I'm sorry I can't go in, I wanted to see it so much. In our country, this part of the Adriatic is extremely popular, destinations like Albania and Montenegro are advertised. And whenever Montenegro is promoted, there's a photo of Sveti Stefan, which is truly unreal beautiful.
With these words, a Dutch tourist Wool describes the disappointment of not being able to experience the poplar Saint in the right way.
A padlock on the main door, deserted streets, closed shutters on villas... these are the images of what was once a trademark and brand of Montenegrin tourism, the city-hotel Sveti Stefan, which has been celebrating its 65th birthday closed to tourists for five years.
The history of this unique hotel, which for decades attracted the world's jet set, political elite, actors, singers, and athletes, begins during the communist era. This unusual fishing village in Paštrov, a medieval fortress that withstood centuries of invasions, was transformed into a fashionable resort on July 13, 1960, which soon became synonymous with luxury and prestige.
Instead of the city-hotel sending a message to the world's tourist public that it is still among the best today, when it celebrates its 65th anniversary since its opening, the opposite is happening.
The once elite resort has been in decline since 2021, when, due to a "dispute" between the tenant, the company "Adriatic Properties", and the Government, the city-hotel Sveti Stefan and Villa Miločer were closed. Then came a marathon court case before an international tribunal in London, worth hundreds of millions of euros. Closing arguments are scheduled for the end of July, and this summer, as in previous years, the neglected hotel complex, which bears no resemblance to the one that was visited by kings and emperors, world politicians and Hollywood stars in its golden age, when it was run by the state in the 70s and 80s of the last century, welcomes curious tourists under a padlock.
The elite hotel is increasingly becoming dilapidated and neglected, and the century-old park, unique on our coast, which was known for its rare and exotic plants from all over the world, is unkempt and left to the mercy of visitors.
Witness to the greatest success of Sveti Stefan, who was at the head of the hotel company from 1969 to 1975, who in 1972 received the world's highest award in the field of tourism, the Golden Apple, an award from the Federation of Tourist Journalists and Writers, Vladimir Mitrovic regrets that Sveti Stefan is closed.
He was the head of the then Hotel and Tourist Company "Sveti Stefan", within which the city-hotel Sveti Stefan, "Maestral" and the old "Miločer" operated, the most elite hotels on the Adriatic coast.
Mitrović: History shows that Sveti Stefan was number one
Asked how he views the city-hotel being under lock and key, the 91-year-old leading Montenegrin tourism official says briefly: "Not at all."
"Mistakes were made on both sides. Whether they can be corrected or not, I don't know, but I know that a big mistake was made. Sveti Stefan had to work. Whatever the problems, big or small, it had to work, because it is the most valuable thing in Montenegro, in the former Yugoslavia. It is irrelevant who made the mistake, what must be urgently corrected is for the city-hotel to start working," Mitrović told "Vijesti".
He reminds us that more than half a century ago, Sveti Stefan received the highest award that a hotel could receive in the world, something that no one before or after it had ever received.
"Back then, everything could function, now it can't, I have no excuse for that. No one consulted me, I was there and I could help. They asked me how it was possible for me to complete the reconstruction of Sveti Stefan in six months in my time. It took them four or five years, and how they did it is another question. Sveti Stefan is a number of facilities, you can't complete the entire job with one team, you should have worked with at least four or five. A big problem in my opinion is that with the reconstruction, the capacity of Sveti Stefan, from 218 beds, as it was in our time, has decreased to less than a hundred now. In my time, no one came to Sveti Stefan to see what their bed would be like, but they came for Sveti Stefan to experience it, because it is unique," Mitrović emphasized.
He recalls that they had several types of parties on the island at the time, which they discontinued.
"Either they were smart or we were, history shows. In my time, we worked so well and earned so much that we used our own money to build the Maestral hotel without any problems, and to reconstruct Sveti Stefan and Miločer. That was the time when emperors and kings came...", says Mitrović.
Kazanegra: More than 95 percent of citizens have never set foot on Sveti Stefan
President of the Bankada Foundation, local resident Blazo Kazanegra In an interview with "Vijesti", he points out that for many years, tourists coming to Montenegro have not had the opportunity to visit one of the national symbols of Montenegro, which they previously saw in close-up on tourist brochures and promotional posters of our country.
"And the question always arises: why? Why does someone who comes to our country not have the right to visit Sveti Stefan, a 15th-century city that was previously offered to them in promotional material for Montenegro as a tourist destination? These people are, therefore, in a way, unconsciously deceived, which can create a sense of distrust in Montenegro as a destination. It is unthinkable that this could happen anywhere else, that someone who comes to Egypt as a tourist does not have the right to visit the pyramids or Luxor; or that someone who visits Greece does not have the right to climb the Acropolis or see Mycenae, or that someone who visits China does not have the opportunity to go to the Great Wall of China, or that someone who comes to Belgrade does not have the right to visit Kalemegdan... and so on ad infinitum. It really seems that Sveti Stefan is unique, not only in its beauty and uniqueness, but also because of the fact that it is the only one that tourists cannot visit and tour, out of all the other world tourist attractions," emphasizes Kažanegra.
