Insight view
CA-10-years-of-independence-insight-view
CA-10-years-of-independence-insight-view
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10 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE - INSIGHT VIEW<br />
However, the situation is different in practice. During the visit of Prince Charles, Prince of Wales,<br />
to Montenegro, national protocol did not invite Prince Nikola Petrović, despite the historic connection<br />
of Montenegro via Princess Ana Petrović (Anna von Battenberg) with British Royal family<br />
Windsor. Through the Embassy of United Kingdom and their urgency, the Montenegrin Prince was<br />
invited to meet with Prince Charles. Igor Lukšić, former Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European<br />
Integrations, on that occasion “offered generously on the spot to Prince Nikola Petrović to jointly<br />
welcome and enter into the house” of his predecessors. Article 12 of the same law allows predecessors<br />
of the dynasty to use permanently the home of the King Nikola I Petrović Njegoš on<br />
Njeguši. The house has been consigned, but is in ruins. Currently, the country has done nothing<br />
to prevent the failing of such a heritage. The same article of the law says that the family house of<br />
300 square meters will be built in Cetinje and will be given to descendants of the dynasty, with<br />
the land of 5,000 square meters, and also the 130 square meters apartment in Podgorica. Four<br />
years later, since the adoption of this law, ownership of land in Bajice, where the house was supposed<br />
to be built, was transferred to Petrović family. The house has not been built yet.<br />
In 1990, Prince Nikola Petrović founded Montenegrin Bijenale that was supported by the Government<br />
until 2004, when the same Government stopped financial support for that project. The<br />
decision of the Ministry of Culture in 2010 to restore the Bijenale with Marina Abramović instead<br />
of Prince Nikola, and the fact that he was not contacted on that occasion at all or asked for<br />
opinion, best depicts the attitude of the country towards Prince Nikola and the dynasty Petrović.<br />
88<br />
Photo: www.najvesti.com<br />
Country house of the<br />
King Nikola in Nikšić, left<br />
to the ravages of time