Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović stated today that “the European future of Montenegro must not be a hostage to forgetting our victims and political selectivity.”
Milatović’s statement comes amid reports that working groups from the Montenegrin and Croatian foreign ministries are in advanced negotiations regarding compensation for several hundred Croatian citizens who were held in the Morinj camp during the 1990s war in Croatia. Unofficial information suggests multi-million euro compensation is being discussed.
“The desire of the majority in Montenegro is for us to become a responsible and European state. Citizens expect commitment to reforms that lead to the closing of negotiation chapters and the achievement of a clear goal – EU membership by 2028,” reads a statement from the President’s office.
The statement noted that “although as a state we accept responsibility for the detainees from Morinj, we want to remind that only the then-regime, which today, they say, pretends to be innocent, was responsible for them.”
Concerns Over Selective Justice and Jasenovac Resolution
“Furthermore, we would not want the ongoing negotiations regarding out-of-court compensation for the detainees of the Morinj camp to actually be about compensation for the adoption of the Jasenovac Resolution,” the statement continued.
Milatović’s office also emphasized a call for equal responsibility: “Additionally, if Montenegro were to truly refocus on EU integration and reforms, it would show the same responsibility towards its citizens who went through suffering and injustice – such as the detainees from the Lora camp (from the same period) and their families.”
“Therefore, it is important that Montenegro, in resolving open issues with Croatia, or any other country, does not forget the interests of its own citizens and its commitment to fundamental reforms,” the President’s office stressed.
The negotiations between Montenegro and Croatia regarding compensation for the Morinj detainees were first reported by Podgorica’s Vijesti, citing unofficial sources. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to the newspaper’s questions yesterday regarding the agreements reached by the working groups or the compensation amounts.
Vanda Babić Galić, special advisor to the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs, told Vijesti on Thursday that the working group negotiations on compensation are ongoing and positions are currently “in the refining phase.”
