The Croatian Government established a Commission for the return of the ship „Jadran“ from Montenegro

The Croatian Government has established a Commission for the return of the ship „Jadran“ and other military assets from Montenegro, which is one of the reasons why Croatia has been withholding its consent for Montenegro to close the foreign policy chapter in its EU accession negotiations, Index reports.

In today’s decision, the Government stated that it was mutually agreed that this issue would be considered at the level of expert commissions, as the succession of former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) military assets, particularly the return of the training ship „Jadran“, remains one of the open issues between the two countries.

The commission, whose task is to actively conduct negotiations with Montenegro, will be chaired by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman. Its members also include Andreja Metelko Zgombić and Vanda Babić Galić from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, as well as Tomislav Galić, Nikolina Volf, and Želimir Latković from the Ministry of Defence.

- Croatia encourages active and open dialogue with Montenegro in order to resolve outstanding issues in a spirit of mutual respect, good-neighbourly relations, and in accordance with applicable international law – said State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Frano Matušić at today’s Government session.

Croatia considers the training ship „Jadran“ to be its property, with its home port in Split, but at the beginning of the Homeland War it was undergoing repairs in Montenegro, and the authorities there have since refused to return it, Index reports.

Zagreb is withholding consent for the closure of Chapter 31, which concerns foreign, security, and defence policy, stating that it is not blocking Montenegro but that there are “open issues” that need to be resolved, including the ship „Jadran“, border demarcation, missing persons, and the prosecution of war crimes.