Kotor Pool Renamed and Morinj Plaque Approved
Montenegro's government renamed the Kotor pool and approved the Morinj plaque. Plenkovic says two of Croatia's eight demands are settled and talks continue.
On Monday, with the consent of a majority of its members, the Montenegrin government adopted two decisions that meet two of the eight conditions Croatia has set on Podgorica’s road to European Union membership: the city pool in Kotor no longer carries the name of water polo player Zoran Dzimi Gopcevic, and the memorial plaque in Morinj has received retroactive approval. For the region, Serbia included as a candidate country, the case shows how bilateral issues from the wars of the 1990s turn into conditions in the accession process: Zagreb presented its list of eight open issues to member states and the heads of European institutions, with a message that it expects progress before Montenegro’s negotiations end.
What did the government decide on the pool and the plaque?
The Kotor pool will now be called “City Pool - Petar II Petrovic Njegos.” The basis is an amendment to the Law on Sport, adopted about ten days earlier and signed by President Jakov Milatovic: a sports facility may bear the name of a person only if at least 40 years have passed since their death. Gopcevic died 26 years ago, so his name no longer met the legal requirement.
In the second decision, the government retroactively approved the plaque installed on October 10, 2022, on a stone wall near the entrance to a military facility in Morinj. The plaque stays in the same place, in the same form and dimensions and with the same inscription, and its upkeep continues. In its explanation, the government says there is a special public interest in approving it after the fact, given the social importance tied to Montenegro’s accession to the European Union. The culture ministry will later issue a ruling naming the body responsible for maintaining the memorial.
Sources differ in describing the people the plaque commemorates: N1 writes about detained Croatian civilians and defenders, RTRS about prisoners of war, and RTCG about civilians and prisoners of war.
Why was the pool’s name disputed for years?
For decades the Kotor pool bore the name of the anti-fascist Niksa Bucin, who was killed in 1944 fighting the Chetniks. On August 18, 2021, the Kotor municipal assembly decided to rename it after Gopcevic, and the sign at the entrance went up in February 2022. Zagreb and representatives of the Croatian community in Montenegro said Gopcevic served as a guard in Morinj during the war, citing testimony from former detainees. Gopcevic is not among those finally convicted in Montenegro of crimes in Morinj.
The plaque was unveiled in 2022 by Montenegrin ministers Ranko Krivokapic and Rasko Konjevic together with Croatian ministers Gordan Grlic Radman and Tomo Medved. Only a few days later an inspection ordered its removal, because the plaque was not part of the Kotor municipality’s memorial program and no government consent had been obtained for it; the army did not let the Kotor communal inspectors into the facility. Monday’s decision therefore also resolves that procedural gap.
How did Zagreb respond?
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reacted on X:
Today’s decision of the Montenegrin government concerns two: the plaque in Morinj and the change of the pool’s name in Kotor. There are more.
He also said further talks with Podgorica will follow. Croatian government sources, speaking unofficially to the Hina news agency, described it as a step in the right direction, prompted by Plenkovic’s intervention at the European Council:
Croatia is constructive toward Montenegro, and we believe this is the moment to resolve the issues concerning European values and good-neighborly relations.
What is left on the Croatian list?
Six demands remain: compensation for those detained in Morinj (RTRS says there were more than 300), information on 14 missing Croatian citizens, prosecution of war crimes including command responsibility, property claims by Croatian families in the Bay of Kotor area, the return of the training ship “Jadran,” and the border at Prevlaka. RTRS, citing RT Balkan, mentions 51 families from Tivat. Six of the issues on the full list belong to Chapter 23, on the judiciary and fundamental rights, and two to Chapter 31, on foreign, security and defense policy.
We have written about the dispute between Montenegro and Croatia over Morinj before.
