The contest of high school bands called DANILOVGRADATION will be held on May 10th at the plateau next to the river Zeta. At the event, organized by the Gymnasium "Petar I Petrovic Njegos" from Danilovgrad, the Ministry of Education with support from the Danilovgrad Municipality, ten bands from 10 Montenegrin gymnasiums will compete.

Each band will perform three compositions -one they've authored, and two already known compositions, in Montenegrin and a foreign language.

The first placed band will have the opportunity to record their song in the studio, while the second and third prizes will receive musical equipment which is necessary for the band. Marija Bozović & Band will play in the inaugural part.

The goal of this event, as suggested by the organizers, is to encourage young people to consume high-quality and healthy content. As the project relies entirely on the attitude of the Ministry of Education that institutions should work to encourage extracurricular activities and to profile youth tastes. That is why, among other things, the "Day of Art Education" project with Zetski dom was realized, during which several thousand children had the opportunity to visit the Royal Theater and the National Museum

Director of the Danilovgrad High School, Natasa Latkovic, said this is an important event.

"At the institutional level, we send a message that we will fight for quality to take place in the lives of young people. We will not leave them to the mainstream, but we will do our best to direct them and show that they have our support," Latkovic said. The Ministry of Education spokesperson Milica Lekic said that the quality of human life is measured, among other things, by his capacity to perceive the world around himself, to develop a constructive critical opinion and to be a creator, but also a consumer of high-quality content. The bands that will compete are KOTOR - Kotor Gymnasium - SUNSET, CETINJE - Cetinje Gymnasium - IVAN CRVENI, ROZAJE – Gymnasium 30th September”. SILENCE, NIKSIC - Gymnasium "Stojan Cerovic" - NE BILO ROCK-A, BAR - Gymnasium "Niko Rolović" - KRUG, PODGORICA - Gymnasium "Slobodan Skerovic" - ABISSYA, BIJELO POLJE - Gymnasium Miloje Dobrasinovic "- LITTLE DOTS, BERANE - Gymnasium" Panto Malisic "- ALT, PLJEVLJA - Gymnasium, Tanasije Pejatovic" - BISERI PLJEVALJA, DANILOVGRAD - Gymnasium, Petar I Petrović Njegos "- NOEMA.

Text by Vijesti online, on April 16th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Montenegro, Alison Kemp visited the Teacher's Parliament of the Economy-catering high School (EUS) in Bar and participated in the panel "Without Plastic" devoted to the consequences of using plastic products on the environment. The Ambassador met high school students in Bar with the active campaign in the UK, pointing to endangered natural resources in Montenegro and invited young people to engage actively with relevant services and institutions.

"Mitar Radonjić from the Niksic Institute for Social and Educational Policy (ISOP) pointed out the lack of proper treatment of car tires in Montenegro, the devastation of the forestry fund over the past five years, during which over 30 percent of the trees were destroyed over 80 years, as well as the results of the ISOP Environmental and Animal Protection Team called "Green Patrol." During the panel discussion involving over 60 students and professors, there were student's comments on the recent ecological incident in the schoolyard when cypresses several decades old were illegally cut. Student Masa Kovacevic met the participants of the panel with the school's ecological section, led by professors Dragica Radović and Danijela Djokovic, whose projects received international awards," said professor of EUS Mr. Nedjeljko Djurovic.

The panel was held within the “Climate Diplomacy” project, an educational program for the pupil population, whose main representatives are in the diplomatic missions in Montenegro. It is implemented by ISOP with the Podgorica Youth Implementation Council and its goal is to promote a viable and "green" economy, and that our youth through the presentations by the diplomatic representatives is acquainted with the appropriate ecological practices of the countries they come from.

Text by Radomir Petric, on April 18th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

Radio Boka went on air for the first time in Herceg Novi on April 17^th, 1979, two days after the devastating earthquake that hit the Montenegrin coast. The program of Radio Boka was carried out by the leading journalists of ex-Yugoslavia from Belgrade, Sarajevo and Podgorica, and they worked daily in a metal container placed at the square in front of the municipal building. Radio Herceg Novi, which began to broadcast the program on the same radio-frequency after two years on 25^th May 1981, according to employees, inherited the tradition of Radio Boka.

