President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr Ivan Brajović, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Montenegro, Ms Meglena Plugtschieva, opened today an exhibition entitled "Montenegro and Bulgaria on the Map of Europe" (IV-XX centuries) in the Parliament of Montenegro.
In the Hall of the Parliament, a selection of 15 maps from the national archives of Montenegro and Bulgaria have been displayed.
In his speech, the President of the Parliament of Montenegro emphasised with satisfaction the opportunity to present with the exhibition in an unusual way the history of our countries and the Western Balkans, as well as to affirm the good relations between Montenegro and Bulgaria. He said, among other things, that graphic historical depictions in which Montenegro had been increasingly visible particularly since the 19th century, testify not only of its geographically important position, but also of one historical constant factor: the struggle to confirm its identity and independence.
″Montenegro is located on maps of Roman roads, over a period with the dominant influence of Venice and Turkey, up until the making of the first domestic map in 1859, in a diplomatic mission of presenting its borders after demarcation with its neighbours. The Montenegro of today had struggled in 2006 to permanently map its borders into all future maps of Europe and the world. Challenges, including those that question Montenegro and its geographical, historical and spiritual boundaries, have always been and will always be present. Unfortunately, some are even present today, and the response to these intentions has been given by the majority support of citizens and the power of institutions. However, I believe that the best remedy in the fight against delusions and often evil intentions is to be aware of the undisputed historical facts and richness of the culture of one’s country, as well as the context of time and environment″, Mr Brajović pointed out.
Speaking about bilateral relations, the President of the Parliament said that Montenegro and Bulgaria have had excellent friendly political, economic, cultural and other relations, contributed significantly by the cooperation of the parliaments of our countries. On this occasion also, Mr Brajović gave credit to Bulgaria that during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the importance of the Union's enlargement policy was brought back into focus, which was of great importance for Montenegro as the first next member of the community of European peoples.
The Ambassador of Bulgaria stressed that the aim of this exhibition was to express the long-term interest of the European world for Montenegro and Bulgaria, as well as to gradually enrich the knowledge and the idea thereof through cartography, illustrated by maps from various fields: travel, naval, military, political and administrative, historical, commercial, and more. Ms Plugtschieva underlined the great interest of cartographers for Montenegro throughout history, from maps of Roman roads, over many maps from the 14th to 18th century Venice, and even the maps of the Ottoman Empire, where Montenegro had been shown on its own.
Speaking about Bulgaria, the Ambassador said, among other things, that Bulgaria's geographical position as part of a "unique land passage" between Europe, Asia and Africa, calls for a constant interest in European geographical science. "The maps clearly show that Bulgaria, being an eternal crossroads between Europe and Asia, had been occupied by peoples of different civilizations for thousands of years," Ambassador Plugtschieva said.
Speaking about relations between Montenegro and Bulgaria, she named the organisation of the exhibition in the Parliament, as well as the recent successful and fruitful official visit of the Prime Minister of Montenegro to Bulgaria, as examples of not only political partnership but genuine friendship between the two countries.
The Ambassador of Bulgaria suggested that the two countries should organise the presentation of this exhibition in Brussels, in order to enable our partners to enrich and improve knowledge about Montenegro and the region.
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Speech by the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr Ivan Brajović
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Speech by the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Montenegro, Ms Meglena Plugtschieva
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Video coverage of the exhibition "Montenegro and Bulgaria on the Map of Europe" (IV-XX centuries)
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