Montenegro started

According to the 2011 census, five years after the restoration of Montenegrin independence, about 45 percent of the population declared themselves Montenegrins, and 29 percent were Serbs.
More than three thousand enumerators went door-to-door on Sunday morning to enumerate the Montenegrin population and households, reports Hina.
"Participation in the census means the determination of each individual to ensure the basis for a better future based on accurate data", said the Montenegrin statistical agency Monstat and informed that the enumerators will be in the field for the next 15 days and collect data from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Previously, both the government and the opposition said that all conditions were met for the start of the population census, the second since the restoration of Montenegrin independence.
The census in Montenegro was announced for November 1, but the new government of Milojko Spajić postponed it to November 30, due to threats from the opposition to boycott it because there are no members of the census commissions.
After that, the Montenegrin government and representatives of the Montenegrin opposition and the Council of Minorities in Montenegro signed the Census Agreement last week, which, among other things, foresees the expansion of census commissions, the control of the input of collected data, the development of software for their verification, and the prohibition of parties to carry out a campaign related to with the list.
Pressures from pro-Serbian parties and the Serbian Orthodox Church
Questions about nationality and language made the census a political issue, primarily due to the counting on a national basis, although the European statistics agency Eurostat had previously recommended to Montenegrin colleagues to leave the question out of the questionnaire.
The basic question used by politicians is who is the majority population of Montenegro and what language is spoken by most of the inhabitants.
According to the 2011 census, five years after the restoration of Montenegrin independence, about 45 percent of the population declared themselves Montenegrins, and 29 percent were Serbs.
However, when it comes to language, the situation is different. Almost 43 percent of Montenegrin residents declared that they spoke Serbian, and 37 percent spoke Montenegrin.
Precisely because of these issues, the census campaign in Montenegro during October resembled an election campaign, and in particular, the pressure on citizens to declare themselves as Serbs was exerted by pro-Serbian political parties, but also by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
During his visit to Podgorica in mid-October, the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Porfirije called on the citizens to "express their identity as believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church, speakers of the Serbian language and as honorable members of the Serbian people."
Minorities make up a fifth of the population of Montenegro
In Montenegro, according to the 2011 census, about 18 percent of Muslims who declare themselves as Bosniaks, Muslims, Albanians and Montenegrins live in Montenegro.
Thus, in 2011, there were 8.5 percent of Bosniaks in Montenegro, but also three percent of Muslims who say that they are the autochthonous Islamized population of Montenegro whose homeland is Montenegro and whose language is Montenegrin.
Other members of the Islamic religion - about 6.5 percent of them - declared themselves as Albanians or Montenegrins.
According to data from 2011, 5.5 percent of the population of Montenegro spoke the Bosnian language, and the same percentage of those who declared that they spoke the Albanian language.
According to the 2011 census, Croats make up 0.97 percent of the population of Montenegro, while 0.45 percent of the population declares that they speak the Croatian language.
A large number of foreigners
This year's census could show that the population of Montenegro has increased significantly, primarily due to the large number of Russians, Ukrainians and Turks who have moved to Montenegro.
According to the 2011 census, Montenegro has 620,000 inhabitants, but it is estimated that in the last few years more than 100,000 foreigners have moved to that country and that they now make up almost 15 percent of the country's population.
The number of Russians and Ukrainians increased sharply with the beginning of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and the migration of Turks began in 2016 after the failed coup in that country, so, according to unofficial data, about 17,000 Turkish citizens are currently registered in Montenegro.
The results of the census in Montenegro will be known no earlier than six months after completion.
M.J.