On this occasion, a cocktail party was held, bringing together representatives of the municipality, councilors, colleagues, former editors and employees. Executive Director Dubravka Perovic announced the beginning of the work of the television that will happen under the same roof as the radio but on the new premises.

Radio Boka was a "tough" media, technologist Djuro Krnic said, who as a radio amateur was in "the first set up." "The program was broadcast in the middle frequency, and it was listened to from Ulcinj to Dubrovnik and up to Bilece. The work was done with an old technique, but when one of our colleagues came from some bigger media houses, after listening to our program and seeing where the program was being broadcasted, he would be puzzled and in disbelief, Krnic said.

"I was a student in Belgrade when in the summer of the unfortunate 1979, I came to my Herceg Novi. I was astonished by the appearance of the city, but also by the enormous desire and strength of the inhabitants to renew their homes as soon as possible and to continue their normal lives. Randomly, my high school professor, Zarko Bulatovic, then journalist and editor of TV Titograd, suggested that I should help in creating a program of Radio Boka, which went on air only two days after the earthquake.

It was a big challenge for me, the first journalist real job in extraordinary circumstances. There was supposed to be daily visits to the ravaged Herceg Novi Riviera, listening to and recording various sad stories, people who were left without a roof above their heads, but also those who were encouraged with the help coming from all sides. My first report was from Kumbor," journalist Rada Djakovic recalls.

She reminds editors and experienced journalists who came from the great media centers of the former SFRJ, especially from Radio Titograd: Vlatko Ivanovic, Vladimir Gojnic, Bozidar Terzic. "I dreaded when I handed over the handwritten text for them to look at, before going on air. She says that she forever remembers the hot summer in a small metal container, on the plateau in front of the municipal building, from where the program was broadcasted with two big tape recorders by the brand "Studer" and chronicles of the municipalities: Herceg Novi, Kotor, and Tivat.   

Despite all technological advances, the radio is today the fastest medium - at the same time the media that continually confront us with reality and leaves enough space for imagination - because there is no image just a living word.

This also applies to Radio Herceg Novi from the moment we first went on air. As a media founded by the Municipality - we watched and experienced everything that the city had experienced, all the fractures in society, all the ups and downs, the bad and the good times. We have breathed and continue to breathe with the city," said journalist and editor of Radio Herceg Novi, Vitka Vujnovic.

Text by Slavica Kosic, on April 17th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

April 18, 2019 - To meet the high tourist season, the local Tourism Organization of Herceg Novi, in cooperation with National Tourism Organisation, is about to launch a so-called "road show" promotion in the pre-season and the post-season in the cities of the region. The aim is to extend the season and increase the number of tourists in May, June, September, and October.

April 18, 2019 - Kotor is a member of numerous international organizations and has twin cities around the world. In the context of regional cooperation, cooperation with Dubrovnik, Split, Mostar, and Ohrid has intensified in the past period. Kotor is also a member of international associations of cities that are based on UNESCO's principles of development for the areas of universal importance, multiethnic principles of spreading the culture of peace and the integrating principles of the European Union.

16 April 2019 - The Government of Montenegro is strongly committed to preserving and protecting the Ulcinj Salina, revitalizing that area and in that context it provided legal and planned protection of the site, Prime Minister Duško Marković said at a meeting with representatives of four NGOs - EuroNatur Foundation, BirdLife International, Center for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro (CZIP) and Dr. Martin Schneider-Jacoby Association. 

Representatives of these four NGOs, Gabriel Schwaderer, Ariel Bruner, Jovana Janjušević and Zenepa Lika, handed over a petition to Prime Minister Marković signed by over 90,000 citizens from Montenegro and Europe, demanding that the Prime Minister ensures the timely revitalization of salt production in Ulcinj Salina, protection of Ulcinj Salina in accordance with national and international law and to ensure that Ulcinj Salina remains owned by Montenegrin citizens and that it is managed in the best interests of the country's environment and citizens. 

Prime Minister Marković pointed out that the Government's intention and actions regarding this issue were undisputed and reminded that, besides the adoption of documents protecting this area, the Government had invested 1 million EUR in equipment and water pumps so far. 

