The Council of Boka Bay Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) has sent an initiative to the Ministry of Culture and Media to officially declare the training ship "Jadran" a protected cultural asset of Montenegro due to its great historical, cultural and technical value.
The initiative was sent on Monday, on the birthday of “Jadran”. It was also sent to the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Montenegro, namely the director of that body. Petri Zdravkovic.
The initiative recalls the history of this ship, its specific connection with Boka and Tivat, the way in which, due to the collapse of the former SFRY, it found itself undergoing a general overhaul in the Tivat military shipyard Arsenal in 1991, as well as the fact that all general overhauls and maintenance of this ship over the past nine decades have been carried out in Tivat and Montenegro, which, as the initiators of the initiative emphasize, "makes the "Jadran" an inseparable part of the technical heritage and culture of our country."
"The training ship "Jadran" is currently the oldest ship sailing under the flag of Montenegro, and as such represents an exceptional rarity not only at the national level, but also in the global context. "Jadran" is one of the ten oldest ships in the world that are in active naval service and the fifth oldest training ship in the world that is still used for the education and training of young sailors and cadets, and the third oldest training ship in the world that continuously serves that purpose," it is written in the initiative that "Vijesti" had insight into.
As it is added, apart from these facts "which are sufficient in themselves, because they constitute its basic value", this ship is inextricably linked to Boka and Montenegro with its history and destiny.
"We believe that "Jadran" represents a monument of technical culture of a period and a monument of the maritime tradition of Montenegro and the area of the former Yugoslavia. The technical solutions applied to it during construction are among the unique in the shipbuilding industry and can rarely be found on other vessels today," the initiative states.
It is emphasized that the rich maritime history and tradition of Boka and Montenegro has suffered great devastation in recent decades due to the reduction of the merchant fleet, the closure of shipyards, the destruction, alienation or loss of valuable movable artifacts, neglect of traditional fishing methods and small-scale traditional shipbuilding, and that in this context, "Jadran" represents one of the last "living" remnants of a rich maritime technical culture.
"It also represents a monument to the tradition of educating seafarers in these regions, which dates back centuries. During its 92 years, thousands of young sailors, cadets and future seafarers on board this ship have acquired their basic knowledge, and we also recognize the maritime educational activities of the training ship "Jadran" as part of living heritage. In addition to all this, this ship has witnessed some of the most important events in maritime history in the last 100 years and as such represents exceptional value," reads the initiative submitted to the Ministry in accordance with Article 19 of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Property.
The training ship "Jadran" is currently the oldest ship sailing under the flag of Montenegro, and as such represents an exceptional rarity not only at the national level, but also in the world. "Jadran" is one of the ten oldest ships in the world that are in active naval service and the fifth oldest training ship in the world that is still used for the education and training of young sailors and cadets...", the initiative states
The applicants believe that, according to Article 11, paragraph 13 of that law, the training ship meets all the requirements to be protected as a cultural asset of national importance, and they call on the Ministry to act in accordance with the regulations and form a "commission for determining cultural and historical values and preparing a study on the valorization of the training ship "Jadran".
"Given that the ship "Jadran" is completely legitimately and legally owned by Montenegro, we see this initiative of ours as completely justified, and additionally in light of current daily political events and wanting this monument of maritime and technical heritage to be adequately preserved, and for the story about "Jadran" to be moved from the political arena (which, we believe, is unacceptable for such a ship) to where it deserves to be talked about, we ask that the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, without delay and in an urgent procedure, issue a decision on the status of a protected movable cultural asset for the benefit of the state and all its citizens," concludes the initiative of the Boka Bay NGO Council.
This group consists of the NGO Boka Initiative for Regionalization and Decentralization, Matica Boke Tivat, Miholjski Zbor, Creative Cultural Center, NGO Karađorđe, OBNOR Kotor, OBNOR Tivat, NGO Obilić, OBNOR Herceg Novi, PMF Ostrog, Association of War Volunteers 1912-1918, Their Descendants and Admirers - Grbalj and Association of War Veterans since 1990 of Montenegro Tivat. Last winter, they launched a petition to declare "Adriana" a protected cultural asset, which was supported by several thousand citizens with their signatures.
The “Jadran” is one of, as Croatia claims, “unresolved open issues” in that country’s relations with Montenegro. Croatia claims to take it back from Montenegro, calling it a “hijacked Croatian ship” and citing the fact that from 1933 to 1991, this sailing ship was based mostly in cities that are on the territory of present-day Croatia.
However, "Jadran", as part of the common military property of the former SFRY, was not on the territory of Croatia in 1991, on the day when it declared, or in practice implemented, its decision on its state independence, but was then in Montenegro - undergoing a regular so-called major overhaul at the former Arsenal military shipyard in Tivat.
Therefore, according to the provisions of the Agreement on the Succession of the SFRY from 2001, which was signed and ratified in Vienna by all the states that had emerged from the former Yugoslavia, the ship now legitimately belongs to Montenegro.
In denying the claims of official Zagreb to take the "Jadran" from Montenegro and linking the status of that ship in the form of an "unresolved issue in bilateral relations" between the two countries with Montenegro's accession to the European Union, the most vocal figures on the Montenegrin political scene so far have been the former Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic (Civil Movement URA) and current Minister of Defense Dragan Krapović (Democrats).
Both have repeatedly publicly stated that the “Jadran” is legally and legitimately owned by the state of Montenegro and that there can be no negotiations with Croatia about this fact. The latest move by the Ministry of Defense, which in July produced a series of symbolic badges with the motif of the training ship “Jadran” intended for the crew of that ship, provoked a new protest note from Zagreb. In it, Croatia announced a detailed analysis of the entire military succession, claiming that Montenegro has a debt to Croatia of about two billion dollars. The Ministry of Defense claims that there has been no official confirmation of the claims about any debt of Montenegro.
The sailing ship celebrated its 92nd birthday on Monday, commemorating July 19, 1933, when it was officially entered into the Fleet List of the Royal Yugoslav Navy in Tivat, for which the ship was built in Germany.
Tivat and the "Jadran" have been linked since July 16, 1933, when the new sailing ship sailed into that city as its first port of call in the homeland, after leaving the Stulcken shipyard in Hamburg, where the "Jadran" was built in the period from 1931-1933.
Croatia did not allow Montenegro to close Chapter 31 (foreign, security and defence policy) at the end of last year, after relations between the two countries deteriorated. Previously, Zagreb, in the form of a non-paper, submitted requests for the resolution of several issues that it considers open and claims to be damaging to mutual relations. These include, in addition to ownership of the ship "Jadran", the payment of compensation for former detainees in the Morinje camp, changing the name of the swimming pool in Kotor, etc.
Relations have become increasingly tense because the Montenegrin Parliament adopted a Resolution on the genocide in Jasenovac and the Dachau and Mauthausen camps at the end of June 2024.
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