The fifth edition of the Dzada Film Fest was officially opened last night at Svetozar Markovic street, with the performance of the band Vis Tetra and the screening of the first competition movie "The Rain Limits" at the International Film Festival, by the authors Nikola Mijovic and Vlastimir Sudar. The festival was officially opened by the Croatian president of the jury Hrvoje Hribar, and the other members of the jury, Montenegrin producer Ivan Djurovic and Serbian director Miroslav Momcilovic welcomed the visitors. Mr. Hrvoje Hribar greeted the first visitors of the Dzada Film Festival on the same day at 5 p.m. in Marienplatz through a new segment “Coffee with…”, and talked about the obstacles and incentives for the development of cinematography, financial challenges and benefits which a community encounters with, during the development of the film industry, but also the challenges facing film critics today.

At the inauguration of Dzada, beside Nina Loncar on behalf of the Link Creative Studio organizer, the audience was welcomed by the representative of M:tel, Ana Martinovic, general sponsor of the Festival, who wished that "M:tel and the Dzada Film Fest company still have many birthday parties together, under the clear sky. Former head of the Capital City, Dragutin Djekovic, was also there and reminded the public that behind every well-organized festival there is the city administration.

The Minister of culture Aleksandar Bogdanovic, who attended the opening of the fifth edition of the Festival, told the media that "by popularizing the movie in the micro-urban parts of the city we are not only raising the level of cultural awareness among citizens, but we are creating a new public of the seventh art , through the education of the younger generations who are always in the focus. On the way to this goal, Dzada Fest is one of the key partners of the Ministry of Culture, with whom, in the next several days, we will truly live the culture together."

Dzada Film Fest lasts from June 10 to 16. Competition films will be screened in the National Library "Radosav Ljumovic" from Tuesday to Sunday, every day at 7pm and the movie "Meat" by Sasa Hajdukovic will be shown on Tuesday.

Text by CdM, on June 11th, 2019, read more at CdM

11 June 2019 - The first results of the analysis of seawater quality for 100 public swimming areas, conducted by the Institute of Biology for the needs of Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management of Montenegro from May 23rd to May 26th, showed that on 89% of the beaches the quality of seawater was K1 class, while on 11% of the swimming areas the water was K2 class.

These results confirm that the seawater at Montenegrin beaches is of excellent quality, i.e., that the beaches have good sanitary conditions and that the water is safe for swimming and recreation.

Out of 16 swimming areas in Ulcinj Municipality, 13 had water with excellent quality, while 3 beaches had water with class K2, or satisfactory quality.

In Bar, the quality of seawater was K1 class on all 12 swimming areas, while in the municipality of Budva the analysis was done in 27 locations, one of which was recorded quality K2, while in other locations the sea water had K1 class quality.

The quality of seawater K1 was determined at 6 swimming areas in Tivat, while 3 of Tivat’s beaches had the quality class K2.

In Kotor, out of a total of 15 bathing areas, the quality K1 was determined at 12 locations, while for the remaining 3 the quality of the water was K2 class.

When it comes to water quality on the Herceg Novi coast, the analyses showed the sea water quality K1 class at a total of 20 swimming areas, while one beach had water with quality rating class K2.

The results of testing the sanitary quality of seawater, as well as the data on sea temperature, air temperature and salinity for each individual bathing site, can be found on the special application on the website www.morskodobro.com.

Since 1996, the Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management of Montenegro has been implementing annual programs for monitoring the sanitary quality of seawater at public beaches during the summer season in accordance with the provisions of the Water Act. Since 2010, this Program has been implemented by the Decree on classification and categorization of waters, as well as following other national and international regulations in the field of environmental protection.

In order to monitor the sanitary safety of seawater in public swimming areas and its overall quality, and in accordance with national and international regulations, the following parameters are examined: basic microbiological parameters - escherichia coli, intestinal enterococci, as well as additional chemical parameters: air temperature, water temperature (when taking a sample), salinity, pH value, the colour saturation with oxygen (% O2), ammonia (mg / l), floating waste materials (descriptive) and colour and transparency (descriptive).

Read more about Montenegro's coast at TMN's dedicated page.

11 June 2019 - Budva Beer Fest, a recently launched and very popular musical event in Montenegro, will take place from June 14 to 16 at the Lugovi Stadium (FK Mogren). The list of performers at the festival includes big regional stars of rock & roll, pop and mainstream music, reports News Agency RTV Budva. The organizers aim for this event to become one of the biggest events in the region, which will bring renowned music stars of the world to the audience in Montenegro.

"Held at the beginning of each summer season in Montenegro, this event has great potential to reveal the beauty of the Budva Riviera to the generations of new young guests from the region and the world, to achieve a good economic result, but also to offer quality entertainment content to the citizens of Montenegro and the region," says the official announcement by the organizers.

The strategic partners of the project are the Municipality of Budva and the Tourist Organization of Budva.

At the press conference held in the municipal building of Budva, on the occasion of organizing the popular music event, it was announced that by launching this project, Budva is trying to be competitive in the field of organizing economic events as well as entertainment tourism, which today makes a significant part of the regional tourist market. The Budva Beer Fest will gather people of all generations from the country and the region, quality performers of pop and rock music, some of them, world famous. Thus, this festival should mark the beginning of the peak part of the tourist season.

According to the organizers of the festival, 60,000 people are expected at the Stadium Lugovi, FC Mogren. The audience will have the opportunity to enjoy the music of the most popular performers of the region in three days, such as Plavi orkestar, Riblja čorba, Zabranjeno pušenje, Psihomodo pop, Who see, Brkovi, Tropico bend, YU grupa and Ortodox Celts.

The complete program and timetable of Budva Beer Fest is shown below.

Budva Beer Fest 2019

14.06.2019

19:00h Tribute band
20:00h Budva City Orchestra
21:00h Željko Joksimović
23:00h Orthodox Celts
00:00h Hladno pivo

15.06.2019

20:00h Loup Garula Blues
21:00h Plavi Orkestar
23:00h Yu Grupa
00:00h Brkovi
01:00h Dejan Petrović and Big band

16.06.2019

19:00h Tribute band
20:00h Tropiko bend
21:00h Riblja čorba
23:00h Psihomodo pop
00:00h Zabranjeno pušenje
01:00h Who See

Read more about festivals in Montenegro on TMN's dedicated page.

10 June 2019 - By joining the European Union, Montenegro wants to be in the company of allied European countries that cherish and protect human dignity as their highest value, Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pažin said for the Government of Montenegro at the opening of the plenary session of the Club of Venice in Bar.

"This value is exactly on what modern Montenegro was built and why we see our membership in the European Union as a natural continuation of the historical process of affirmation and preservation of the civil and European identity of our country," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

He stressed that current and future members of the European Union must be aware of the shared responsibility for the success of the United Europe project.

"We have no ambition to join the European Union before we are fully prepared to fulfill all our obligations and enjoy the full benefits of fully-fledged membership. However, we must all be aware that we share a common destiny as Europeans. That the future of European countries, the competitiveness of our economies and our way of life depend to a large extent on the success of a European project, for which we have a common responsibility," DPM Pažin emphasised.

By this occasion, he also estimated that it is very important for citizens to understand the significance of this historic mission of the European Union, as well as to understand the alleged alternatives to the European democratic values, which are offered to them.

"Advocating the accession of new members to the European Union based on merit is, in fact, the affirmation of a key EU mission – the spread of peace and prosperity across the European continent. On the other hand, greater support from the European public for admitting new members to the EU will strengthen the Union's internal cohesion and significantly strengthen the credibility and substance of its basic principle – united in diversity," Deputy Prime Minister Pažin highlighted.

He pointed out that today the EU's generations born and raised in the period of peace and prosperity, unprecedented in the history of the old continent, challenge the very purpose and key values of a united Europe, and reminded that, also in Europe, there are generations who, not so long ago, grew up in significantly different and unfavourable circumstances, in which some of the basic human needs were considered luxury.

Furthermore, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that this could be part of the reason why people in the southwest of Europe generally support the European Union more. He added, however, that the support that the European Union enjoys in the region of Southeast Europe is not only a matter of ideals, values or a common identity, but also a very specific progress in improving the quality of life and the standard of living.

"Take Montenegro as an example. Since we, as an independent state, began our path to the European Union in 2006, the average salaries and pensions in Montenegro have doubled. Today, our citizens travel freely throughout Europe, our students, lecturers and scientists participate in numerous study and research programmes, while our farmers receive significant expert and financial support from European funds," DPM Pažin said.

The Club of Venice is a European professional network that gathers senior public communications professionals from EU member states and institutions, and more recently the candidate country for EU membership. Montenegro is the first country outside the European Union to host the plenary session of the Club of Venice in 33 years of the existence of this prestigious European forum.

The plenary session of the Club of Venice in Montenegro discusses the issues of communication strategies for engaging citizens in European politics, experiences from recently held European elections, combating misinformation, communication of enlargement policy and development of communication capacities and practices of European institutions, member states and candidate countries. This is the first event of this kind that gathered government officials from EU member states and institutions after the European Parliament elections.

Read more about politics in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

11 June 2019 - The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), under its Tourism Development and Promotion EU funded project, launched the second consecutive grant call for projects developing the tourism offer in the Western Balkans on June 10. As stated in their 2nd Call for Proposals, while the grants scheme totals EUR 1.62 million, this second tranche is making available EUR 750,000 for the implementation of some 14 pilot projects worth up to EUR 54,000.

The goal of the RCC's grant scheme is to develop and globally promote the joint regional cultural and adventure tourism offer, bring more visitors to the Western Balkans, lengthen their stay and increase revenues and employment in the tourism industry. Therefore, the grants to be implemented under the 2nd Call for Proposals will be geared towards the improvement of tourism infrastructure and services along three new regional cultural tourism routes now under development: Western Balkans – Crossroads of Civilisations; Illyricum Trail and Balkan Monumental Trail, and along Via and Trans Dinarica, regional hiking and biking routes and their auxiliary adventure tourism attractions.

“The region is stronger together. This is as true for tourism as is for any other fields. The difference is that tourism has an advantage of growing faster than other industries – it already accounts for 14% of employment in the Western Balkans. More than 12 million tourists entered the region last year. This is why we are intensively working on the development of a joint regional tourism offer and further supplementing efforts of the governments specifically in the cultural and adventure tourism niches,” said Majlinda Bregu, RCC Secretary General.

“Our goals are simple. We want to create a more attractive tourism offer which will attract more tourists to the region and lead to bigger profits and more people being employed in tourism. While our Tourism Development and Promotion Project works on the big picture, the grant scheme is making it possible for local level governments, NGOs and development agencies to get involved in tourism and contribute to the development of a joint regional offer by implementing actions that will improve the quality of services and tourism infrastructure at the local level,” stated Secretary General Bregu.

To provide sufficient information about the 2nd Call for Proposals to all interested parties, between 12 and 20 June 2019 the RCC will organize a series of Info Days covering all six Western Balkans Economies.

This is the 2nd Call for Proposals under the RCC’s tourism grants scheme.

The 1st Call for Proposals implemented between July 2018 and June 2019 resulted in the implementation of twelve grants in a total value of EUR 548,000 which led to the creation of preconditions for development of seven new cultural routes in the region, as well as the implementation of actions that upgraded the quality of the adventure tourism offer, specifically along Via Dinarica trail and in equestrian tourism.

The 3rd call for proposal is expected to be launched in September 2019.

Read more about tourism in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

10 June 2019 - The first noise pollution sound limiter in Montenegro was installed in Herceg Novi, more precisely in the Pub Got. Sound limiting devices are new in the Montenegrin market, but judging from the experience of other tourist countries, they are important element in regulating and respecting regulations regarding sound pollution is necessary, as reported by Radio Jadran.

Head of the Public Utility Police and Inspection Supervision Marija Andrić pointed out that these activities aim at improving the quality of life in the city. Same as in the previous years, the Public Utility Police will constantly monitor the process, and at the same time measure the noise level arising from the catering facilities in the evening hours. In order to enforce the laws of noise protection, the municipal inspector and the Public Utility police officer are obliged to continuously monitor and control the execution of the measures and actions they have ordered, and they will continuously monitor the fulfillment of the conditions of technical correctness and functionality of the installed noise pollution sound limiter.

She also noted that the Law on Tourism and Catering brought novelties aimed at preventing the exceeding of the allowed noise level. Thus, every catering facility in which the music programme is being performed, with the use of electro-acoustic and acoustic devices, will be obliged to install a volume limiter on the device from which the music is being broadcasted.

Andrić noted that in order to obtain a Music Programme Approval, with the request as an attachment, it is necessary to submit a Certificate of Installed Limiters.

As the expert for noise measurement in the environment of the Institute "Sigurnost" Boško Perović explained, as of May 1 this year, the Rulebook on noise limit values ​​in the environment and on the sound limiters is in force.

"By regulating this, conditions for solving noise problems have been created, which are particularly pronounced in coastal municipalities. Now, we can solve these problems and challenge and deal with them as much as possible. There are also positive by-laws that regulate the permissible noise level, this time both inside and outside," Perović said, adding that the external sound, or sound outside the building, should not exceed 65 decibels, in accordance with the Law on Noise Protection. According to the rules on protection at work, the limit for the inside of coffee bars is 75 decibels.

It clarifies that by installing the sound level limiter, functionality is ensured - if the level of sound is exceeded, the device will return the sound level to the level at which the device is calibrated.

"This means there will be no abolition of music and electricity. I consider this the best solution, the catering facility will be able to continue working normally, that is, under the conditions that the limiter allows," concluded Perović.

The sound limitation is performed on the basis of the measurement of an accredited noise measurement institution, which makes a report on the fulfillment of conditions for setting the limiter. The authorized service provider-importer of the limiter mounts the device on the basis of field measurements, and the Public Utility and Inspection Service put its official stamp on the limiter, which must not be physically damaged at any time during its work.

Herceg Novi is the first city in Montenegro to start this practice, and in the coming days will also do some catering facilities in Nikšić and Bar.

Read more about lifestyle news in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

11 June 2019 - The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro recently stated that the goals of the state related to sustainable development - regionally balanced and sustainable economic development, full employment and decent work for all, should be fulfilled by 2030.

"Our sincere intention is to achieve the vision of sustainable development of Montenegro by 2030, which means that we should achieve regionally balanced and sustainable economic development, full employment and decent work for all," Minister Pavle Radulović said at the opening of the 18th Session of the Mediterranean Commission for the Sustainable development.

Within the framework of the two-year presidency of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development, Montenegro is the host of the session which is held from 11 to 13 June 2019.

The 18th Session of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable development is hosted at the Maestral Hotel in Budva.

During his presentation, Radulović reminded the participants that by adopting the 2030 National Sustainable Development Strategy, Montenegro became one of the first countries in the world that fully accepted and integrated the requirements of the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development into the national system. The goal of this strategy is to build a society based on continuous, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, protecting natural resources and strengthening social inclusion. Radulović also pointed out that with this strategy, Montenegro shows that its method for achieving sustainable development of its society is, in fact, having an objective and critical point of view in regards to current issues and finding appropriate solutions to these issues.

Minister Radulović highlighted that it is of great importance to launch initiatives that should concretize practical approaches and actions in order to implement the activities of the Mediterranean Action Plan and the Mediterranean Commission in the upcoming period. Also, he pointed out that an important measure for sustainable development is the creation of optimal practical models for applying the principles of integrated coastal management, in synergy with the application of the ecosystem approach in the planning of the purpose of marine areas.

Mediterranean Commission acts as an advisory body to the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention, and its members, participating on equal footing, include representatives of the Member States and the European Commission, as well as Civil Society representatives from the region’s local authorities, economic partners (chambers of commerce, etc.), environmental NGOs, etc. It is basically a think tank on policies for promoting sustainable development in the Mediterranean Basin and focuses on key issues in its drive for tangible outcomes.

Read more about Politics in Montenegro on TMN's dedicated page.

June 11, 2019 - Continuing our look at the real estate opportunities in Montenegro through the mouthwatering RE/MAX portfolio, this week we visit a delightful new villa near Tivat.

It is not hard to fall in love with Montenegro, or to move there and fall in love with the wonderful lifestyle here. It always helps, of course, if you have the perfect place to live. 

Well, now is your chance! Another gorgeous offering from the RE/MAX real estate catalogue and our latest property of the week in Donja Lastva, close to Tivat. 

In the words of the RE/MAX brochure:

You will love this house. If you want to find the perfect home for family and life in Montenegro, then consider that you have already found it.

The house was built in 2015 according to the Mediterranean design project. Its total area is 182 m2, the total area of land around the house is 334 m2. Sold with furniture. Just a few minutes by car - and you are in the center of Tivat.

The house has 3 floors and two entrances. Near the upper main entrance is your parking for three cars. On the upper floor, there are two bedrooms with a large bathroom and a terrace with a stunning view of the Tivat Bay, Tivat, and Porto Montenegro. 

We descend to the 2nd level along a beautiful graceful staircase; here we find the dressing room and the master bedroom, the bathroom and the study. The terrace at this level allows you to place a fireplace. Then we go down to the first level with you, where you will be met by a spacious living room with a fireplace and a wine closet, a dining room and a large bright modern kitchen with windows. 

From this floor, we go to the terrace with a swimming pool. You will be amazed at the love with which the owners look after the flowering garden, the abundance of green creates a special comfort to this house. You will also enjoy a large barbecue area with a real oven. Living here, you will feel "Dolce Vita".

Here everything disposes to a happy life on the seashore.

For more photos, information, and to book a view, check out the original RE/MAX listing.