You now have a critical decision to make – either stand up for Montenegro and its citizens, or be remembered as those who lacked the courage to prevent the sell-off.

This call to action comes from the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) directed at Montenegrin MPs prior to the parliamentary re-vote regarding the ratification of the Agreement between Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on tourism and real estate development, set for Thursday.

“There is a well-known parable about a frog in a pot that continues to adapt to the gradually increasing temperature of the water, only to realize too late that it’s in danger. The issue wasn’t the hot water itself, but rather its refusal to reject what should never have been accepted. Montenegro finds itself in a similar predicament today,” the address conveys.

They indicated that “for years, we have been acquiescing to poor choices, personal and short-term agendas, resource sell-offs, haphazard development, opaque agreements, and promises that the state cannot fulfill,” asserting that the agreement with the UAE is one such decision.

“We’re not urging you to succumb to another wrong choice – but to decisively oppose it. Now is the moment to escape the ‘pot’. Now is the time to safeguard the interests of citizens, avert the widening of economic and social disparities, protect our environment and resources, and uphold the European future of our country. Do not squander Montenegro’s potential by conforming to poor decisions,” MANS stated.

“Those who are accountable for the forthcoming consequences, which have been arranged in secrecy, must be held in check. We remain uncertain about the price. The same is true for many of you. There is still an opportunity to leap out. Seize it,” urged the NGO.

On the night of April 22-23, following a debate exceeding 12 hours, Parliament approved two agreements between the governments of Montenegro and the UAE. These agreements were signed by Prime Minister Spajić on March 28 in Dubai and subsequently introduced to parliament as a bill. He earlier communicated to the leaders of Ulcinj and local parties about an intention from the Arab billionaire Mohamed Alabar to invest allegedly 35 billion euros in developing a tourist complex in that area and to lease the entirety of Ulcinj Velika Plaža for a period of 99 years.

A portion of the public, political parties, and the non-governmental sector contend that the agreements contravene state interests in numerous respects and threaten Montenegro’s path to European Union (EU) membership. The authorities in Ulcinj, segments of the civil sector, and certain Albanian parties in the state government have expressed opposition to the agreements. On April 29, President Jakov Milatović returned the Law on Ratification of the Agreement on Cooperation in Tourism and Real Estate Development to parliament for reconsideration, noting that the Government had not adequately consulted with the public regarding numerous unresolved questions about these documents.

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