Lifestyle
19 September 2019 - The health care system can be boosted significantly through the promotion of regional cooperation and strengthening joint actions in all the challenges, it was noted during the 69th session of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Committee for Europe, which was held in Copenhagen.
Minister of Health Kenan Hrapović led the Montenegrin delegation during the session, which lasted from 16 to 19 September.
The first day session of the Regional Committee was committed to the work of the WHO Regional Office for Europe in the past year. Within the discussion, Minister Hrapović praised the efforts of the WHO to boost health in the world, the activities aimed at increasing access to health care and providing universal health coverage – the goals that are defined by European health policy "Health 2020" and sustainable development goals. Minister Hrapović informed the member states about activities that Montenegro implements in continuation in order to fulfil sustainable development goals when it comes to the health of the population and highlighted the significance of the primary health care. Minister of Health Hrapović recalled all the present that Montenegro is the first country of Southeast Europe that implemented the overall assessment of the primary health care capacity, based on which future courses of action are defined.
This year in July, Montenegro was the chairmanship of the South - Eastern European Health Network (SEEHN) and in that regard Minister Hrapović addressed the audience on the behalf of the nine network member states, and spoke about the regional high - quality cooperation when it comes to the health improvement and the importance of joint action, particularly when it comes to immunisation.
During the ministerial meeting, within the lectures on Leadership trough the SEEHN example, Minister Hrapović emphasised the issue and the leadership significance of the network members by which it contributes to the strengthening of the network and creating a reliable partner of the WHO. Minister Hrapović stated that all the SEEHN member states are managed by the motto "be the change you want to see" and that they first change their systems and then exchange good results and practices with other countries. The Minister pointed to the importance of leadership and constant learning and motivating others to improve their systems.
In the margins of the meeting in Copenhagen, according to the statement of the Government of Montenegro, thee delegation of the Ministry of Health of Montenegro met with the WHO Director-General – Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the WHO Deputy Director General Zsuzsanna Jakab. The meeting discussed the essential activities in order to strengthen the process of immunisation, all in the direction of preparing the meeting of small states that will be held in July 2020 in Montenegro.
19 September 2019 - The Decision on the Enlistment of the Bokelj Navy on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the end of 2019
Minister of Culture of Montenegro Aleksandar Bogdanović recently paid a working visit to Kotor, during which he met with the representatives of the local government, and visited the Maritime Museum, the Bokelj Navy and the old prison facility, where work on establishing new facilities will begin soon.
According to the statement issued by the Government of Montenegro, discussions with local government representatives included numerous topics, such as art programs in the city, city development projects, as well as current issues regarding Kotor’s status on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The meeting emphasized that the previous edition of KotorArt justified the festival’s status as one of the key cultural programs in the country. In this regard, Minister Bogdanović and President of Kotor Municipality Aprcović agreed that the state and the city should consider the possibility of an even more generous budget for KotorArt's program next year.
When talking about activities in regards to UNESCO, Minister Bogdanović emphasized that communication in this area is intensive.
Most of the discussions between the Minister and President Aprcović concerned activities in regards to Kotor’s status on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In this regard, the entire natural and cultural, historical area of Kotor is currently under HIA review, while at the same time, the Management Plan is being revised. At the end of the month, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the city’s listing on the UNESCO World Heritage List, an ICOMOS meeting will be organized in Kotor. “I hope that we will soon get an opinion from UNESCO on the spatial plan of Kotor, so that we can start corrections as soon as possible, since we are obliged to submit a new Conservation Status Report by February 2020,” Minister Bogdanović said.
During his visit to the Bokelj Navy, Minister Bogdanovic stressed that it would soon be known whether it would be part of the UNESCO heritage.
“The most important will be the end of the year, when a decision will be made in Bogotá to enlist the Bokelj Navy on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Last year, we submitted the nomination file, it met the technical parameters, and we received 300 signatures of approval for the nomination,” said Minister Bogdanović.
Last week was important not only for the hotel group Casa del Mare, but also for the Montenegrin culinary world. For the first time, the Casa del Mare Hotel Group hosted a Michelin star chef at its Mediterraneo Hotel in Montenegro.
Eros Picco, who spends his working life in Milan, Italy, organized an extraordinary gastronomic evening for all visitors to the Casa del Mare Mediterraneo Hotel (Kamenari, Boka Bay) on September 12 and 13, as part of two tasting dinners.
