Croatia urges Montenegro to return seized private property as condition for EU accession

EU member Croatia has issued a stern diplomatic note to EU hopeful Montenegro, demanding the restitution of properties confiscated from Croatians during the 1990s, after the collapse of Yugoslavia. The issue is becoming critical both for the affected families and Montenegro’s EU membership aspirations, BGNES and Vecernji.hr report.

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs underscored that resolving this issue is a key requirement under Chapter 23 of Montenegro’s EU accession negotiations (Judiciary and Fundamental Rigts), which it says mandates fair, timely, and non-discriminatory property restitution in line with European standards.

At the heart of the dispute are 51 Croatian families in Tivat and Dobrota, whose ancestral properties – valued at over €500 million, were seized through questionable cadastral entries during the Yugoslav conflicts.

Despite court rulings in Kotor and Podgorica affirming their ownership, these families have neither regained their properties nor received compensation.

The Croatian website Jutarnji List spotlighted the Dabinović family, once prominent Kotor shipowners, whose historic palace, home to 13 generations, was illegally transferred and left to decay. Similar unresolved cases in Kotor, Dobrota, Kavači, and Škaljari, some dating back to 1959, highlight a broader pattern of dispossession.

Mirjana Tripković-Pantar, a representative of the affected families, estimated the value of Tivat’s confiscated properties at over €250 million, contributing to the staggering total. Croatia’s diplomatic note calls for immediate action to restore these properties and provide fair compensation, with Zagreb vowing to monitor progress through bilateral dialogue and Montenegro’s EU integration process.

Vanda Babić Galić, advisor to Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, described the situation as systemic discrimination against Montenegro’s Croatian minority, perpetuated by a judicial system that has failed to deliver justice. She called the seizures a form of “culturicide” and affirmed Croatia’s resolve to protect its minority’s rights.

On 4 October, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the former Morinj camp memorial alongside Montenegrin Foreign Minister Ervin Ibrahimović, Grlić Radman reiterated, “Court verdicts must be enforced. Property is an inalienable right, and no one should possess what belongs to another.”

Croatia’s insistence comes against the backdrop of its own complex history with property restitution. Following World War II, the fascist Ustaša regime in the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state established in 1941, persecuted Serbs, Jews, and Roma, confiscating their properties.

After the war, Communist Yugoslavia nationalized many of these assets, including those of Holocaust survivors. Croatia’s 1996 restitution law has since facilitated compensation for properties seized under Yugoslav rule. The Restructuring and Sales Centre and its predecessors have compensated 1,348 former owners with stocks and shares in 207 companies, totaling €89 million, while the Fund for the Compensation of Seized Property has issued over €214.6 million in bonds and €44 million in payments to 23,467 claimants since 1999, according to Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).

Grlić Radman, speaking at the 2BS Forum in Budva, emphasized the shared commitment of Croatia and Montenegro to fostering a culture of remembrance, citing the 34th anniversary commemoration of the Morinj camp. “We honor the past to build a future rooted in European values,” he said, noting the joint wreath-laying with Ibrahimović at the camp’s memorial site, facilitated by Montenegro’s Ministry of Defence.

The Morinj camp, located near Kotor, Montenegro (then part of SFR Yugoslavia), was a detention facility operated by Montenegrin authorities and the Yugoslav People’s Army during the Croatian War of Independence. It held Croatian prisoners of war and civilians, with detainees ranging in age from 15 to 82.

Established in the autumn of 1991, the camp detained approximately 300 individuals. In 2006, the County Court of Dubrovnik initiated an investigation into possible war crimes committed at the camp. In a related proceeding, Montenegro prosecuted six former Yugoslav People’s Army soldiers who served as camp guards. On 15 May, 2010, the court found all six guilty, sentencing them to prison terms ranging from one and a half to four years.

Sources: BGNES, Vecernji.hr, Vijesti, Balkan Insight

Caption: The Dabinovic palace, Montenegro [Tripadvisor]