To this day, there is no official initiative to permanently preserve the memory of the admiral of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), Vladimir Barović, in Montenegro with a memorial, reported the Human Rights Action (HRA).
"Taking into account the respect he enjoys in Croatia, we believe that an event should be established in his memory that would permanently connect the people of these two countries," the HRA press release points out.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) announced that on this day 31 years ago, Barović took his own life as a sign of protest against the order of the JNA high command to shell coastal settlements in Croatia from the island of Vis in 1991.
"He wrote that he decided to die an honorable death "because Montenegrins cannot fight and destroy a people who did not hide anything from them". decided the fate of millions of people from a position of power. After his death, the crazy order to shell Dalmatian cities was abandoned. He killed himself to save others, and thus warned of honor and dignity. However, just a few days later, the aggression of the JNA began to Dubrovnik, in which more than 1991 mobilized citizens of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro participated (more details in the text "Montenegro and the war in Croatia")", HRA said.
They state that Montenegro would have to cherish the memory of Admiral Barović for at least three reasons: to educate new generations about the meaning of being a man; to teach them history and educate them for peace, not war, and to develop relations of cooperation and friendship between the peoples of Montenegro and Croatia, which Barović protected with his life.
"Action for Human Rights welcomes an important event this year, in which Montenegrin officials attended, together with officials of the Republic of Croatia, the unveiling of a memorial plaque to Admiral Barović on September 12 on Vis, in Croatia, where Barović served and ended his life. Last year, two states for the first time jointly marked the site of war crimes in front of the former military camp in Morinje, in Montenegro. These are the first good signs of reconciliation and joint confrontation with the past after the expression of regret by the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, in 2000, in the presence of the President of the Republic Stipe Mesić of Croatia, addressed to the citizens of the Republic of Croatia "for all the pain, all the suffering and all the material losses caused to them by any representative of Montenegro as part of the JNA in those tragic events". It was only in 2016 that the President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanović, posthumously awarded the courage of Admiral Barović, at the initiative of the NGO Civic Alliance", stated HRA.
They said that his family did not receive that order, but the then commander of the Navy of the Army of Montenegro.
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