WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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The former president of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, was presented today in the palace of the Veneto region in Venice with the great international award "Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement", which was awarded to him by the Committee for the Order of the Golden Venetian Lion.
You honored me by inviting me to visit Venice, and to receive the "Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement" award from your esteemed Committee in this historic building. By doing so, you expressed great respect for me personally, and for my country. In recent decades, Montenegro has faced major political and historical challenges, to which it has managed to respond, and to leap over centuries. We pursued a strategic state policy that enabled partnership and alliance with EU and NATO countries, adopting the values of the modern democratic world. I had the privilege of being at the head of the team that managed those processes - said Đukanović.
As he stated, the satisfaction is all the greater that this award comes from Italy, from a country that is the source of one of the largest and most influential cultures and civilizations in the world, with which Montenegro has long and deep historical ties.
Since the Middle Ages, we have inherited political and cultural ties with the states of the Apennine Peninsula, which was of great importance for the emancipation of our state and society. The most important modern European achievements and ideas came to Montenegro through these countries, and thanks to them. Just less than four decades after Gutenberg printed the first book in Europe, a printing press arrived in Montenegro at the end of the 15th century from Venice, where the first book of the South Slavs was printed - said Đukanović.
He pointed out that, in the glorious Montenegrin history, the relations between Montenegro and the Republic of Venice, which began in the Middle Ages, have a special place.
In addition to the political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries, at the end of the 15th century, family relations were also established between the Montenegrin ruling family Crnojević and the Venetian noble family Erico. After the fall of Montenegro under Ottoman rule, the Republic of Venice, as its neighbor, became an important Montenegrin ally in the struggle for liberation from Ottoman rule, and later a support for Montenegrin efforts to restore an independent state. At the beginning of the 17th century, political ties between Montenegro and the Savoy Duchy were established, with the intention of starting an anti-Ottoman uprising in the Balkans. For us in Montenegro, the influences and incentives that our greatest national poet and philosopher Petar II Petrović Njegoš, who was also the ruler of Montenegro, found in Italian culture are particularly significant - said Đukanović.
He especially emphasized that the true flourishing of political, cultural and economic relations came with the marriage of the Montenegrin princess Jelena Petrović Njegoš to the heir to the throne Victor Emmanuel III, who soon became the king of Italy.
Queen Jelena built a bridge of unbroken friendship between our peoples, whose foundations she strengthened with wisdom, nobility and kindness, and secured a permanent place in the long and glorious history of both her Montenegro and her Italy - stated the former President of Montenegro.
He added that Italy had a particularly important role in the most difficult moments for the Montenegrin state immediately after the First World War.
She supported to the end the struggle of the Montenegrin sovereign and the government in exile to preserve the independence of Montenegro, although, as it turned out, that struggle was in vain. After the violent abolition of the independent Montenegrin state in 1918, Italy became a refuge for many fighters who opposed that abolition. The relations between Montenegro and Italy took a new form in the second half of the 20th century, when Montenegro, as one of the Yugoslav republics, had intensive economic relations with the region of Puglia. Since the restoration of independence in 2006, the cooperation between the two countries has gained a new strong momentum. Italy is one of the key countries in Europe and the world that unreservedly supports the European and Euro-Atlantic path of Montenegro and the region - emphasized Đukanović.
The best confirmation of the strength of friendship and contemporary relations between the two countries is, as he said, the submarine power cable project, realized in partnership with the Italian company Terna and the Montenegrin Electric Transmission System (CGES), as a symbolic counterpart to the establishment of a radiotelegraph connection between Montenegro and Italy at the beginning of the last century.
I had the honor to, together with President Serđo Matarel, put into operation that cable, the length of which is 455 km between Peskara and Tivat, at a solemn ceremony. Thus, the first printing press at the end of the 15th century, the first radiotelegraph station at the beginning of the 20th, and the first electric submarine connection at the beginning of this century are historical markers of the epochs that unite us. Even today, Italy is not only a reliable neighbor and friend, but also one of the key economic partners. Hundreds of our students studying at Italian universities are the most important resource of our cooperation, as a pledge of a certain future of Montenegrin-Italian relations - he assessed.
Đukanović pointed out that he received the award for life's work as the former president of Montenegro and added that when it comes to the most important achievements of the state, I would not change anything.
Now I have the opportunity to draw a line in relation to a long political career in one of the most turbulent periods of our recent history. When a person looks back, he always thinks that something could have been done better and differently. But when it comes to the most important achievements of Montenegro to which I contributed, I would not change anything. I am proud of the fact that during the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia, instead of conflict and destruction, we chose peace, strengthened national dignity, and recognized that the war between official Belgrade and NATO in 1999 was not in our national interest. Likewise, to the fact that in those years, for the first time in history, Montenegro managed to finance all its state functions on its own, without anyone's help from the outside - he announced.
As he said, he is particularly proud of the referendum on Montenegrin independence in 2006, which was the first time in the Balkans that a state was created peacefully, even though Montenegro, throughout history, achieved its most important state-building goals through war.
Our peacefully restored and internationally recognized country is recognized as an important factor of stability in the region, a member of NATO since 6 years ago, in the lobby of the EU, the most developed economy in the Western Balkans. This is evidenced by the high level of direct foreign investments in that period, thanks to which large-scale infrastructure and tourism projects were realized. From 2005 to 2019, Montenegro managed to increase GDP per capita according to the standard of purchasing power from 33 to 50% of the EU average. I consider one of the most important achievements of my long involvement in state affairs is that the government in Montenegro was changed democratically, as during the previous 30 years, it was elected democratically - reminded Đukanović.
The "Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement" award is, as he states, a recognition not only for him, but for all citizens who have contributed to modern Montenegro being a country of recognizable multiculturalism and interreligious and interethnic harmony, a successful European story in the Balkans, as it was called until recently by international officials, a credible member of NATO and a leader in the process of European integration.
Finally, allow me to thank the Gran Premio Internacionale di Venezia association, Mr. Sileno Candelarezi, Maurilio Prioreschi and the members of the Committee, Senator Mario Bacini and Giuseppe Baretta - concluded Đukanović.
POBJEDA
