Babić Galić: Montenegro, and especially Minister Krapović, should take Croatia's protest note seriously

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

The Montenegrin Government, and especially Minister of Defense Dragan Krapović, should take Croatia's protest note seriously. This was stated for Television E by Vanda Babić Galić, a special advisor to the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia. She adds that if Krapović does not know what happened, he should ask his predecessors or look into the archives.

Babić Galić says that in these archives it is possible to find notes on how, over the past 20 years or so, numerous high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Montenegro were informed in detail about the amount of Croatian claims regarding, as she stated, the illegally seized JNA military property succession mass to which Croatia claims ownership. She added that there is extensive documentation on this in the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

- With such messages, Minister Krapović is unfortunately deliberately misleading the Montenegrin public or is simply a hostage to some other policy, which does not bring progress to Montenegro. The most obvious example is the non-participation in the ceremonial parade of the Croatian Army on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Operation Storm - she said.

She also states that there are many moves that confirm this. As stated in the note, says Babić Galić, Croatia has all the necessary expert analyses and precise calculations on all items of the stolen military succession mass, its financial value, with which it will introduce both the Montenegrin and international political public at a certain point.

- Croatia, despite everything, supports the European perspective of Montenegro, which will, of course, be assessed by fulfilling all the necessary conditions and criteria. We should not forget that good neighborly relations are the overarching principle of the EU. Now it is up to Montenegro to show its readiness for dialogue and bilateral resolution of this and other issues that burden our interstate relations - she emphasized.

The protest note sent to Montenegro from Croatia over the weekend is the second in the last year to arrive from this member of the European Union. As reported to Television E by the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was sent due to the decision of the Montenegrin Ministry of Defense to put the training ship Jadran on the badges, the ownership of which is one of the open issues between Montenegro and Croatia.

The protest note also states that, based on a detailed analysis of the entire military succession, Montenegro owes that country more than two billion US dollars. This was denied by Montenegrin Defense Minister Dragan Krapović, with the message that there is no official confirmation of the information about the debt. Krapović believes that the protest note is unnecessary, and that the badges on which the ship Jadran is made are made for the crew and reflect the maritime tradition and importance of that ship for Montenegro.

Croatia previously reacted with a protest note due to the resolution on the genocide in Jasenovac adopted by the Montenegrin Parliament.