Krapović: Charter flight passengers discovered by Montenegrin services

The Minister of Defense of Montenegro, Dragan Krapović, expressed his satisfaction with the way in which the Montenegrin security system did its part in organizing and hosting the largest international gathering held in our country - the EU-Western Balkans Summit last week in Tivat.

Krapović said this while answering questions from journalists during a visit to Tivat.

"The Montenegrin Army and the Ministry of Defense had a significant participation in the organization, especially when it comes to securing the summit itself. In that regard, I express great satisfaction that everything went as it did and that the maximum possible effect was achieved for Montenegro and the citizens of Montenegro."

Krapović praised the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) and the Police Directorate, emphasizing that they "made incredible efforts, together with the Ministry of Defense and all other factors in the intelligence and security sector, to ensure that the Summit ran smoothly."

"I have seen that some people insist that everything that was done was done in cooperation with partners, that they were dominant in leading it, and so on. I think it is very important, and the director of the police said that somewhere, and of course it should be affirmed. However, in addition to the cooperation we have with partner countries, especially in the intelligence segment, in this specific case concerning the Summit and the events surrounding the Summit, all intelligence information and actions of the security authorities of Montenegro are information of the security authorities of Montenegro," said Krapović.

According to him, "no country participated in that intelligence part when it comes to what happened a few days before the Summit and during the Summit itself."

"So, this is the intelligence data of Montenegro and its security services and the operational work of Montenegro and its security services, and that makes me even more proud of the result that we all achieved together. This is a very successful Summit for Montenegro," claims the Minister of Defense.

Krapović did not want to comment in more detail at the Summit on the repeated claims of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovć that the training ship Mornatrice VCG, the sailing ship "Jadran", must be returned to Croatia.

He pointed out that while the two commissions are talking, "it is not good to have public statements of this type from either side."

"I think that of course it is necessary to build an environment for talks, so that these talks can be fruitful. So I have no special comment in that regard. The continuity of our actions and our position regarding the status of the training ship 'Jadran' is more than stable and well-known," said Krapović, adding that all the names of the members of the Montenegrin "Commission for the Regulation of Relations with Croatia Regarding the Status of the Training Ship 'Jadran' as a Cultural, Historical and Military Symbol of the State of Montenegro" have been determined.

The committee is headed by Krapović, who said yesterday that the first internal and preparatory session of that body will be held by the end of the month.

"After that, we will very soon open talks with our neighbors and allies from Croatia. However, what I can say is that I have expressed my position as Minister of Defense on this issue dozens of times. That position is a continuity in relation to all previous Montenegrin governments and ministers of defense. So I have nothing to add to that," he concluded.

Montenegrin security services announced on June 3 that a group of 87 Serbian citizens, who landed at Tivat airport on a charter flight, were expelled because they were a threat to national security.

They stated that they had attended numerous public gatherings of high security risk, and that some of them had been registered for committing criminal offenses and misdemeanors with elements of violence.