Casa del Mare hosts Michelin star chef
Picco created nine courses for this occasion using as many local products and ingredients as possible. The gastronomic experience was also enhanced by local wines from this region, the choice of which was adapted to different dishes.
Casa del Mare hosts Michelin star chef
The Michelin star rating system is the highest point of reference in the restaurant and hotel industry. In this way, the Casa del Mare Mediterraneo hotel, which will be open throughout the winter, begins the seasons of great events in the off-season and quality collaborations with local and foreign brands and experts.
The Casa del Mare Hotel Group is the first domestic boutique hotel group in Montenegro and as such won the Wild Beauty Award for the previous year.
Hotel Mediterraneo is the first hotel in this group. It was renovated and opened on July 12 this year and has received five stars with a new categorization.
Text by Boka news, on September 19th, 2019, read more at Boka News
The opening ceremony of the multinational exercise "Joint Challenge 2019" was held at the Djuro Draskovic barracks in Kolasin.
In addition to experts in the field of mountain warfare of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Austria, representatives of the Army of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, the Armed Forces of Italy, NATO Center of Excellence for Mountain Warfare, as well as members of the National Guard of the State of Maine, in the role of observer, participate in the third multinational exercise.
By opening the exercise, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Army of Montenegro, Svetozar Brajkovic said that it was an honor and pleasure that Montenegro once again hosted such an exercise.
"Because the development of mountain warfare capability is deeply rooted in our past and present. The centuries-old struggle for freedom of Montenegro was fought mostly on mountainous terrain, and Montenegrin soldiers regularly defeated their opponents on such a battlefield, regardless of inferiority in manpower and military equipment," said Brajkovic.
In addition to the representatives of the participating countries, the ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Kolasin, Milosav Bulatovic.
Text by Vijesti online, on September 17th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
The environmental defense united eco-activists from Montenegro, Croatia and Serbia, who signed an agreement last weekend in Ruma to preserve national forest treasures, prevent forest devastation and control state forestry institutions.
This was said to “Vijesti” by the director of the NGO Environmental Movement Ozon and activist of the Coalition for Sustainable Development (KOR) Aleksandar Perovic, who signed the agreement on behalf of KOR.
At the exhibition (Photo: Jelena Jovanović)
The document was also signed by representatives of the initiatives of the “Guardians of Fruska Gora” from Serbia and the Croatian “Green Squad”, as well as the Forum of the Veterans' Association "VIDRA - Veterans and Social Action".
After the signing, the announcement of the first joint action has arrived. Thus, on October 5 at noon, Durmitor, Medvednica and Fruska Gora will warn of the devastation of the forest treasure and urge those responsible to prevent further cutting.
At the exhibition (Photo: Jelena Jovanović)
"The signing of the agreement not only formalized the cooperation of the region's ecological civic networks, as politicians do, but we all committed ourselves not to give up joint resistance to the uncompromising appropriation of natural resources by interest lobbies close to the authorities of the Balkan countries," Perovic said.
He noted that it is obvious that private interest is placed above the public in the whole region:
"And that decision-makers and politicians are part of that organized eco-criminal group. This is also one of the reasons that all of us who love the nature of our countries and who are aware that we must fight to change the existing devastating environmental devastation trends, come together in the regional block of civic, environmental activists and be the ones to weigh in favor of a sustainable future.
At the exhibition (Photo: Jelena Jovanović)
He invited the citizens to join them in front of the Government building on Friday, September 20, at a civic, environmental protest on the occasion of the Ecological State of Montenegro Day:
“Together we show that we care about the ecological state of Montenegro, for sustainable development, for a promising future, for a country that we return to and for the most valuable thing that our ancestors left us and what we are obligated to leave to our descendants, not to give to the tycoons without a fight. "
At the exhibition (Photo: Jelena Jovanović)
Text by Jelena Jovanovic, on September 17th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
Shipbuilder’s workshop Bokovac from Bar participated in the international maritime manifestation "Days in Vala", which was held in Croatia on the island Hvar.
