In his report on Montenegro (Main news, July 6), Tom Hundley swallows whole the myths that there is one, united Serb nation and that national identities are immutable and are objectively (rather than subjectively) determined. He states matter-of-factly that “most Montenegrins are Serbs” and that “for a brief time before World War I, Montenegro was an independent nation.”
Actually, the modern state of Montenegro has an older pedigree than the modern state of Serbia, even enjoying autonomy in the latter centuries of Ottoman rule thanks to its inaccessibility high in the rugged mountains.
A theocratic state ruled by Orthodox bishops from the early 16th Century until the mid-19th Century, it has a historical tradition that provides the basis for a separate identity for its people to turn to when a common Serb identity proves to be not in their interest, which seems to be the case now.
