Vladimir Barović

Vladimir Barović (November 7, 1939 – September 29, 1991) was a Montenegrin rear admiral in the Yugoslav People's Army who committed suicide after refusing an order to bomb Croatian cities.

Vladimir Barović
Born	November 7, 1939 Banja Luka, Vrbas Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Died	September 29, 1991 (aged 51) Vis, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Allegiance	SFR Yugoslavia
Service/branch	Yugoslav People's Army/ Yugoslav Navy
Years of service	1960–1991
Rank	Rear admiral

Early life and education

Barović was born in Banja Luka on November 7, 1939, to a Montenegrin father, a JNA general and first war commander of Priština, and a Slovene mother. Shortly after his father was appointed to the position of war commander of Priština, he was dismissed because he opposed terror against Kosovo Albanians. Therefore, Barović's comrades wrote: "The old rule: From the good roots – each leaf is good."[1]

Military career

Barović become commander of the Military-Maritime sector of Pula after he was dismissed from the position of the commander of the Military-Maritime sector Bay of Kotor. As commander of the Pula garrison, he took part in negotiations on the withdrawal of JNA from Pula in early 1990s. He is remembered for his honorable conduct and famous statement: "Any destruction won't be conducted here while I'm in command, and if I am still forced to order the destruction of Pula and Istria, then I will no longer be here."

The day after the dismissal from the position of the commander of the Military-Maritime sector of Pula, Barović was appointed deputy commander of the military district of Split, with the headquarters on the island of Vis. Barović took the position from the Admiral Mile Kandić. On September 29, 1991, Barović got an order from the JNA headquarters in Belgrade to start bombing towns in Dalmatia.[2]

He was disgusted with the aggression of JNA and Montenegrin reservists against Croatia. It was, according to him, in complete contrast to the Montenegrin and military honor. Therefore, he refused to enforce the order.

That same evening, in the base ambulance building, Barović committed suicide. He left a suicide note in which he wrote, among other things, that he decided to die with dignity "because I do not want to wage war against the brotherly Croatian people", and that he did not want to "take part in the aggression of the JNA against Croats, which is for me an act contrary to the Montenegrin honor – because Montenegrins cannot fight and destroy the nation that did not do anything wrong."[3][4]

Barović was buried in Herceg Novi.[5]

On July 13, 2016, Montenegrin president Filip Vujanović posthumously decorated Barović with the Order for Bravery, which is awarded for "exceptional bravery and self-sacrifice expressed in extremely dangerous events in the saving of human lives and of material goods".[6]

Ranks

• Unterleutnant (1960)
• Ship-of-the-line captain (1982)
• Rear admiral (1990)[7]

See also

• Croatian War of Independence

References

1. Veseljko Samardžić: Fate of the Montenegrin Admirals who refused to serve to the 1990s evil: Honor more expensive than life
2. "Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog rata". centardomovinskograta.hr. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
3. "Vladimir Barović, kontraadmiral vrijedan poštovanja". mojotokvis.com. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
4. "SEEbiz.eu / Vladimir Barović i Krsto Đurović, crnogorski časnici koji su odbili pucati na Hrvatsku". seebiz.eu. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
5. "Prije točno 24 godine ubio se Crnogorac koji je radije pucao u sebe nego razarao hrvatske gradove". index.hr. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
6. Screenshot: YouTube (2016-07-13). "Crnogorski predsjednik posthumno odlikovao admirala koji je odbio napasti dalmatinske gradove! -Jutarnji List". Jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
7. Nazor, Ante (2010), JNA command (January 1990 - May 1992), Zagreb: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Memorial Documentation Center of the Croatian War of Independence. ISBN 978-953-7439-28-6-p.245-286