It is not known who will "welcome" Grlić Radman: The St. Michael's Choir claims that they will not organize a rally on Saturday, but that there will be one

Although the St. Michael's Union claims that they will not organize a rally in Morinj on Saturday (October 4) due to the arrival of the Croatian Foreign Minister Gordana Grlić Radman at the site of the former camp, the non-governmental organization (NGO) says it has information that a gathering will be organized in the settlement that day. However, no gathering in Morinje has been reported to the police for Saturday.

President of the St. Michael's Choir Zdravko Nišavić He told "Vijesti" yesterday that they reported the gathering in Morinj to the police on October 10th.

The newspaper announced on Tuesday that Grlić Radman would be in Montenegro at the end of the week and on that occasion lay a wreath and light a candle in front of the memorial plaque at the site of the former camp in Morinje, for which, according to the editorial office's information, permission was obtained from the Montenegrin Ministry of Defense.

That the Miholjski Zbor would organize a protest due to the arrival of the Croatian minister could be concluded from the text "Miholjski Zbor: Boka will not be silent - people protest against the government's shameful intention", which was published on Wednesday and submitted to other media by the unregistered portal "IN4S", close to the parties of the former Democratic Front (DF).

The text claims that the St. Michael's Choir called on "the people of Boka, all honest people and related organizations" to "come out together, resolutely, bravely and persistently, on Saturday, when Grlić Radman lays wreaths in Morinje, and not allow human waste to trample the face of Boka and Montenegro."

"We call on everyone to come together and clearly demonstrate that we will not accept the shameful, insane and peace-threatening intentions of irresponsible people at the top of government, who serve other people's interests and subordinate the state and people to a malicious Croat," the text on the "IN4S" portal reads.

However, in the original statement that Nišavić submitted to "Vijesti", which was published in its entirety, without changes, by several portals in Montenegro and Serbia, the St. Michael's Association did not call for a protest or gathering, nor did it speak of "human waste" and "malicious Croats".

The text published by "IN4S" also states that the St. Michael's Congregation says that it will not allow "false victims to be glorified in Morinje and our image to be humiliated before the eyes of all of Europe" - a sentence that does not exist in the statement that the NGO submitted to "Vijesti".

The last paragraph of the text on “IN4S” reads: “If the government does not want it - the people will. We, the people of Boka, will gather and lead an action in defense of truth and honor. That is our duty and our obligation.” However, that sentence is not included in the statement that Nišavić sent to “Vijesti” and which was published in several media outlets.

He told the editorial staff that he had information that a rally would be held in Morinj on Saturday, but he reiterated that the NGO of which he is the president is not the organizer, distancing himself from the allegations of the "IN4S" portal.

According to the Law on Public Assemblies, the organizer of a gathering is obliged to submit a written application for holding the gathering no later than five days before it takes place.

"A report shall be filed with the police at the location of the public gathering, or at the place where the public gathering in motion begins," the regulation states.

The Police Directorate (UP) unofficially told the editorial staff that they had not been notified that there would be a gathering in Morinje on Saturday, stating that if there were a spontaneous gathering of citizens, "the police would react in accordance with the situation", because Grlić Radman and the Montenegrin Foreign Minister Ervin Ibrahimovic (Bosniak Party), who will lay a wreath with his Croatian colleague, a protected figure.

The "real" statement from the St. Michael's Assembly states, among other things, that "elementary justice, translated into human laws, is not exactly equal for everyone", and that the minimum they expected from politicians was "to remove the malicious sign in Morinje and thus preserve at least part of the face and dignity of Montenegro and Boka Kotorska".

"If you, as holders of public office, do not know how to protect the state entrusted to you and manage it, then it is the obligation of citizens, as holders of sovereignty, to protect their legally acquired rights," the statement reads.

They said that "the truth is not written on a blackboard" Ranko Krivokapic s Raško Konjević, with the presence of the inevitable Grlić Radman, wanting to stamp shame on false allegations about the Greater Serbian aggression of 91.

The St. Michael's Assembly stated that they demand that Krivokapić and Konjević be brought to justice as "directly responsible for violating the law and placing a sign that causes national hatred and division in society", that Grlić Radman be declared an undesirable person, and that the Government and all politicians protect and represent the state in a dignified manner and stop "with servile behavior, because it is disgusting for the people to watch".

Special Advisor to the Croatian Foreign Minister Vanda Babić Galić She told "Vijesti" earlier this week that Grlić Radman, Ibrahimović and the delegations will lay wreaths and light candles in front of the memorial plaque in Morinje, "in memory of the victims of the camp, but also as a pledge of stable relations between the two neighboring countries."

The tablet in Morinje was unveiled in early October 2022 by the then Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, Krivokapić and Konjević, with Grlić Radman and Tom Medved (Minister of Croatian Veterans), in memory of the fact that in the early 1990s, the so-called Collection Center for prisoners of war from the Dubrovnik battlefield operated in Morinje for several months.

There, 292 people from the Dubrovnik region were imprisoned in inhumane conditions (the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro and Croatia were coordinating the lists of detainees because their documentation on this matter 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 court.

The plaque was placed outside the procedure stipulated by the Law on Memorials, i.e. without a decision of the Government and the consent of the Municipality of Kotor. Therefore, in mid-October 2022, the former Administration for Inspection Affairs issued a Decision on the removal of the plaque and obliged the Municipality of Kotor to implement it. However, the removal was repeatedly prevented by members of the Army of Montenegro.

According to some Montenegrins, the plaque does not properly address the historical circumstances when Montenegro participated in the aggression against Croatia in the area of ​​Konavle and Dubrovnik. Minister of Defense Dragan Krapović (Democrats) said in January last year that the plaque should be replaced with another one, “with adequate text”. It mentions the “Greater Serbian aggression against Croatia” and reads: “We remember the crimes committed to disgrace the name and spirit of Montenegro. We express regret for all the suffering endured by the detainees. May it never happen again”.

Montenegro and Croatia began bilateral consultations at the end of January with the aim of overcoming disputes that prevented Zagreb from closing Chapter 31 (foreign, security and defense policy) in negotiations with the EU.

As “Vijesti” recently wrote, an agreement is close and should include the payment of compensation to Croatian citizens who were detained in the former Morinje camp and the non-removal of the memorial plaque at that site, as well as changing the name of the city swimming pool in Kotor. In August 2021, the Kotor parliament decided to name it after Zoran Džimi Gopčević, who they said was one of the best water polo players in the area. Zagreb condemned this, claiming that Gopčević was a guard in the Morinje camp.

Part of the agreement should also be that the ship "Jadran", which Zagreb claims, should not be discussed in either Montenegro or Croatia, until the issue is resolved by agreement between the two countries or through international arbitration.

In addition to the "Adriatic Sea", the topic of the maritime border between the neighbors will remain open, while the case of the Split "Lora" camp, in which 14 members of the former Yugoslav People's Army from the so-called Nikšić-Šavnik group were killed, will not, claims a "Vijesti" source, be included in this partial agreement.