The President of the Municipality of Pljevlja, Dario Vraneš, has prohibited local government staff from participating in today’s consultative meeting, which was intended to address the removal of obstacles on the Glisnicka River to facilitate fish migrations during the spawning season.

This assertion comes from Vaso Knežević, a representative of the NGO “Let the Village Live,” which was among the organizers of the meeting.

“The consultative meeting was initiated by the NGO Eco Team and the NGO Da zaživi selo, aiming to eliminate the impediments on the Glisnicka River, a tributary of the Ćehotina River, to support the migration of salmonid fish species during their spawning period. All relevant local services and departments, including the president’s office, received an invitation to the meeting along with an explanation of the issue at hand. All local bodies confirmed their attendance, aside from the president’s office. However, the night before the meeting, Dario Vraneš sent a message via the Viber group to his employees, stating that none were authorized to attend the meeting organized by ‘some’ NGOs,” Knežević reported.

Knežević criticized Vraneš’ behavior as inappropriate.

“This action by the Mayor is a clear deviation from the norms of a democratic and civilized society and instead leans towards an autocratic approach to governance. I urge other local government members, particularly representatives of civic political parties, to denounce this disconnection between the Municipality of Pljevlja and the NGO sector. I also wish to inform the people of Pljevlja and Montenegro that the Mayor’s autocratic style is steering our city backward to a less civilized era, which I hope the majority of Pljevlja’s residents do not support or aspire to,” Knežević stated.

He also shared a Viber message from the mayor addressed to local government employees.

“Dear colleagues, tomorrow some NGOs have organized a meeting concerning the Glisnička River. No one is permitted to attend on behalf of the municipality; we must first conduct an internal meeting to establish a unified stance on the matter,” Vraneš conveyed in his message to colleagues.

Vraneš stated that he would comment on this issue later, as he is currently on a work trip.

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