He pointed out that the issue of ownership of land cannot and will not determine the way of valorization and protection of this area, and that the Government will engage in solving this problem. He said that the support and expertise of these NGOs are welcome and that in the forthcoming period they will work together to fulfill the goal - protection and revitalization of Ulcinj Salina. 

Both sides agreed that the Salina area is important both from the aspect of environmental protection and preservation of biodiversity, as well as from the perspective of the economy, job creation and creation of new tourist offer in Montenegro based on nature protection. 

Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulović also attended the meeting. 

With the multi-media program "Bar in April 1979" in the Castle of King Nikola last night, the Municipality of Bar paid respects to the victims of the catastrophic April Earthquake in 1979 and to all the heroes of the city's renewal that began right after the main impact on 15^th April, precisely 40 years ago.

Moderator of the panel "Memories that Warn", journalist and publicist Zeljko Milovic pointed out that it was a time when "fear was the primary human emotion" in this area, but also the time of the heroism in which Bar "recovered incredibly fast, with the solidarity of the whole Yugoslavia".

"Josip Broz Tito visited the coastal zone on the same day, urged the people in Yugoslavia to help reconstruct the demolished, and no one could refuse him. While I was watching the video recordings from that time, two sentences were specially imprinted in my memory: then five-year-old Dragana Ostojic described the earthquake moments by saying she thought the day was collapsing, while an older lady in Crmnica, who lost her family, said that the one who grieves only for their house after the earthquake is a happy man," Milovic said.

Stressing that "today it is impossible for us to see what we have experienced", the vice-president of the Bar Parliament assembly at the time and the Commander of Civil Protection Staff Jusuf Kalamperovic said that the greatest loss in the earthquake was human lives, "and in Bar there were exactly 49 killed, the dead were laid on the grass".

"The mountains were shaking, and in this area, most people were killed, there was a huge distrust in the countryside stone houses. The city did not have water and electricity, there was no bakery or petrol station open, only five liters of petrol were given to the hospital and bakeries as per a written approval. The municipality could not be visited, so we left Krajina and Crmnica to Titograd. In such a situation, organizing life was extremely difficult, but the behavior of the entire population was unbelievable, we did not have any theft, no crime for months, and all the shops were wrecked, then there was unseen solidarity, the bus companies made the decision to work for a month free of charge," Kalamperovic said.

He added that the peasants were then much more courageous than the people in the city "where the panic spread," and recalled the story of the volcano in Lisinje, when a fire broke out on the top of the mountain "and I knew someone burned the grass to escape".

"Tito, who was then in Igalo, went to the Shipyard Bijela and said only one sentence in his style, 'Our people and folk will repair this'. Nothing else was needed; the whole Yugoslavia rose to their feet. We saw the first help on April 15th from Dubrovnik, the boat brought us drinking water, and four days later the Italian warship delivered 800 tents, the law was approved in the Assembly of SFRJ on providing the assistance to all the republics," said Kalamperovic.

Dr Ljubo Zivkovic, Executive Director of the General Hospital in that time, said that the day before the earthquake in Bar came the famous GINA - the General Inspection of the National Army - to test that this city would function in war conditions, and in faked conditions of war sanitation, and the hospital staff received a high rating from GINA.

"The next day, when the earthquake struck, Rumija and Lisinje on fire, the hospital was severely damaged. The Saturday training now was supposed to play live. In record time, all of our workers were there, there was no call when I got to the hospital, there was already Dr. Anto Martinovic, and we sent all the moving patients home, the non-moving ones to Mala Mirovica, hundreds of beds and hundreds of patients under the blue sky. Triage was executed by the most experienced surgeon Dr. Danilo Malic, and the most difficult cases were sent by helicopter to Titograd. The graduates from Kragujevac who were on the excursion in Canj came to give blood, a medical team from Maribor and Ljubljana brought a Polish hospital, the Red Cross from the Federal Republic of Germany built us a prefabricated 20 objects assembled by the Germans and opened at the end of May by their Ambassador, four doctors from Sabac have come to assist us. The Medical Center of Bar was officially declared the best of all in the earthquake affected area, we got six medals for merits of the people," said Dr. Zivkovic.

