Residents of the local communities of Buljarica, Petrovac, Reževići and Sveti Stefan and property owners in Buljarica, in a joint press release regarding the agreement between the governments of Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said that they explicitly oppose this, as they said, seizure of land from citizens under the guise of public interest, and announced that they will use all available means to defend their ancestral lands.
"As in 2015, when a similar attempt was made in Buljarica to forcibly seize property and evict the population, also under the guise of public interest, we want to make it clear that such a blitzkrieg attempt will not succeed now either."
Buljarica is a place that needs to be preserved for the development of sustainable tourism, taking into account its natural values, to which we remain committed, and unfortunately we are witnessing that Buljarica and other valuable sites need to be protected from greedy authorities, regardless of which political group holds power.
"In this regard, we publicly announce that we will use all available means to defend our ancestral homeland, as our ancestors have done for centuries against those who intended to steal our homes for the sake of current and personal interests," the statement states, which, as it states, was also supported by numerous Montenegrin emigrants in the United States and European Union countries with roots and ancestry in Buljarica.
Representatives of the aforementioned local communities strongly denied the claims of the Europe Now Movement MP, who they say no one in Buljarica has seen in recent years, that half of Buljarica's residents are in favor of the investment.
"It is not known to our residents, nor was it involved or interested when we defended Buljarica from the previous government's usurpation, which unfortunately continued with the new government.
"We also deny any allegations by the ruling majority, as well as the investor Mr. Alabar, that they are receiving invitations for investments and that they are making us all happy by building apartments, so we demand that these publicly stated lump sums be documented, to determine whether they are really locals or personally interested politicians and public officials," the statement states.
DON'T MISS IT
It is added that most owners are not against investments and real investors, but they are all against any forced seizure of land and facilities in their ownership for anyone's project.
"Finally, it is important to recall the notorious fact that the majority of ownership in Buljarica is private property, of about 3 million square meters, and that any project necessarily requires the involvement of all owners, while on the other hand, any form of expropriation of private property and such an intention would lead to a brutal, unconstitutional and illegal violation of national law and internationally recognized EU standards and ultimately lead to a justified and already seen rebellion of owners who will not allow quasi-legal plunder for the sake of satisfying the appetite of investors at the expense and detriment of the citizens of Montenegro.
Therefore, we hereby provide unreserved support to the citizens of Ulcinj, Grbalj and Luštica in the fight against lawlessness, under the guise of alleged public interest.
"We do not see any public interest in taking away the centuries-old property of Montenegrin citizens for the sake of the announced participation of the state as a co-investor with foreign citizens for the purpose of building apartments and uninhabitable foreign cities, which is not permitted by the Constitution of Montenegro or any other law that imperatively determines public interest, and which is obviously intended to be introduced by concluding this agreement and making it stronger than national law," concludes the statement signed by Aleksandar Davidović on behalf of the Buljarica Local Community Council, Dušan Gregović on behalf of the Petrovac Local Community Council, Aleksandar Radović on behalf of the Reževići Local Community Council, and Vladislav Mitrović on behalf of the Sveti Stefan Local Community Council.
Bonus video:
