The 100-year-old training ship ‘Jadran’, one of the subjects of dispute. Photo: Ministry of Defence of Montenegro.
Croatia has listed eight demands for supporting Montenegro’s EU accession, all of which are “clearly defined and achievable,” according to a document Zagreb sent to EU member states and the European Commission and European Council.
The document explains Croatia’s position on Montenegro’s accession process in detail. “Croatia seeks to facilitate, not obstruct, Montenegro’s accession,” the text states.
It notes that several issues stemming from Montenegro’s participation in military aggression against Croatia during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s must be resolved. “Croatia sincerely wishes to turn the page on this painful chapter of our shared history and to build a future-oriented relationship with Montenegro,” it says.
Six of the eight demands relate to Chapter 23 in the EU acquis of legislation Montenegro needs to adopt in order to join the bloc, under the heading Judiciary and Fundamental Rights. The remaining two concern Chapter 31, Foreign, Security and Defence Policy.
The first concerns compensation for more than 300 Croatian citizens held at the Morinj camp between October 1991 and August 1992. The second concerns the preservation and permanent visibility of the memorial plaque installed at the former camp. A large metal frame has been erected around the plaque, allowing a movable panel to be placed over it.
“Such concealment would undermine this shared act of remembrance and reconciliation,” the document states.
Croatia also calls for the municipal swimming pool in Kotor, named after Zoran Gopcevic, a former international water polo player who was a guard at the camp, to be renamed. Because of the current name, Croatian clubs refuse to play at the facility.
Fourth, Croatia seeks full cooperation from Montenegro to determine the fate of 14 Croatian citizens who went missing during the aggression against Croatia in the early 1990s.
The fifth demand calls on Montenegro to prosecute those responsible for war crimes committed during the same war, including people who may bear criminal liability under the doctrine of command responsibility.
The sixth demand concerns property disputes dating back to the early 1990s, involving Croatian families who were unlawfully deprived of their property. The document notes that property has been returned to some former owners, mostly members of the Albanian minority, raising concerns about unequal treatment.
The seventh demand concerns the return of the training ship Jadran (Adriatic), which was based in Split before the breakup of Yugoslavia but was in Montenegro for repairs when war broke out in 1991.
According to the document, the Jadran dispute is part of the broader question of the division of the former Yugoslavia’s military assets. It asserts that military equipment belonging to the former Yugoslav federation, which Montenegro continues to hold and which Croatia claims was seized from its territory, has an estimated value of 2.7 billion US dollars.
In its eighth demand, Croatia calls for continued dialogue on the demarcation of the border between the two countries.
Podgorica must confirm the former border between the two former Yugoslav republics, as established by the Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia, commonly known as the Badinter Commission.
According to the document, experts say deviations between the former administrative border and the current situation are minor and do not exceed 220 metres.
Montenegro is currently seen as a frontrunner among Balkan states to secure EU membership and hopes to join the bloc in 2028. But Croatia has repeatedly warned that it requires any ‘bilateral disputes’ to be settled first.