As part of its project before the European elections in June 2024: 'The Union in all its states - Reinventing the Deal', the IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations) publishes (from November 2023 to March-April 2024) the ideas of Europe's thinkers on what drives the political debates in different member states, about the project that the EU should support and the way in which the ecological transition articulates with social and economic movements.
Montenegro, wanting to join the EU, aims to become a laboratory for ecological transition. The Prince of Montenegro, Nikola Petrović Njegoš, explores the country's expectations from the EU in this blog post, emphasizing its natural wealth and commitment to the Green Agenda. He hereby calls for European cooperation for the realization of innovative and sustainable projects, which would anchor Montenegro in the European and ecological vision.
Despite current crises and uncertainties (ecological, economic, political and democratic, armed conflicts in the environment), Montenegro is projecting itself into the future, and EU accession is one of the key levers of this vision. Among the acceding countries, Montenegro has the potential to become a laboratory of ecological transition and thus find its own special place in Europe, but also among countries whose small size allows them to launch particularly daring challenges in this area. The European Green Agenda and the possibility of accession will play a central role in supporting such a project. In this context, what are Montenegro's expectations from the next mandate of the European Commission?
"Montenegro - Ecological State": historical heritage and potentials
Montenegro covers 13.500 km2 between the sea and the mountains and has 650.000 inhabitants. It is the first country that, on September 20, 1991, defined itself as an "ecological state" in its Constitution. However, the Yugoslav conflict, the embargo that followed and the difficulties of an unplanned transition led to the forgetting of this obligation, which today takes on full meaning due to the urgency of the fight against global warming. Faced with the uncontrolled development of urbanization and tourism in recent years, an ecological state has become a necessity for many of us and our only hope that we will be able to preserve its greatest asset, the exceptional nature, and free Montenegro from the rivalries and conflicts that paralyze it, offering it a project, a desirable and a sustainable future.
In the past, the natural ecosystems of Montenegro and its exceptional areas enabled the country to protect itself and maintain its independence; they are the ones who inspired the project of the ecological state. In addition, the country has natural resources such as mines (bauxite, iron, lignite), abundant watercourses, forest that covers more than 60% of the territory, as well as a coastline of 250 kilometers with several exceptional sites including a large commercial port.
The difficult transition between a static bureaucracy, a model of "socialism with a human face" that was unable to adapt, and primitive capitalism opened up too many opportunities to impose identity issues that became dominant in the former Yugoslavia, i.e. in its former republics. However, the small size of Montenegro, together with the closeness and familiarity of its inhabitants, enabled Montenegro to preserve its "common life" even in the worst moments of conflict.
On the economic front, socialist Yugoslavia favored industry and developed industrial facilities (aluminum plant, thermal power plant, metallurgy, white goods industry). Most of these outdated and polluting plants are now closed or on track to be, leaving abandoned industrial sites awaiting new projects. Tourism and construction have greatly developed and become the main resources and activities of the country. But, without the necessary controls, they are also a key source of environmental degradation. Apart from vines and tobacco, which were managed by the state, during the socialist period agriculture was marginalized, mostly representing only a complementary and family activity, despite very favorable conditions (sun, abundant water, mountain pastures). In the absence of industrial and agricultural pollution, it represents an untapped potential for organic "Mediterranean" agriculture. Finally, the forest of Montenegro, one of the last rainforests in Europe, is poorly exploited and poorly controlled; however, reasonable management could make it a source of sustainable development and quality employment, especially in construction.
The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and its leader, President M. Đukanović, held undisputed power for about 30 years (1991-2020), avoided involving Montenegro in the Yugoslav conflict and led it to independence in 2006. With accusations of unequal and corrupt governance , lost power in the parliamentary elections in August 2020. Montenegro then discovered pluralism and the difficulties of governing without a majority. The new centrist president elected in April 2023 managed to gather the necessary majority for joining Europe, managing to overcome identity divisions. A new government was recently elected, which is to propose and lead a new project for Montenegro and break with the sterile political games that characterized the last two years.
