European Bar =Key to European Montenegro - Part 2
Expensive impossible, fantasy, impossible? How to fund these infrastructure projects?
How to finance it? First toll the new roads, like the Sozina Tunnel or the Trebinje Road this is the role model, secondly postpone the Andrejivica to Boljare section of the Northern Highway until Serbia join NATO. The is little traffic from isolate Serbia stuck in past to be expected anyhow. Build the link with booming EU Croatia first via the Hercegovina Adriatic Highway. And ask the EU to fund fully the Andrijevica to Peja NATO tunnel for KFOR in Kosovo. Thirdly, skip the Bar to Podgorica section of the northern Highway fully and build instead the standard national roads as outlined above. Montenegro is building currently many of them so you can do this very well. All of them is anyhow coming soon as part of the first decade of EU Membership so central is to accelerate EU accession to be fully able to benefit from the Social and Cohesion funds. So, none of the above is fantasy but all will be reality by 2030 – just better to start right now to front load development and accelerate economic growth. Up to now I have written a lot on road infrastructure as it is the central issue for Montenegro with its massive Alpine challenge, the key treasure of the magic coast and in terms of fiscal challenge and there is no better way to define the future trajectory of a nation as where it transforms its scarce money into concrete beton, asphalt and bridges and tunnels as it shows where Montenegro really aspires to – back to a long gone past with Belgrade or towards fast track union with EU and NATO. It boils down to choose between priorities between connecting with Zagreb, Vienna and Brussels as NATO and EU Capital or neutral Belgrade. But enough about road but to the Port of Bar and other key consideration for a smarter accession policy allowing Montenegro to join 2022. The key again is in Montenegro and not in Brussels or Berlin. And no worries I will not repeat what you can read in EC Enlargement reports but add some interesting new aspects to the debate worth as I hope considering and fully possible within the means of Montenegro itself, no need to wait for foreign investor – it is all about and within Montenegro!
After 10 items for southern coastal infrastructure recommendations now for Port of Bar
Yes, to Port of Bar – Gate to the World!
The Power of Bar – the most important strategic asset of Montenegro – Gate to World! Why do you not treat it like it deserves? It looks a bit sad today and the reviews are negative and the only hope the GoM has the new Highway to nowhere which won’t come to Bar for sure in its planned form. So much better to develop Sutomore and Dobra Voda as the Bar Marina and Touristic Centers and allow much bigger maritime development in Bar. Bar is ideal as regional center Balkan Adriatic Naval & Logistic Command for NATO and for big Industry to compete with Durres, Vlora and Ploce and Split and Ferry to Italy and along the Coast to Greece and Albania and Croatia and Cruise Ships. Here you can land more than one cruise ship per day once it is ready and all year long shuttle tourists all along the coast to Cetinje and Ulcinj and Zabljak and Kotor Bay per bus. Montenegro Port to the World but of regional significance in all these aspects please so please remove the Bar Marina and give it to the Bar Port https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Bar and get serious with the vision of King Nikola to turn Bar into the Southern Adriatic most successful logistic hub for the Southern Balkans.The railway & ferry & cruise ship hub of Montenegro
Bar is developing as Cruise Ship Destination already https://www.total-montenegro-news.com/travel/3198-cruising-season-bar Combined with the 10 recommendation for better infrastructure in the region and a massive investment into Port of Bar as a powerful regional transport hub the whole of the southern Coast and with it Montenegro will be transformed and will accelerated EU accession. But it is not the highway Podgorica to Bar which will do it but the direct GoM investment into the Port of Bar and the required listed infrastructure projects as listed in this article and a bit of smarter strategy and promotion. And for this no foreign investor is needed. No Chinese nor Russians. For this is simple better land planning of the Port of Bar requirement, a bit of more public investment and listening to the Port Authorities and their requirements and doing the access investment in the form outlined above. And offering part of the Port to NATO as southern Balkan Adriatic hub. Yes, and building the Adriatic Ionian Highway connecting and competing with the other regional ports for regional transport business.
