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The results of the 2023 census in Montenegro were announced on Tuesday. They show that the majority of the small country's population identifies as Montenegrin, about 41%.

The count shows a decline in Montenegrins compared to the last census in 2011, when about 45% identified themselves as Montenegrins. Last year's census shows that the proportion of citizens identifying as Serbs increased by more than four percent and now reaches 33 percent.

Of the remainder, 9.45% are Bosniaks, 4.97% Albanians, 2.06% Russians and 1.63% Muslims. 2.88% of the population did not want to declare their ethnicity. The results were published by the Statistical Office of Montenegro. MONSTA.

Like the rest of the Balkans, Montenegro's ethnic composition has long been a sensitive issue, particularly since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Issues of ethnicity and nationality therefore play an important political role in the disclosure of census results.

Montenegro separated from Serbia in 2006, making it the last republic to secede from the former Yugoslavia. And although Serbia and Montenegro maintain relatively good relations, ethnic tensions remain present in the Western Balkans.

As the population of Serbs in Montenegro continues to grow, this could have an impact on pro-Serb politics in the country as well as that of Montenegrin nationalists.