Environmental Protest Halts Military Exercises in Montenegro

Protesters on Mount Sinjajevina in Montenegro. Photo: Black on White Coalition.

"We will not clash with the citizens. We want to convince them that what we are doing is for the benefit of all. We should meet and talk about this issue," Boskovic told public broadcaster RTCG.

"We have to find a way to get the military training done. It is impossible to have an army without a military training ground on our territory," he said.

On October 16, environmental activists and local community members started protests on Mount Sinjajevina, near the town of Kolasin, calling on the government to stop the militarisation of the highland pastures.

Protesters warned that they intended to disrupt the military training session announced for this week, claiming that the explosives used would devastate the local environment.

They have been supported by the incoming ruling coalition, which has promised that its new government will stop the militarisation of Sinjajevina.

"The future minister of defence will stop the project to create a training ground in Sinjajevina. We will do it near the towns of Niksic or Danilovgrad," the leader of the Black on White coalition, Dritan Abazovic, told newspaper Vijesti on Sunday.

"We will protect the largest pasture in our country," Abazovic vowed.

Sinjajevina is the Balkan's biggest mountain grassland, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, with over 22,000 people living in nearby towns.

It's also known for highland pastoral settlements called 'katuns' which are dispersed across Sinjajevina. During the summer, locals live in the katuns while their livestock grazes on the pastures.

In September 2019, the Montenegrin government inaugurated an artillery training ground on Mount Sinjajevina and...