The Minister of Internal Affairs and coordinator of the Department of Defense, Filip Adžić, said that there is no use of live ammunition and explosives on Mount Sinai and that the exercise has been carried out for more than 10 years, without any problems.
He spoke after the reaction of the public to the information of GI "Save Sinjavina" that "about 200 NATO soldiers are climbing Sinjajevina to carry out an exercise tomorrow despite Dritan Abazović's promise that there will be no military activities on Sinjajevina".
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They invited all people who have snowmobiles to come to Sinjajevina tomorrow and together send a message that this mountain "will not and cannot be a military training ground".
Adžić wrote on Facebook that the Army of Montenegro, together with members of allied and partner countries, will conduct the "Common Challenge 10" exercise in the vicinity of Kolašin in the next 23 days, which involves practicing tactical procedures and unit movements in winter, in mountainous conditions.
"The exercise is being implemented in several locations, including the mountains of Bjelasica and Sinjajevina. There is no need to use a special training and shooting range for the implementation of this exercise," Adžić wrote.
"Vijesti" sent questions to the Ministry of Defense, Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Ecology Ani Novaković Đurović about what kind of military exercise is planned, whether and which weapons and armaments will be used and how they comment on the departure of the army to Sinjajevina.
Before coming to power, they protested against the establishment of a military training ground on that mountain.
MO: The activities will not affect security
The Ministry of Defense replied to the "News" that the Army of Montenegro, together with members of the armed forces of several partner countries, will conduct training activities in Kolašin and its surroundings in the next ten days, which include the movement of units and tactical procedures in mountainous conditions. They pointed out that these are actions that do not include the use of any explosive means.
"The 'Common Challenge 23' exercise will be carried out in several locations, but no activity will endanger anyone's safety, nor will it disrupt the life of any Montenegrin resident," the ministry said.
"Guardians of Sinjavina": It is not fair to invent enemies
In the meantime, the "Guardians of Sinjavina", a group of citizens who have been fighting for the protection of that mountain for years, also spoke out.
"Instead of alarming the public with the information that our and foreign soldiers will train in Sinjavina, we, the guardians of Sinjavina, choose to believe in the good intentions of the soldiers who are treading the snow-bound mountain today and in the official information that they are 'practicing the movement of units in winter in mountainous conditions'. In our organization The 'keepers of Sinjavina' are two of the three people who spent 2020 nights on Margita in 51, and all of us, and there are about a thousand of us, are ready to give our lives for our mountain. However, we appreciate that it is not necessary, nor honestly, to invent enemies, because if it really becomes necessary to defend the mountain again, we will end up like the boy from the fable 'The Boy and the Wolf', so if despite all the promises to cancel the decision to establish a military training ground, the army starts with artillery fire, the mountain will remain unprotected. Therefore, firmly convinced that there are no vested interests behind this act of alarming the public, we call on all sincere lovers and guardians of Sinjavina not to 'war' in vain with our army, because our intention is not to restrict anyone's passage through the mountain, if he comes with the best intentions," said Radoje Čobeljić.
On behalf of the citizen group "Guardians of Sinjavina", he told the military authorities that deception and manipulation will not pay off:
"And that at any moment we are ready to be live targets, if by any chance they start artillery fire on the mountain that feeds us and supplies us with clean water. We once again call on the Government of Montenegro, Prime Minister in technical mandate Dritan Abazović and Minister Filip Adzić, who protested with us on Sinjavina, to urgently cancel the decision on the establishment of a military training ground, and the leaders of the municipalities that gravitate to Sinjavina, to do what has been waiting since 2018 - to declare this mountain a nature park", said Čobeljić.
GI Let's save Sinjajevina: Today you will "just" walk, but tomorrow?
The Citizens' Initiative Save Sinjajevina expressed their protest over the decision of the Ministry of Defense to "send over 200 NATO soldiers to Sinjajevina today".
They said that the minimum of their demands is the annulment of the decision on the military training ground and the declaration of Sinjajevina as a regional nature park.
"Once again it has been shown that the promises from the government cannot be trusted, because first they said that there will be no military training ground, then that there will be no military activities, and now they are trying to throw dust in our eyes and convince us that there will be no firing. . You break two promises, and you expect us to believe in the third? What do you think we are," the statement said.
They said that Minister Adžić, saying that "there will be no firing", denied Prime Minister Dritan Abazović that there will be no military activities, "because there are activities here".
"Today you're going to 'just' walk, but tomorrow? Tomorrow you're going to say that mortars don't harm the environment in the style of Predrag Bošković. It's not for nothing that our people say "put a fly on your nose, it'll fly in your mouth", today you want to cut off our little finger , and tomorrow a hand from the shoulder. Surely that is also for the good of us and our posterity? Just as Janko Vukotić bequeathed Bojna Njiva to us and made us proud, so we want to leave a healthy and ecological Sinjajevina to those after us," it is added in announcement.
GI Save Sinjajevina called scandalous and dishonest the attempts of individuals to, as they said, dispute the sincerity of their intentions in defending Sinjajevina. "Attempts to declare us anti-everything and everything are mundane and inhumane, we are clearly pro-Sinjajevina and pro-ecological Montenegro, period. The minimum of our demands is the annulment of the decision on the military training ground and the declaration of Sinjajevina as a regional nature park".
"That's why we invite all citizens who have the opportunity to join us tomorrow in Sinjajevina and together say that we do not want a military training ground in Sinjajevina. We do not believe in empty promises, unlike individuals who call themselves guards, but tonight they are comfortably housed in their homes and bravely attack those who are tonight on Margita to truly protect Sinjajevina," Milan Sekulović, Novak Tomović, Zoran Knežević, Persida Jovanović, Miodrag Mijo Rakočević and Radoš Rašo Vučinić, who, as they stated, are sleeping tonight on Margita on Sinjajevina, state in the press release. .
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