It is also incredible, as he points out, that the vast majority of Montenegrin citizens have never set foot on Sveti Stefan.
“Probably over 95 percent of them, and probably more. Under normal circumstances, every school in Montenegro should send children on one-day excursions to Sveti Stefan, even in winter. And why not, when Kotor, Rovinj and Dubrovnik can have their doors open during the winter, so can Sveti Stefan, as a coastal town. Montenegrin children could learn during their visit to the island that Sveti Stefan was founded in the 15th century, that it was built by the Paštrovići with the help of Venice in order to improve the defense system in Paštrovići as one of the connected defensive territorial rings, the so-called antemuralea. Children (and even students) could learn that the Bankada - the self-governing body of the Paštrovići, which was still based on the principles of democracy and equality, where every year new people in the Bankada bodies took turns in their positions, fairly delegated by all 12 tribes, something that is hard to imagine today even by European standards, let alone if we talk about Balkans. History and law students visiting Sveti Stefan could learn something about the so-called "Paštrov documents", which were issued for centuries, starting from the 15th century, and perhaps even earlier, until the 19th century, and in which trials were held according to Dušan's Code and Byzantine law, within the framework of legislative and judicial autonomy under Venice", emphasizes Kažanegra.
Sooner or later it will have to open its doors
According to him, sooner or later, Sveti Stefan will have to open its doors to all people of good will who visit Montenegro.
"Not because any of us wants it that way, but because we are obliged to do so by numerous international conventions, starting with the Faro Convention of the Council of Europe on the importance of cultural heritage for society, and others. There should then be a museum on Sveti Stefan where visitors could learn more about this magical place, about Bankada, about Paštrovići, about Paštrovići documents, about Venetian fortifications on the Montenegrin coast, about Visarion Ljubiša who was born on Sveti Stefan, Stefan Mitrović, the poet, and his sister Vukica Mitrovic, a national hero and unwavering fighter against fascism, after whom streets in Podgorica and Belgrade are named, and whose birthplace is also on the island. A top-notch restaurant serving traditional Pastrana and Montenegrin cuisine should also be opened on Sveti Stefan, where, as he says, Branko Diki Kazanegra", should serve all the best that exists in Montenegro: the best prosciutto, the best wine, the best brandy, the best traditional dishes, the best fish specialties - where the best chefs and waiters would work and where every high-ranking official visiting Montenegro would experience something magnificent and unique that he had never seen before. All this is easily achievable, all it takes is a little good will and common sense," said Kažanegra.
“Our ancestors fought in the National Liberation War for some ideals from which many have become alienated today, especially some who promote themselves as great admirers of that holiday. Our ancestors certainly did not fight for Sveti Stefan to be closed to Montenegrin citizens and tourists, nor for it to be privatized. They did not fight for a natural monument, such as the Queen's Beach, to be closed not only for swimming, but also for passing through. Nor did they fight for apartments to be built for sale in Miločer Park, a national treasure, thereby reducing the rights of the local population and citizens of Montenegro in order to raise apartment prices. Anyone who advocates for Sveti Stefan to be closed to Montenegrin citizens and tourists, and at the same time celebrates July 13, must know that he is celebrating the “wrong” holiday. He should know that July 13 is, more or less, a symbol of the fight against human injustice, occupation, discrimination, inequality, elitism, exploitation, and so on. No matter how luxurious and exclusive Sveti Stefan was during the period "In Yugoslavia, anyone could enter the city during a certain period of time and that was not a hindrance for world-famous personalities and so-called high-paying guests to visit it in those years," concluded Kažanegra.
Will the status be adequately resolved by joining the EU?
Expecting Montenegro to join the European Union by 2028, Kažanegra hopes that the status of Sveti Stefan will also be adequately resolved, in accordance with European standards.
"We hope that some educated and eloquent people from Strasbourg, Brussels, Vienna, Venice, Geneva and Paris will make recommendations on the status of Sveti Stefan, and not people who do not have much sense for cultural heritage, human rights, space and sustainable tourism. Sveti Stefan is part of European cultural heritage and as such should have adequate status, taking into account primarily its cultural and historical component, thereby opening up enormous potential for the development of sustainable tourism - without the need to demolish old buildings and sports fields, without cutting down trees, without discrimination and without violating human rights," emphasized Kažanegra.
The Bankada Foundation's fight, as he points out, for Sveti Stefan and Paštrovska Gora, which is culturally and historically linked to Sveti Stefan, continues even stronger and more persistently.
"Recently, the European Parliament, in its report on Montenegro, pointed out the endangerment of Sveti Stefan and Miločer, and that is a big deal, especially for us who have been fighting for years to preserve and adequately valorize this pearl of ours. The help we receive from Europa Nostra and their international partners is truly crucial in all of this, and we are very grateful to them for that. We expect the Government of Montenegro to take the messages of the European Parliament seriously and take adequate steps to protect Sveti Stefan and Miločer as the national treasure of Montenegro. Of course, we should try to find a compromise with the tenant and we should not run away from talks. However, everyone should know before any attempt to solve the problems here, that the residents of Sveti Stefan in the 21st century will not agree to be second-class citizens on their centuries-old territory," said Kažanegra.
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