Montenegro and Croatia signed a signed a memorandum of cooperation in area of education that will make it possible for Montenegrin students to study at Croatian universities.

The memorandum, agreed on June 19 in Zagreb, was the result of a meeting between the President of the Montenegrin Parliament, Ranko Krivokapic and the Croatian Minister of Education and Sport, Dragan Primorac. It was signed by Montenegro’s Ambassador to Croatia, Branko Lukovac and the Croatian State Secretary for High Education, Radovan Fuks.

After the ceremony of the signing of the memorandum, Primorac said that Croatia is endeavoring to have the most competitive education system in this part of Europe by 2010 and that it is ready to share that effort with, “friends that it has traditionally enjoyed good relations with.”

“It concretely means that, as of September, we plan to provide a certain number of scholarships for undergraduates and PhD candidates in areas of study that you deem important,” he said.

He added that he would contribute to the launching of scientific cooperation in areas that the two states find are of vital importance.

Krivokapic stated that the signing of the memorandum was, “the first step on a long path towards the state of knowledge. We want our children to get that knowledge in Croatia. We want to get all cultures developing in our region through social and natural sciences, where Croatia has big and powerful projects. On the whole, we want Montenegro to take knowledge, to be visited and to enjoy full mobility in its pursuit of knowledge,” he said.

Earlier on that day he conferred with the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gordan Jandrokovic, who opined that relations between Montenegro and Croatia, “are getting better,” and that it was both states’ intention to make them even better, still.

Montenegro’s opposition parties made their stances on the country’s debate over whether or not to allow its military forces to participate in foreign missions, possibly as a member of NATO, clear this week.

The Liberal Party (LP) stated that if the country were to join NATO it should follow Iceland’s example and do so as a demilitarised state. “That way Montenegro would avoid the possibility of military and armed participation in NATO’s missions and the Liberal Party shall support only humanitarian, health related and other similar missions,” LP MP Andrija Popovic said.

Popovic stated that joining the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) would be a better option. However, he opined that the majority of the country’s political figures are leaning toward NATO membership and that his party’s stance was a compromise it could live with.

Popovic decried the willingness of his countrymen to join NATO in a military capacity, saying, “We are astounded by the readiness to give human lives for the sake of Bush’s - or who knows whose – activities, in who knows what parts of the world.”

Leader of the Serb People’s Party (SNS), Andrija Mandic, stated emphatically that he is opposed to Montenegrin membership in NATO. Mandic warned that Montenegrin involvement in NATO military campaigns could result in blow back from the nation’s Muslims, “SNS reminds (Montenegrins) that almost one fifth of our population are Muslims and that the Vehabist sect (radical Islamists) in Montenegro is active and numerous and we all know that they voice their full solidarity with their endangered brothers in the near East. One bomb is enough to destroy tourism for many seasons,” Mandic said.

According to Mandic, Montenegro should remain militarily neutral and focus on overcoming the conflicts among its ethnic and religious communities, rather than deepening them more by joining NATO. Mandic added that a draft law which would allow Montenegrins to participate in peacekeeping and other missions abroad is dangerous, “If it is adopted in this form, the present dictator regime would very soon be sending our children, against international law, to attack and occupy different sovereign states.” That draft law is currently under consideration by Montenegro’s parliamentarians.

The Socialist People’s Party (SNS) said that portions of the draft law violate the constitution and that it would, therefore, vote against it. SNS spokesperson Velizar Kaludjerovic, also said the draft was deliberately vague, leaving it open to interpretations that would see Montenegrins joining military campaigns on foreign soils. “The law has been purposely written in imprecise terms,” Kaludjerovic charged.

The Movement for Change Party (PzP) agreed with the SNS’s assessment that the draft law is too vague to support. “PzP shall not support that law if the powers of the Defense Ministry are not clearly defined in act 2,” said Srdjan Brajovic. The party fears that, as is, the draft would allow for Montenegrin forces to be sent to, “Iraq, Afghanistan and maybe even Tehran, tomorrow,” adding that it could be referred to as, “the law on military contract killers.”