International organizations urge the EU to block Montenegro’s accession

PRESS RELEASE

By the Save Sinjajevina Campaign (Save Sinjajevina Association, Land Rights Now, World BEYOND War, ICCA Consortium, International Land Coalition, Common Lands Network, and other associated partners).

25th June, 2022.

• Sinjajevina is the Balkan’s biggest mountain pasture, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and a vital ecosystem with over 22,000 people living in and around it. The Save Sinjajevina campaign was born in 2020 to protect this unique European landscape.
• NATO and the Montenegrin army have dropped up to half a ton of explosives on Sinjajevina without any environmental, socio-economic nor health public assessment, and without consulting its inhabitants, putting their environment, their way of life and even their existence at great risk.
• Dozens of local and international organizations supporting the ‘Save Sinjajevina' campaign demand that the land rights of traditional pastoralists and the environment are secured, opening consultations held with local communities to create a protected area in Sinjajevina, in line with the European Green Deal, and urge the EU to ask for the removal of the military training ground in Sinjajevina as a pre-condition for Montenegro’s accession to EU membership.
• On 18 June, 2022, pastoralists and farmers from the region celebrated the Day of Sinjajevina in the capital with participation of local and national government officials and the EU Delegation to Montenegro (see here and in Serbian here). Nevertheless, this support has not yet materialized into a decree canceling the military ground nor creating a protected area originally planned to be set up by 2020.
• On 12 July 2022, people from around the world will gather in Sinjajevina to raise their voices in support of its protection and promotion, as well as the cancellation of the military ground via a global a petition and an international solidarity camp.