It is the third International Festival of the Sea, Naval and Maritime Heritage organized by the Old Town Hvar and the Association for the Promotion of the Croatian Maritime Heritage "Cronaves" from Split, with the support of the Croatian Government, and sponsored by the President of that country, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
"During those five festival days, the Old Town of Hvar brought together many competitors, a large number of traditional wooden boats - gajetas , gucis , pasaras, leut, batanas... We achieved significant success and the first place with a pasara boat from Bar, "Andre", and the crew consisted of Emilio Gavran, a member of the Club "Latin sail" Bar and sailor from Croatia Maja Roic", said Lala Bokovac to "Vijesti" from the eponymous workshop from Bar.
Participants of the festivals (Photo: KR Bokovac)
She added that the festival was a good opportunity to share experiences, as well as business cooperation arrangements aimed at preserving and inheriting traditional sailboats.
"I am surprised by the support that those in Croatia who affirm and protect traditional wooden vessels have from the state. In recent days, Hvar has gathered a large number of guests from around the world, and the people of Hvar have made all the guests feel at home. I think that, by their example, we can further enhance our tourist offer," said Bokovac.
She added that the Shipbuilder Workshop from Bar will soon start training sailing on traditional wooden sailboats in Kotor through the project “Cattaro Sail”, and that it will be an opportunity to return the hospitality to the colleagues from Croatia.
On the team from Montenegro, which was at the festival "Days in Vala" in Hvar, was also a professor of FLU Cetinje, art historian and photographer Maja Djuric.
Djuric and the Bokovac team agreed with their Croatian counterparts on a series of further joint activities aimed at protecting and promoting the maritime heritage of the eastern Adriatic coast.
Text by Sinisa Lukovic, on September 17th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
The route of the seventh LGBTIQ Pride Parade "Montenegro Pride", which will be held on Saturday in Podgorica, is longer than ever and covers more than one kilometer of the central streets of the Capital, as announced from Montenegro Pride 2019 Organizational Committee.
According to the organizers, the procession will start from St. Peter Cetinjski Boulevard, from the monument to King Nikola and continue to the Blazo Jovanovic Bridge, from where it will continue to Stanko Dragojevic Boulevard, after which it will turn into Bokeska Street and pass by Independence Square from which it will turn into Sloboda Street all the way to the hotel “Hilton”, from where it will continue to St. Peter Cetinjski Boulevard to the starting point.
According to the announcement, this year it is also a novelty that three locations will be opened to enter the venue of the Parade itself.
The route of this year’s Pride
"The first entrance will be at King Nikola Street at hotel Nikic "M". The second location of the entrance will be at Blazo Jovanovic Bridge (access from the part of the city via Moraca), while the third, new, entrance will be located in the street Slobode at the intersection with Miljan Vukov street (entrance from the direction of the city stadium), "as said from Montenegro Pride 2019 Organizational Committee.
Entrances will be open at 4 pm and closed at 5 pm. The program will start immediately and will last until 6.30 pm at the latest.
The celebration of the Montenegro Pride will continue with the concert of the Croatian band "Nipplepeople" at 9 pm in Bokeska Street, organized in cooperation with Podgorica Art Festival.
Text by Vijesti online, on September 17th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
A minor incident took place at Tivat Airport at 6.30 pm Monday when the plane of the Russian airline Red Wings landed on a regular flight from Moscow.
The aircraft type "Airbus A-321" (VP-BVO) landed as usual but when reducing the speed on the runway, for unspecified reasons, caused the overheating of the brakes on the bogie wheels.
Unofficially, smoke was blowing from the hot brakes, but no open flames erupted as Tivat airport firefighters intervened very quickly.
According to the procedure, in this kind of case, dry powder is used first, and when the temperature is cooler, then water was used on the hot wheels of the Russian plane, which cooled the overheated brakes.
"Our Protection and Rescue Service has intervened extremely effectively, professionally and quickly and prevented damage to the aircraft," said director of Montenegrin Airports Danilo Orlandic.
No injuries were reported in the incident and all passengers left the plane when it stopped at the Tivat Airport platform.
The plane that took part in the incident was therefore unable to return from Tivat to Moscow as scheduled.
"Red Wings' A-321 stayed in Tivat and will be inspected tomorrow by mechanics of that company. Hotel accommodation has been provided for the passengers that were supposed to travel to Moscow tonight," said Orlandic.
Text by Sinisa Lukovic, on September 16th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
On September 26, 1981, one of the hijackers of JAT Boeing, Borivoje Jelic, announced that he would come to Podgorica because he wanted to talk to Petar Caco Ljumovic and other football players of “Buducnost” and apologize to them for all that they had experienced during that unpleasant event that upset the Yugoslav public.
