The Jadran military ship in the town of Tivat. Photo: Montenegrin Defence Ministry.

Vanna on Tuesday cancelled the concert that was due to take place in the coastal town of Tivat on the deck of the Montenegrin military’s ship ‘Jadran’ amid an ongoing row over the vessel’s ownership.

The concert planned for August 17 was cancelled after the pop singer came under pressure in Croatia not to perform on a boat that critics said was “stolen” from her home country.

Croatia has been demanding that Montenegro return the military training ship that was taken away in 1991 by the Yugoslav People’s Army from the naval base in the Croatian city of Split.

The organiser of Vanna’s concert was the Tourist Organisation of Tivat as part of a celebration of the 85th anniversary of the Jadran training ship, which is being celebrated in Montenegro’s Boka Bay with a number of events this week.

N1 TV reported that Vanna found herself in the centre of a “diplomatic incident between Croatia and Montenegro” because Zagreb has been putting increased international pressure on Podgorica to return the ship.

After pressure from Croatia and comments in local media saying that under such circumstances she should not perform on the Jadran, Vanna cancelled the concert.

The cancelled concert in Montenegro came just days after Serbian rock band Bajaga & Instruktori were prevented from performing in Croatia.

Bajaga & Instruktori were to perform at the ‘Days of Beer’ in the Croatian city of Karlovac, but after a series of complaints from local war veterans, the organisers decided to invite another band.

Croatia and Montenegro have had a 27-year ownership dispute over the Jadran, a former Royal Yugoslav military training ship built in the 1930s which is currently part of the Montenegrin naval fleet based in the port of Tivat.

The ship was docked in Split until 1991 when it was moved to Montenegro by Yugoslav People’s Army troops.

The Croatian Defence Ministry says that the return of Jadran is one of its main foreign policy priorities.

Over the past 10 years, the Croatian Defence Ministry has repeatedly urged the government in Podgorica to send the ship back to Croatia, claiming that its ownership is “undisputed” and that it should be docked in Split, from where it was “illegally taken” during the withdrawal of the Yugoslav troops from Croatia.

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