Central Institutional Infrastructure of Montenegro recommendation for the lasts accession years and first EU Decade of Membership – study success and failures from Croatia and Bulgaria and reform a bit more ambitious along the following lines:
Joint Southern Coastal Development Agency
Montenegro has 3 big but powerless regions and 24 small but powerful Municipalities but it in many ways still a very centralized state. Well as it is small some consider this necessary or logical but smarter design of regions and a bit of new reorganization is about time to get ready for EU membership rather faster and later approaching between 2022 and 2029 but better 2022 so let us get ready. For real Austrian style Federal States with political rights Montenegro seems really too small and there is no consensus for that so best to cluster the powerful municipalities into 5 reasonable regions which work together with the Government in regional agencies or contractual but in a binding formula allowing reasonable pooling of task like regional planning, transport and land management, public service and investment promotion and marketing. 24 global marketing drives won’t be possible and one central one is not giving enough space for regional highlights and a bit of competition is good for performance. But the regions need to make sense and so two Northern Alpine Regions and two coastal regions and one central commercial region makes 5 and 5 is good reasonable number and logic from the geography of Montenegro. It is key as well to combine the touristic values southern municipalities Bar, Budva, Ulcinj and Cetinje and take the luxury segments of the 3 Kotor Bay Municipalities and commercial logistic residential Niksic-Danilovgrad, Podgorica Tuzi in one Central Region. And 2 Alpine Touristic regions in the north. This strategy paper is now about how the southern coast including Cetinje can be the pumping heart of the Montenegro Tourism Industry and the gate to the world. And no highway in this region please. And a common Agency for this region shared by GOM and the 4 participating municipalities. I have written already in the Herceg Novi paper on what such inter-municipality agencies do or call them regional development agency but the idea is more to pool funding and task in a region and rational manner in areas form planning to land use to public service from waste to water and marketing and investment promotion. No new political structure just better inter Municipal cooperation and coordination and implementation of essential task for reaching the next level of development – the European level. Europe is very much about regional development, the regions as prime unit of development and citizens centered public service and development of SMEs and public service and regional infrastructure and well this is what did not work very well in Croatia and learn from their failures as well. And a regional economic development to overcome local fiefdoms politics and reduce socialist centralist traditions well that is about what Montenegro really very urgently needs now.
Continue Building National Identity and tell it to the World and turn it into a prime touristic asset- The Old Royal Capital and Museums and Touristic Center in Cetinje – It is already a very nice central Museum District with 6 good museum and this is where each Cruise ship should from Bar should send its tourists. This is where every visitor should go and this should be the nucleus of a major museum and touristic cluster for Montenegro. But it is like Montenegro would be mainly an 1815 to 1918 project. It is time to show all of the 3.000 years of Montenegro in some new Museums in Cetinje. Some concrete proposal what is interesting for European tourists. And the terms used to promote these museums are important. It can be existing buildings and always the same artifacts but the terms of the Museum the names matter and the focus. Calling them all Narodni National is boring and futile and really not interesting so call them like that: And it makes a big difference: 1. European Memorial Museum for Berlin Congress for Balkans 1878, 2. Montenegro Double Independence Museum 1878-2006 3.
Central European Commemoration Center for Crimes of Yugoslavia 4. European Balkans Wars Museum 1875 Hercegovina Uprising to 1999 Kosovo Liberation War – copy the success of the Austrian War Museum – Wars belong to the Museum but use the past as major touristic asset and use it to build the identity of EU, NATO Montenegro and bring massive Cruise Ships Tourism from Bar to Cetinje for an amazing and unforgettable and educative day.
Re-locate the Montenegro Parliament to Cetinje fully
In a confusing sense Montenegro has an Old Royal Capital and a new real one as seat of Government and the whole process of partly relocation is a bit stuck it seems. Well try another approach. Anyhow independence of Parliament and Judiciary is a big topic in all post Socialist Countries and turn this negative argument against Montenegro in EU 2022 in positive and explain and do it this way. Podgorica is the seat of the Government. Cetinje is symbol of pre-1918 Montenegro is the seat of the Parliament. Anyhow MPs are from all over Montenegro and can travel to session and well the Ministers and civil servants can drive for the sessions to Cetinje that is acceptable. And so, you show the world and EU that you have understand the separation of Power in EU between Parliament and Government even by two separate location and it is simple to explain to visitors and a break with Socialist past and a great connection with pre-1918 Montenegro. And end the debate on re-location to Cetinje for other Government Ministries. It is the Parliament to go and the Ministry of Culture and that is about it. And this helps Cetinje and build a nice good modern Parliament with a great mountain view and modern facility to symbolize old and new Montenegro live in European harmony.
Re-locate the Judiciary to Bar
But the whole debate of Montenegro identity is neglecting the Roman/Byzantine/Venetian past and heritage of Montenegro – all Montenegro was part of Roman/Byzantine/Venetian World and for most of 1500 until it became the fragile border and bloody battleground between the Venetian and Ottoman power for 500 years. In Bar and along the Coast this is still visible in architecture and cultural heritage but not so much expressed in today’s official Montenegro and well it could be helpful in Coalition building during accession to explain to EU partners that Montenegro was always part of the Western World before the West gave up on Montenegro and left the region alone. And again working along the concept of separation of powers as a Modern Democracy and showing this to the World and the two Montenegro citizens by re-locating the main judiciary and all supreme Courts to Bar well that is a powerful move first to reform the judiciary by re-locating it – always a good reason to ask for performance and reform and showing this understanding of the need to reform to EU partners and well lifting Bar up to the status of one of the 3 Capital – seat of the Montenegro Judiciary and symbol for the Roman/Italian/Venetian heritage of Montenegro seems a very reasonable way and approach. It helps to decentralize Montenegro public administration and de-cluster it from congested Podgorica while only being 45 min to drive and at the Coast and it helps Bar – anyhow the most important strategic asset of Montenegro now, in past and future to have this additional status and some good public jobs and the prestige attached. And even if you never do it just debating it to have a 3-capital solution along 3 sperate powers of a Democratic Government will show your EU partner and as well evaluators but you are not a one man one power post Socialist Mini YU but you care for principles and consider to take such fundament of democracy very serious and why please not move the Constitutional Court to Bar? It is not a lot of people, not so much work load daily and will be most people closer to retirement. And we’ll all the judiciary branch is expensive but do it in a 10 years framework and well even if never done why not debate it? If anybody has a better idea how to raise the profile and status of Bar please share it. But remind yourself why kind Nikola build his summer villa in Bar and why it overlooks the Port of Bar and why Russian and Serbian strategist consider Montenegro is important for them – and it is not Zalbjak or Kotor nor Podgorcia nor Niksic. It is all about Bar. And it always was.
