Residents of border villages in Piva, as well as other residents of the municipality of Plužine, blocked the Plužine-Sarajevo main road for two hours as a warning that, if their demands are not positively resolved, they will continue to block the aforementioned road after the tourist season.
They are demanding that residents of the municipalities of Plužine and Gacko be allowed to cross the border with personal documents at the Ravno crossing in Piva, and that tourists be able to use that crossing as a border crossing during the summer season.
They organized the blockade between 13:15 PM and XNUMX:XNUMX PM, during the time when the road from Nikšić to Plužine was closed due to construction work on the Jasenovo Polje - Zaborje road.
As those gathered said, the "opening" of Ravno would contribute to the development of tourism on both sides and would make life easier for locals in border municipalities.
"The existing agreement is bad for the residents and violates the centuries-old ties between the two tribes. The passes they introduced can be obtained by a negligible number of residents of the two municipalities. We believe that the arguments of the two ministries are not realistic and well-founded and that they are harmful to the residents of the two municipalities, and therefore to the two countries. We are witnesses to the removal of borders and the abolition of barriers between people. We demand that we be able to move from one municipality to another, or from one country to another, with personal documents. Of course, we do not run away from border police controls and we are certainly their next step," said Saša Aprcović on behalf of the gathered locals.
In recent weeks, as they stated, the border police of Bosnia and Herzegovina have increased control in that area and some residents of Piva and Gacko, as well as tourists, have already been fined.
They point out that the route via Ravno is by far the closest to the Durmitor region, that Plužine via Ravno is 130 kilometers from Dubrovnik, and 120 kilometers from Mostar.
"We appeal for the Ravno crossing to be given the status of the Krstac crossing, so that it is open to tourists during the tourist season, which would be of great importance for our municipality. It is incomprehensible that they are being fined and banned from crossing, even though they came to leave us their money. I would like to point out that this is the shortest route from Dubrovnik, Trebinje, Mostar to the Durmitor region," Aprcović pointed out.
There are passes for easier crossing for residents from border areas, but, as they claim, only a small number of them can obtain them.
"Only locals who own real estate or land in one municipality or state and live in another can obtain permits, and that is a small number of residents," Aprcović explained.
So far, both countries together have issued 304 passes.
The people of Pivljan will meet with their neighbors from Gacko at Ravno at 15 p.m. and send a joint message to Podgorica and Belgrade.
The President of the Municipality of Plužine, Slobodan Delić, said two days ago that citizens have been trying to get in touch with the competent institutions for years, through local governments in Plužine and Gacko.
"They are asking for the border crossing to be put into operation in such a way that the crossing over that administrative border line will be accompanied by regular police control. Unfortunately, so far we have not received a positive answer as to whether a border crossing can be set up there," said Delić.
He recalled that a large number of locals from both municipalities are tied to Plužine and Gacko, both through property and family ties.
"It seems to me that people are justifiably expressing their rebellion. I believe that the competent institutions will be more likely to hear the needs of citizens and the appeals of local governments in this way. All that we have done so far has encountered a wall of silence and the inability to solve the problem. We hope, and we are optimistic, that after the attitude of the citizens, this problem will reach those who need to be reached. That they will see that it is truly a need, even in the summer season, for the crossing to be functional," said the Mayor of the Municipality of Plužine.
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