Veljko Milatović ( Serbo-Croat

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: Вељко Милатовић; 5 December 1921 – 19 October 2004) was a Montenegrin

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

, politician, statesman serving once as the Speaker and twice as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

.History
Parliament of Montenegro

Biography

Milatović was born on 5 December 1921 in

Nikšić Nikšić (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Никшић, ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 32,046 (2023 census) located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa ...

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

(later

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

). He got the surname Milatović from his mother's side, rather than the surname from his father's side, which was Čakmak. This was due to the fact that Veljko's father (who moved to the village of Vinići near

Danilovgrad Danilovgrad (Cyrillic: Даниловград) is a town in central Montenegro. It has a population of 6,852, according to the 2011 census. It is situated in the Danilovgrad Municipality which lies along the main route between Montenegro's two la ...

after getting married) took his wife's surname for aesthetic reasons. In 1941 when the

Axis forces The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

invaded his country, 20-year-old Veljko joined the Communist Partisans during the Anti-Fascist Struggle. He was appointed in fighting and rooting out the Nazi collaborators in the Civil War. He was a fierce opponent of the

Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

. In 1947 he ambushed with his unit

Krsto Zrnov Popović Krsto (Cyrillic script: Крсто), also Krste or Krǎstyo is a South Slavic masculine given name. * Krsto Papić, Croatian film director * Krsto Ungnad, Ban of Croatia * Krsto Zrnov Popović, Montenegrin soldier * Fran Krsto Frankopan, Croatian ...

in his hideout and killed him. In 1967 he was introduced into major political life by getting elected President of the People's Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro, with the significant structural changes in Montenegrin leadership. In 1968 he headed the 25th anniversary of the Montenegrin partisan parliament, in

Kolašin Kolašin (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Колашин, ) is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 2,989 (2003 census). Kolašin is the centre of Kolašin Municipality (population 9,949) and an unofficial centre of Morača region, nam ...

. A special guest on the celebration was his acquiesce Jakov Blažević, the Speaker of the Croatian Socialist Parliament. In the speech that Veljko held, he claimed that Montenegro "capitulated twice in its history – in 1916 and in 1918", causing quite a quarrel in the festivity, as the war-time MPs spoke against considering the 1918 unification with Serbia as occupation. Milatović was personally for favoring the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

script, rather than the

, the dominant script in Montenegro. He held his post until 1969. Veljko Milatović terminated the close cooperation of the Montenegrin national television with TV Belgrade and established close links with the Zagreb TV. He appointed Momir Šljukić to take over the new TV station's directive. A noticeable thing was the applied Croaticization of the speech, and the commercials for the Montenegrin world were originally made in Croatia. In 1974 he was appointed Chairman of the Montenegrin Presidency. The same year he became one of the key people within the Commission for Njegoš's Monument, designated to design a Museum for

Petar II Petrović-Njegoš Petar II Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyrl, Петар II Петровић-Његош, ; – ), commonly referred to simply as Njegoš (), was a List of rulers of Montenegro, Prince-Bishop (''vladika'') of Montenegro, poet and philosopher whose ...

which was about to be built in the place of his Chapel raised by Danilo that was to be destroyed, despite his personal promises to the Serbian Orthodox Church's Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral that no such move shall be taken as long as he's alive. This move was found particularly controversial by the pro-Serbian elements in Montenegro, as Njegoš's Chapel was seen as a symbol to the Serbdom of Montenegro: according to them, it signified Serbian-Montenegrin friendship and common ethnic origins and was the supreme national symbol of Montenegro and the Montenegrins, actually depicted on the official Emblem (Coat of Arms) of Communist Montenegro. However, Milatović made an arrangement with the SOC that it can hold memorial service in the new museum. On 31 January 1981 on a special session of the Commission of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Montenegro, he held his long work, a "strategic initiative". Unlike his predecessor that led Communism in Montenegro, Blažo Jovanović, Veljko did not consider the

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

. In his thesis, he explained that there was a constant indoctrination of the Montenegrins in the past 100 years that they were Serbs, but that that pro-Serbian ideology was defeated with the demise of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland during and after the Second World War. He defined that that Montenegrin history is full of false beliefs and that a mass critic correction is required. He supposed searching for non-Serbian assistance to conduct such purification of the historical science and defined that the actions to de-Serbify the Montenegrins must be taken in three points:

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. The critical reception of his proposal was somewhat criticized, since a part of the Partisans actually considered the Montenegrins as Serbs during World War II. The same year Veljko Milatović was a participant in the discussion about Špiro Kulišić's controversial work "On the Ethnogenesis of the Montenegrins", which defined the uniqueness of the Montenegrin people, in the Montenegrin Communist League's Marxist Center. He defended the work and attacked the center's head Nenad Bućin for organizing a discussion in the first place, stating that it immediately questions the validity of the work. In the actual discussion Veljko refused to comment Špiro's work itself, but highly criticized its critics, calling them intolerant. On 12 June 1981, Veljko Milatović opened his report in the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of 13 July Uprising, defining the growing special links between

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and Albania and how they are becoming closer. Upon the discussions regarding the terror over the

and the growth of anti-Yugoslav irredentist rhetoric, Veljko responded that a calm attitude must be pertained above all else, as he is planning to open the question of the status of the Montenegrin national minority in the

Socialist People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the P ...

. He died on 19 October 2004 in

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Херцег Нови, ) is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of ...

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

.Umro visoki dužnosnik bivše SFRJ Veljko Milatović
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milatovic, Veljko 1921 births 2004 deaths Anti-fascists Yugoslav Partisans members Presidents of Montenegro League of Communists of Montenegro politicians Montenegrin communists Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Recipients of the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Members of the Presidency of the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Presidency of the 12th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 12th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia