The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, Ervin Ibrahimović, and Croatia, Gordan Grlić-Radman, signed today at the "Josip Marković" Cultural Center in Donja Lastva near Tivat an agreement between the two governments, which donates the Cultural Center, which is state property of Montenegro, to the Republic of Croatia.
Croatia, under the contract, is obliged to make this facility available for use by members of the Croatian minority in Montenegro and their organizations and associations, who have been using the Cultural Center in Donja Lastva free of charge for the past 15 years.
"Resolving the status" of the Cultural Center in Donja Lastva was one on the list of a dozen so-called open issues in relations between Montenegro and Croatia, due to which official Zagreb has so far blocked the closing of Chapter 31 (foreign, security and defense policy) in the accession negotiations between Montenegro and the European Union. The ceremony of signing the agreement between the heads of diplomacy of the two states was attended by the president of the Croatian National Council of Montenegro Zvonimir Deković, the president of the Croatian Civic Initiative party and a member of the Montenegrin parliament Adrijan Vuksanović, Croatian diplomats in Montenegro, as well as representatives of several local associations with a Croatian national character.
Minister Ibrahimović assessed the signing of the contract to donate the "Josip Marković" Cultural Center to the Republic of Croatia as one in a series of proofs of partnership relations "but also of trust with our friendly country Croatia."
"The state of Croatia is our friend and ally, but the Croatian community in Montenegro is also an inseparable part of the mosaic of our society. Today I am proud because Montenegro has once again shown that it cherishes civil, interethnic and interreligious harmony as a fundamental value that once again shows that Montenegro deserves to be the next EU member state. On the other hand, we clearly send a message that all minorities are an inseparable part of Montenegro and all their culture, identity and language are the wealth of Montenegro. Therefore, I sincerely congratulate the Croatian community here and wish them to gather in this facility and do good things here, both for their community and for Montenegro, so that we can reach Brussels even faster," said Ibrahimović, adding that the local Croats have so far been "faithful guardians of Montenegro, but also a friendly bridge towards our partner state Croatia."
Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman characterized the signing of the contract as a "historical act" because, as he said, the Croats of Boka Kotorska and Montenegro have been trying for decades to regulate the status of the Cultural Center in Donja Lastva, "which is a symbol of their ancestors, fathers and grandfathers who built this facility in 1920-22."
"Finally, however, this Government of Montenegro, led by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and thanks to the special efforts of Minister Ibrahimović, managed to make this great success and civilizational step forward. I thank the Government of Montenegro for enabling the Croats of Boka and Montenegro, who are an indigenous, indigenous community, to finally be able to actively cultivate cultural content and conduct all their activities here. Certainly, the ancestors of the local Croats who built this facility 103 years ago would be happy to see this Center returned to their hands," emphasized Grlić-Radman, expressing the full support of official Zagreb to the leaders of local Croatian associations and the political party HGI.
He emphasized that Croatia's support for Montenegro's European path is "absolutely unconditional in terms of our commitments, the values of integration and everything that actually reflects your European path in accepting and sharing all fundamental European values."
"After an important civilizational step forward with this House, I think we can now pave the way for all other open issues that burden our relations, and are actually more a legacy of the past," said Grlić-Radman, who did not specifically answer the question of whether Croatia will now unblock Montenegro in closing Chapter 31.
"We never speak in these categories of blockade and unblocking. We have so far clearly shown Montenegro on several examples our readiness to support its European path. Everything else should be viewed in value categories and not in a certain mathematical quantity because joining a club implies a certain effort. Just as Croatia went through that path of negotiations with the EU, Montenegro must now meet certain conditions in order to join that club. Croatia will help Montenegro on that path," said Grlić-Radman, emphasizing in particular that Croatia "supports pro-European forces in Montenegro and political leaders - primarily this Government led by Prime Minister Spajić and sovereign leaders who are oriented towards the path towards the EU, which logically leads through Croatia as the last state to join the Union as a member 12 years ago."
"The issues of dates, the issues of chapters - we don't need to occupy ourselves with them now, it's not a turning point or something that should bother the political public and the citizens of Montenegro," he added, emphasizing "that there is this catalog of open issues between the two states that are a legacy of the past," but also that "we are discussing and negotiating them very well."
Grlić-Radman emphasizes that among them is, first and foremost, "the return to Croatia of the training ship "Jadran" as a dividing mass", and that he believes "that it is primarily in the interest of the city of Kotor and the interest of future water polo championships to change the name of the city pool because it reminds us of a difficult and traumatic period, given that that name is now linked to the infamous Morinj camp".
By decision of councilors of all political parties in the local parliament, including HGI, the Kotor swimming pool was named after the famous water polo player Zoran Džimi Gopčević a few years ago, who during the 1991-92 war was one of the guards at the JNA Collection Center for prisoners from the Dubrovnik battlefield, which was located in Morinje.
Neither Grlić-Radman nor Ibrahimović wanted to confirm or deny the information that the negotiating teams of the two countries had allegedly agreed that Montenegro would pay a total of 17 million euros in compensation to former detainees in Morinje and their families.
Montenegro has already paid a total of 2013 euros to former detainees from 2025 to 1.537.760 for non-pecuniary damage due to torture and inhumane treatment. According to the testimonies of the prisoners, 292 people from the Dubrovnik region were detained in inhumane conditions in that center, known as the "Morinj camp" (the two ministries were coordinating the lists of detainees, because their documentation on this did not match). 169 prisoners testified about the inhumane treatment they were subjected to. Four people were sentenced to 12 years in prison for this war crime in a court trial in Montenegro.
The Special State Prosecutor's Office announced in early February that, on the orders of Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović, criminal cases have been reopened regarding, among other things, war crimes in Morinje.
"The amount of money is the least important thing for Croatia. What is important to us is the satisfaction of the surviving camp inmates and their families. At that time, someone launched an aggression against the Republic of Croatia, which was confirmed by international courts, and brought and imprisoned those people against their will in Morinja. You know how the city of Dubrovnik and its surroundings suffered during the looting and bombing, so we must speak openly about all these things and face the past, so that we can build a better future. New generations need to be informed about what happened, how it was, so that it never happens again because we rely on each other. Fatefully, our path is towards Europe. Croatia has achieved all of its foreign policy goals and we want stability in the Western Balkans and Montenegro. Therefore, everything we are doing with the Government of Montenegro is actually a message to the Western Balkans and the entire region, because this is a good example of cooperation that has been recognized in Brussels, which supports this," emphasized Grlić-Radman.
Ibrahimović pointed out that it is of great importance that Croatia and Montenegro, after a five-year break, have managed to resume bilateral political consultations and that it is a pity that so much time has been lost.
"We have already made enormous progress in these negotiations. When it comes to compensation, I look at it from a different angle: that Montenegro has a clear vision to be the next EU member, and part of that process is also dealing with the past and good bilateral relations. So I believe that here we should not worry about whether Montenegro is ready or not to pay compensation. The Government of Montenegro, led by Prime Minister Spajić, has clearly sent a message that we need to improve relations with our friendly country, Croatia, and the other side thinks the same. Therefore, it is much more important that we have that clear message for the citizens of both countries, and the rest, as before, we will agree at the table in the interests of both countries," he pointed out, emphasizing that as far as the name of the Kotor swimming pool is concerned, "we have a good rhythm and I hope that we will reach a solution in good spirit for the benefit of both countries."
Ibrahimović, speaking about the status of the training ship "Jadran", said that he "comes from the north, so I'm much better on land than at sea", but that he hopes that a solution will be found there as well.
"The state of Montenegro has its own view on this, Croatia has its own, but I repeat – I believe that in a good spirit and having learned from the experiences from previous conversations with my esteemed colleague and friend Gordan (Grlić-Radman – ed.), that up to now we have agreed on all issues of interest to the two states, I believe that the “Jadran” naval base will have the same fate as all these issues which in fact indicate that Montenegro and Croatia are friendly states."
The home is owned by another state, but will not have extraterritorial status in Montenegro.
Both Grlić-Radman and Ibrahinović rejected speculation that the Cultural Center building in Donja Lastva, after being donated to Croatia, will have extraterritorial status in Montenegro.
"The contract states Croatia's obligation to provide this facility for use by local Croatian associations, respecting Montenegrin laws. We cannot view it through that international legal framework, because this is not a diplomatic-consular mission to have extraterritorial status as regulated by international law and the Vienna Convention," said the Croatian Foreign Minister, while Ibrahimović said that "this (the donation of the Cultural Center in Donja Lastva - ed.) is a good, beautiful story and it should be viewed in that direction."
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