A new political project at the crossroads of Europe and ecological transition
So far promoted by NGOs and a small part of the population, the concept of an ecological state appears again in institutions, media and communication, most often in the form of questions, not answers: what kind of tourism for tomorrow? How to educate citizens about good practices? What should we do with our waste? What about wind turbines, solar farms, micro power plants? It is in relation to these issues that the EU can play a vital role and help us to find the right answers together and implement innovative, sustainable and replicable projects, serving the citizens. And thus, adherence to the European Pact will be able to find its real foothold, outside of the strictly institutional dimension, in Montenegro and in general in the Balkans, which still represent fragility at the EU gate. Faced with China's commercial appetites, the choice could be summed up like this: Green Agenda or Silk Roads?
Encouraging signals appeared in the Montenegrin political community and civil society: the new President integrated ecology into his speeches, and for the first time filled his office with an advisor for sustainable development; the new generation of ministers as well as many elected officials are more aware of environmental problems; while they are non-governmental organizations still very active. But the development of tourism and construction without infrastructural preparation creates emergency situations in various areas: traffic and transport, treatment of waste and sludge from wastewater treatment plants, pollution of the coast, sea and soil, deforestation.
In all these areas, very specific projects can be proposed, as illustrated by some examples of pilot projects implemented by the Petrović Njegoš Foundation, in partnership with institutions, actors of civil society, but also European companies that offer innovative technologies in the following areas: waste treatment and recovery (Genio - Italy)*, and energy storage and motorization of compressed air (Anthos air power - France)**.
Pilot projects
Based on these technologies, several projects have been proposed at the local level and are currently being studied in different locations, mainly in the area of waste that, untreated, is dumped in the open or buried in the natural site and thus poses serious environmental and health risks.
ECO BRIGADE - Currently, the project being considered in the Montenegrin army is to equip the army with a fully autonomous mobile waste treatment unit (laser station) and train it to treat communal and illegal landfills on site. Partners: Ministry of Defense - Ministry of Ecology - City Municipalities.
TIVAT - Bay of Kotor: Installation of purifiers near the Tivat wastewater treatment plant, which is located on the coast and covers the cities of Kotor and Tivat. This will also enable joint treatment of sludge from wastewater treatment plants. The waste will be transported by sea using barges equipped with air engines (no CO2 emissions). Partners: City of Tivat - City of Kotor - Ministry of Ecology.
NIKŠIĆ IRONWORK - The plant is not in operation after the location was taken over by the state power company EPCG. It is planned that a recycling center will be located on the site. We propose to add a non-recycled waste treatment station that will provide energy to the station; we also suggest that the factory consider the production and maintenance of stations as well as the Kit Retrofik kit for compressed air, in accordance with its industrial and social vocation. Partners: EPCG - City of Nikšić - Ministry of Finance.
What to expect from Europe?
By inviting it to join, the EU would, in the short term, give Montenegro important personnel support to implement the integration process, and in the long term to permanently position itself in Europe with its specificities. In addition to the presence of European missions that play an important role in stabilizing the country on the political and economic level, the implementation of concrete and visible projects would enable Montenegro to strengthen its European destiny.
For citizens, the EU accession project, like the ecological state project, does not have the necessary visibility in everyday life. In this sense, the Foundation is particularly engaged at its level in domains such as waste treatment, which is a key area in which Europe should be involved. Also, the cooperation project of the French-Montenegrin University Hospital Center with APHP, inspired by the best European knowledge in the field of eco-construction and public health, and from which Montenegro wants to create a model that is environmentally sustainable and humanizes hospitals, could contribute to the betterment of the entire population of the country .
Such a project, as a priority of the Government and with the support of the EU, would provide Montenegro with an anchorage in the port of "Europa" after a stormy history. This would not only create a strong regional dynamic for integration, but also a model of what the Green Agenda can deliver.
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* These are light, patented pyrogasification stations (laser or steel balls at 1000°C) and efficient (waste: 1M3/H - production: between 600 KWh and 1,5 MWh depending on the type of waste - rest: 7/10% inert ash). A more compact laser model allows transport in a container for on-site treatments.
** On the one hand, this is a patented "Retrofit Kit" that converts standard thermal engines into compressed air engines. The system is also adaptable to all electric motors for battery replacement. They are also installations for storing energy in the form of compressed air.
Bonus video:
