PM Krivokapić opens conference "The Importance of Media Freedom for Chapter 27 and the European Integration Process"

Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić said at the opening of the conference "The Importance of Media Freedom for Chapter 27 and the European Integration Process", organised by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro, Monitor and BIRN, that Montenegro's most important resource is ecology.

When we look at the attitude of the media in Montenegro towards this topic, I think it should be enlightening. Prevention is the cure for everything, not just in ecology. We have an ecological state, and a non-ecological behaviour. If that has been the case so far, then let us change that, said Prime Minister Krivokapić.

The Prime Minister pointed out that it is not important who will form the future Government, what we leave to our, i.e. future generations, is important.

The Prime Minister said that life is not just this moment, life is caring for the future and leaving for future generations what is most important - resources they can use.

Prime Minister Krivokapić said that such conferences should help all of us to change our attitudes towards the most important resource.

PM Krivokapić said that the climate change shows our attitudes towards water, air and soil quality. He stressed their correlation with the quality of our lives, with the quality of our health, with the quality of our opportunities, as well as economic opportunities. Furthermore, the Prime Minister highlighted some examples in Montenegro, such as the Aluminum Plant that destroyed Zeta's fertile land that grew the best fruits and vegetables, as well as destroyed water source due to sand and gravel extraction. The Prime Minister asked how long we are going to close our eyes to these problems and whether the battle for Montenegro will be a battle of all of us or just individuals. If there are only individual battles, they are doomed in advance, said PM Krivokapić.

Prime Minister Krivokapić said that the media had a significant role in all this.

Therefore, I expect that this wonderful idea of yours will bear fruit - messages that will not be a dead letter, PM Krivokapić pointed out.

The Prime Minister also said that Montenegro must have a clear vision of what it wants.

Our obligation is to create a community in which one of the key elements will be the protection of the environment. A few months ago I said that reasons why people emigrate from Montenegro are not just economic, but also ecological because the health of those people is endangered. This is a topic we all need to agree on. When you devastate something, you have to return it to its previous state, if possible. When we increase awareness, we will change many things, said the Prime Minister.