In September, Ljumovic embarked on a championship match with Vojvodina in Novi Sad with a 20-member expedition of the club from Podgorica.
The hijacking happened late at night after the plane took off from Dubrovnik airport Cilipi, which flew from Podgorica to pick up a group of passengers.
The hijackers later said at the trial that they had chosen to board the plane at the airport in Podgorica because there was the weakest control at the time, and they intervened among the delegation of the team from Podgorica. When the plane took off from Dubrovnik Airport, hijackers with guns entered the cabin and reported to Captain Ljubomir Zekavica and the crew that it was a hijack. Then they moved all the passengers to the back of the plane.
The finale of that drama at the Larnaca airport made it clear that passengers had escaped from the plane, and then both the crew and the world media reported that the hijackers were left alone on the plane.
Tonko Miročević and Caco Ljumović (Photo: Private archive)
Ljumovic recalls flying to Brindisi and Athens, that Israeli planes drove them out of that country's airspace, and finally the happy ending took place in Larnaca. When Captain Ljubomir Zvekavica landed the plane at the end of the runway, near the beach, there was a sick woman on a stretcher on the plane, who had a deteriorating health condition and had to be taken through the back door. While this was happening, someone burned a paper in the toilet, suddenly a fire alarm went off, and the pilot and his colleagues maximized the cooling appliances to give the impression that the fire was serious. Everyone rushed outside through the door near the wing of the plane, which was opened by Zarko Vukcevic. Only the hijackers and crew members, nine of them and Caco Ljumovic, remained on the plane because his cousin was a flight attendant and did not want to leave her on the plane. When, after the escape of the passengers, the hijackers retreated to the tail of the plane for further agreements, the crew and Ljumovic, by order of the captain of the plane, exited through two openings on the emergency plane, ran under the beak of the plane and fled toward the beach.
"It is not a trivial event when the plane is hijacked by armed men, but there was no panic, there was adrenaline. When I got off the plane with my crew, through two emergency exits, I held two stewardesses by the hand, it seemed like I was holding them and I felt nothing. We freed ourselves, so the media in Europe wrote that the Yugoslavs had abducted the kidnappers," says Ljumovic.
Ljumovic remembers that when they reached the beach, they saw specialists from Cypress with rifles. Later, the players of “Buducnost” recalled the details of the abduction, as some did not even believe that the plane had been hijacked, to those who were running down the runway in Larnaca.
Ljumovic points out that the hijackers did not harass the passengers, and that he is willing to talk to Jelic, who announced his arrival in Montenegro.
"I felt the consequences of that event a year later, when I was playing in Greece, my hair started to fall out. Then a Greek doctor told me it was stress, and it was good that it came out. When I signed a contract for the French club the following year, my hair grew back," says Ljumovic.
In the hijacked plane were also the actors Misa Janketic, Zarko Lausevic, Marko Nikolic, rock singer Biljana Petrovic, national hero Milan Sijan and several other celebrities from the public life of the time.
In the book "Hijackings and crashes of Yugoslav aircraft" by Dr. Vukosav Balevic, a complete list of passengers on the YU-AKF plane is published. On the expedition of FC Buducnost in the hijacked plane were Radovan Bujic, Zoran Nikitovic, Slavko Vlahovic, Zoran Vorotovic, Miomir Bakrac, Vojislav Vukcevic, Branislav Drobnjak, Zoran Batrovic, Zarko Vukcevic, Petar Lumovic, Mojas Radonjic, Mirko Radinovic, Dragan “Guzo” Vujovic, Dragoljub Brnovic, Vasilije Kalezic, Slavenko Kuzeljevic, coaches Djordje Gerum and Milutin Folic, dr Djuro Music and physical therapist Ljubomir Radunovic.
The plane was hijacked by Borivoje Jelic and Mirko Krizic from Bjelovar, and Milan Prpic from Rijeka. The plan for the hijacking of the plane was conceived during their imprisonment in Lepoglava, and was also assisted by Predrag Vidakovic from Rijeka.
The action was funded by Zagreb caterer Josip Valentic, and logistical support was provided by Jelena Dokmanovic from Bjelovar. It is believed that Dokmanovic just brought her weapon to the Titograd airport, and then sat quietly among the abducted passengers with whom she later escaped from the plane in Larnaca!