Think regionally in strategic terms – In NATO terms & as a NATO Member
I made the point on the highway connecting the 3 NATO Members Croatia, Montenegro and Albania already and why the Northern Highway should be first connected to NATO and KFOR in Kosovo and later only to Serbia once Serbia joins NATO as well – as it will by time. But now to Bosnia and Montenegro cooperation.
Yes, to a major Airport in Trebinje & open MNE Labor Market for Bosnia now
Have you ever been in Cavat when an airplane starts or lands in Cilipi? And how-to people feel after buying a flat for millions in Porto Montenegro when cheap Charter flights from Russia land in Tivat Day and Night? And for real tourism you need real airport but coastal landing strips inherited from the past and massive extension will be fast limited by environment and noise concerns of residents in prime touristic locations. And Podgorica is far to the south. The best location for the big regional seasonal summer charter Airport is in Trebinje in Bosnia and from there tourist needs fast access to the Dubrovnik and the Montenegro Coast and there night and day bring them all from Siberia or anywhere. And from there the access to Dubrovnik and Kotor was to be improved as I have written so often already please see the two articles on Smart Mobility for European Montenegro. And of course, the Inland Adriatic Highway I call the European Hercegovina Highway. And as well the whole border facilitation on all 6-border crossing Montenegro to BIH have to be improved. It is no European border just an internal line between two future EU member states. And everybody who comes from this side has to cross an EU border before. And anyhow Bosnia is in line for 31st Member of NATO even if the RS still tries to block this but will won’t succeed so please Montenegro be more open to Bosnia. And build first the Highway to Bosnia and then later the highway to neutral Serbia. And open the Montenegro Labor Market for Bosnian citizens. The work force requirement of booming Montenegro construction and tourism sector is much higher than domestic labor supply often over qualified and with unrealistic expectations.
Openness is key to prosperity – think European -start in the region – with openness!
Despite the hysteria with migration and the protectionist tendency presented in the media it is key to remind what the EU is about. It is a trade integration project based on openness and an internal market allowing all people, goods, service and capital to freely go where they consider it useful and where they want. It is about freedom and openness and equal right for all Europeans. There is little of this in Montenegro today. You are very restrictive for regional workers to work in season and the receive your residence paper is hard work. Yes, you claim to be open for investors but I have tried and it is a hassle and hard work and well with a billion Euros backing you it might be easier but the process is very complicated and the whole attitude is - we want your investment but please no foreigner to really live and work in Montenegro. Montenegro is ours! Come spend and go! This is not the European way. And despite the amazing progress in construction I see only small progress in mentality. True English is more widely spoken but have you been to Greece, Turkey or Austria recently? And now that prices are often the same like in Croatia please never forget in Croatia it is much closer and the infrastructure is on EU level. Being ready for EU means being open. Open for EU residents – like Albania is today much more open for EU residents. Open for your neighbors from Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania when it comes to work. Openness when it comes to how police, municipalities, authorities treat foreigners. Try some English in one of your municipalities, good luck! We in EU we have equal rights for all Europeans and this mean I as an Austrian will have a vote soon in Montenegro local election – same as all Montenegro citizens will have in Vienna local elections. Once soon in EU no Montenegro authorities can treat me different than on of your Nashi and well I really do not see that today. As if the EU would be a find of one-way capital transfers system from Brussels to Podgorica and not a system of equal rights for all and of openness and access for all. Montenegro needs really to change its attitude and adopt to European spirit of openness and rights. True there are been a lot of progress already but you are special. In just 20 years maybe only 16 years after reemerging as independent European state you want to be a proud member state of the European Union the most amazing experiment of rights, freedom and openness we have ever had in European history and well to achieve such a transforming in such a short time frame really there is more effort needed to convince the European partner you are ready to be such a pillar of the EU. A small but a pillar as a full member state and please in a union where as well Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo and North Macedonia, as well as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia will be member in next decade and why not treat all fellow Europeans better in European Montenegro?