A N A LY S I S DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS THE CHALLENGES OF NATIONAL IDENTITY POLITICS IN WESTERN EUROPE Learning from the Montenegrin Example Intensified immigration and demographic factors have led to an increased ethnic and religious heteroge ­neity of West European socie ­ties and pushed the national identity issue to the forefront of political debate, thereby causing a conflict over criteria for membership in the nation. The rise of national identity politics has the potential to se ­riously jeopardize Western lib ­eral democracies since identity conflicts are usually followed by intense partisan polarisa ­tion and could be misused to undermine constitutional or ­der and subvert democratic institutions. Filip Milačić November 2019 There are three key lessons that West European political actors could learn from Mon ­tenegrin example: the political inclusion of minorities leads to their stronger identification with a country and maximises their loyalty; a successful forg ­ing of national identity based on common values is also pos ­sible in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country; by allowing the possibility of multiple identities, society becomes stronger.