Ljumovic says that one of the “Buducnost” players, when everything calmed down, accidentally opened Dokmanovic's purse, which was full of large banknotes of dollars and Deutsche marks.
Jelic was sentenced to eight years in prison for kidnapping, Krizic to five, Prpic to three, Vidakovic to two, and Valentic to one and a half year. Due to lack of evidence, Jelena Dokmanovic was released, and Vukosav Balevic claims in his book that the file from the trial was burned for unknown reasons in 1992!
According to some speculations, the famous German terrorist Baader–Meinhof Gang was involved in this action.
Regret for the cup’s trophy
In the final match, Podgorica was defeated at Belgrade's "Marakana" on May 24, 1977, after extra time to Hajduk Split 2:0.
FC “Buducnost ”at the final match of the Yugoslav Cup (Photo: Private archive)
“The whole of Montenegro traveled to Belgrade. That noise, when we came out of the hallway into the stadium, I will never forget. There were over 70,000 spectators at the stadium. It seems to me that I woke up only after the first passes and became aware that I was playing a match. We failed in overtime, Hajduk Split played in the extra time as if the game had just started," said Ljumovic.
Ljumovic says that after 90 minutes of play, in the break for extra time, his teammate Nikolica Jankovic set out to grab one of Hajduk's bottles to freshen up, and Drazen Muzinic tried to hit him with a boot. Nikolica removed his hand and Muzinic spilled the liquid. The Hajduk players must have had some vitamins in these bottles that helped them start fresh in the overtime.
Summers spent on Moraca
Ljumovic lived behind Beko, so Caco's father got an apartment near the Technical High School over Moraca. Caco recounts that as a youngster he liked to swim in Moraca, on the right side of the coast was the beach called Podgoricanka, which had steep access. Ljumovic also remembers the old bridge “Viseci most” that fell in 1964, and as boys they used to, when there was no one on the bridge, to swing it without even being aware that such a game could be dangerous.
They finally made it to the first League
Ljumovic reminds that the former Yugoslavian Football League was the third most valuable in Europe and that it was not easy to be in the First League. Buducnost participated in six qualifications and failed for various reasons, but in 1974/75, they convincingly won the first place in the Second League East and placed into the elite competition.
“I believe that the key contribution was made by Dušan Varagić, the coach, who was both an experienced strategist and a man and always had a broader picture of everything that was going on. We had a quality team, but he knew to anticipate everything that awaited us. The role of a coach can be crucial in forming a player, especially if he can motivate him to get the best out of him. I was fortunate to work with good coaches," says Ljumovic.
He regrets that no regional league can be organized in football because he believes that no one would be able to control the cheerleading groups and that the incidents would overshadow what is happening on the pitch.
Caco's grandson prefers to make a pass, rather than to score a goal
Ljumovic was a registered player of OFK Titograd for 14 years. For 12 years he played at FC Buducnost, then in Greek Drahma, and for another three years in France. His grandson plays football, he is left-handed, he does not take after his grandfather in that, but likes to pass the ball more than to score a goal and that he picked up from Caco.
He also spends a lot of time with his grandson, spending summers at Verusa.
More money, less respect
Ljumovic says transfers in modern football are much higher than when he was an active player.
We football players made good money then. We had money, but also more respect. I went on vacation in Dubrovnik, finished my vacation, I want to pay when the hotel manager says "Sir, don't rush, you'll pay when you go to play against Hajduk."
"At that time we couldn't go into the café, everyone wanted to treat us," says Ljumovic.
A penitent hijacker?
Borivoje Jelic, one of the hijackers of JAT's plane, lives in Malmö, is married to a lady from Podgorica, and last year announced that he would come to the Montenegrin capital in the fall because he wanted to apologize to the football players of "Buducnost" for all that happened during the aircraft hijacking. Budimir Bucin, a journalist in Radio Montenegro, held an interview with Jelic, in which he has announced that they had decided to hijack the plane because they were against the political system in the then SFRY. Jelic did not report to Bucin afterwards.
Text by Boban Novovic, on September 11th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
Remax Property of the Week
Editorial
-
07 Mar 2018, 08:08 AMWelcome to Total Montenegro News!
Interview of the week
- 09 Nov 2020, 20:21 PM
Ranka Vukasovic Botica on Montenegro as a Maritime Country