He stressed that it is nice for young people to hear that even before them there were worthy people whose efforts should not be undermined.

"Bar was lucky enough to have Blazo Orlandic, a visionary who despised superficiality and improvisation, who knew what he wants. In his memoirs, I dedicate my aforementioned memory," Dr. Zivković concluded, whose inspirational speech was greeted by a long applause.

The then vice-chairman of Municipal Assembly of Bar responsible for reconstruction and construction, Milos Suster pointed out that the restoration of Bar was helped by the famous Polish architect Ciborovski who gave advice to approach the restoration without fear, according to the plans. In Bar, five urban plans were made in 42 days; they were made on paper, corrections were resolved with a razor, and plans were made day-and-night by urban planners from Skoplje led by great Krste Todorovski.

"Already in July, construction of solid building materials had begun, in November the first buildings were completed. In awkward conditions exceptional results were achieved because people who were doing such knew what they were doing and what they could do. We were able to restore 700 apartments and brought back the people from the tents by February 1980, and the whole Bar was a large construction site. Hundreds of prefabricated buildings for socially endangered were built, hundreds of households for elderly people were built, followed by renovations of schools and health facilities, and then business facilities, so in 1984, then federal Prime Minister Milka Planinc opened the renovated Port of Bar," said Suster.

He stressed that Bar made the most in rebuilding after the earthquake consequences from all other cities because it "had a powerful state behind it, and municipalities had greater autonomy and better human resources".

"All the functions were covered by quality people. Hotel Sozina in Sutomore was the first new one built after the earthquake on the coast. Among the people who were most crucial in making Bar do the most, are unfortunately now deceased, Blazo Orlandic, Cedo Cejovic and Krsto Todorovski," said Suster.

Prof. Dr Srdjan Jankovic from the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the University of Montenegro reminded visitors and participants that Montenegro was an extremely earthquake-prone area and that there would be "more earthquakes", and therefore it is very useful to develop awareness of the reduction of seismic risk.

Remembering the April Days in 1979 was evoked by Irina Dabovic, then Zonjic, who was a member of the four-member journalist section of the Gymnasium, who assisted the team from Radio Bar, radio amateur Goran Dragovic, who pointed out that the world's first news of destruction was broadcast by radio amateurs of the club "Volujica" Rajko Radulovic and Goran Sekulovic. Vojo Banovic, the then President of the Youth in Bar, said he had formed a youth center in the elementary school "Mexico", which received six work brigades "and was proclaimed the best on the coast of six such settlements." Igor Gojnić has talked about the participation of the selection of Bar at the then very polar inter-national TV “Game without borders” in Chioggia in Italy. "We sent a message to the world that Bar is alive."

Before the panel, President of Bar Dusan Raicevic opened a photo exhibition on the Earthquake, in the Castle, and reminded that 240 apartments and 300 houses were built in only three months in Bar in 1979 and 400 apartments were renovated. Raicevic emphasized the importance of the late Blazo Orlandic and Cedo Cejovic in the reconstruction of Bar. The documentary film "Memories" by Dejan Senic was also presented.

Text by Radomir Petric, on April 16th 2019, read more at Vijesti

The sixth-grade students from elementary school "Marsal Tito" in Ulcinj, Ylies Rama and Milos Blagojevic, and a pupil of ninth grade of "Jagos Kontic" from Niksic, will represent Montenegro at the final competition for English language knowledge "Hippo Competition", which will be held in May in the Italian town of Lido di Jesolo near Venice.

They showed the best results at the preliminaries held in Ulcinj and Niksic.

Coordinator and project organizer, English language professor Medina Coba said that the placement in the finals of Rama and Blagojevic is already a great success.

"Elementary school “Marsal Tito” in continuity has winners and finalists in competitions from English and German languages throughout the country and Europe. Winning in this competition is really a great success, but our ambitions are bigger," said Coba.

She stated that this is the sixth time in the last seven years that the school “Marsal Tito” represents Montenegro in prestigious English language competitions.

Text by Samir Adrovic, on April 15th 2019, read more at Vijesti