The command ship of the Navy (RM) of Italy, the aircraft carrier "Cavour" CVH-550 sailed a little after eight o'clock in the port of Tivat, where it will remain on an official visit to Montenegro and its armed forces until November 21.
The Italian aircraft carrier, which was brought into Bok by a naval pilot, Captain Rajko Čavor, anchored about a mile and a half from the town's waterfront of Pina in Tivat. Before the entrance to the bay, the Italian warship was met and escorted to the anchorage in Tivat by the missile frigate 33 "Kotor", and was later joined by the offshore tugboat PR-41 "Orada" of the Navy of Montenegro.
Specialists from the Maritime Detachment of the MVCG performed a counter-sabotage inspection of the water area where the aircraft carrier is anchored, and they also provide security for the city's Pine waterfront, which serves as a point for communication between boats from "Cavoura" and the coast.
The commander of the Second Naval Group of Ships of the Republic of Italy, Rear Admiral Andrea Gueglia, and the commander of the aircraft carrier "Cavour", the battleship captain Luka Conti, and the Italian military attaché in Montenegro, Colonel Paolo Pappalardo, greeted the host, MVCG commander, battleship captain Darko Vuković, after which the Tivat Mayor Ivan Novosel hosted a reception for guests from Italy in the Municipality building.
"It is a great pleasure and honor for me to have brought the aircraft carrier "Cavour" to the port of Tivat. I am sure that these few days of our stay here will be an exceptional opportunity to deepen the acquaintance and friendship that reigns both between our navies and between the people of Montenegro and Italy. This will be a very nice experience for all the crew members of our ship who will also enjoy your beautiful city", said Rear Admiral Andrea Gueglio to the journalists after the meeting with Novosel.
He conveyed to the hosts and representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Montenegro the greetings of the Chief of General Staff of the Republic of Italy and the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Navy, Fleet Admiral Giuseppe De Đorđi.
"It is a pleasure to receive the high-ranking officer of the Republic of Italy, Rear Admiral Guglio, and the command staff of the aircraft carrier "Cavour". The visit of this warship means a lot not only for Tivat, but also for the whole of Montenegro, and I saw it as a good message from NATO and support for Montenegro on its way to membership in the Alliance," said Mayor Novosel.
Rear Admiral Gueglio did not comment on the journalist's statement that there is a significant part of citizens in Montenegro who are against its membership in NATO, considering the negative experiences from the bombing of FRY in 1999. "The visit of the ship "Cavour" is a sign of friendship and good relations between our countries in order to get to know each other even better and strengthen our cooperation.
The Italian Navy is coming here to further develop the excellent long-standing cooperation we have with our friends and colleagues from the MVCG", explained the senior Italian officer.
The arrival of the large Italian warship was especially welcomed by Tivat caterers, who expect that in the next four days they will make a lot of money from the almost 1.120 people who make up the crew of the aircraft carrier "Cavour". Representatives of the Montenegrin media had the opportunity to visit the Italian aircraft carrier and familiarize themselves with its technical characteristics and combat capabilities.
Anti-NATO activist protest, young DPS on board
About twenty members of the movement "No to war, no to NATO" gathered on the city waterfront in Tivat where, carrying banners, they protested against NATO and Montenegro's membership in the Alliance.
Those gathered, among whom was the parish priest of Gornjogrbalj and the president of the Brotherhood of the Orthodox Youth of Montenegro, Mijajlo Backović, and councilors in the SO Tivat Rato Brajković (NOVA), Mileta Jakovljević (SSR) and Dejan Risančić (DSS) calmly expressed their opposition to the arrival of the aircraft carrier "Cavour ” in Tivat and said that Montenegro does not need to enter Alijasa, which bombed SCG in 1999.
The protest was led by Gojko Raičević, who, at the moment when the representatives of the Atlantic Alliance of Montenegro led by Sava Kenter arrived on the waterfront, he approached with a transparent place of boarding the boats that were driving to the Italian warship, but the police did not allow him to approach them completely.
It is interesting that the aircraft carrier "Cavour" was also visited in an organized manner by a group of ten members of the DPS Youth Council led by secretary Viktorija Badža.
Vuković: A huge thing for Montenegro
The commander of the MVCG, captain of the battleship Darko Vuković, assessed that the arrival of the aircraft carrier "Cavour" in Bok is a big deal for Montenegro and its Euro-Atlantic ambitions.
"This is the largest and most representative ship of the Republic of Italy and it came here on the initiative of its first man, fleet admiral Giuseppe De Đorđi, which testifies to the quality of bilateral cooperation between Montenegro and Italy in the field of defense. "Cavour" is literally a masterpiece of modern shipbuilding, it is a warship, but also a ship that has a very pronounced logistical and humanitarian component, which in the past few years of service has shown itself in international operations to provide assistance to the civilian population of a number of countries," Vuković assessed.
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