Today, this Thursday November 6, 2008, the President of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Filip Vujanović, has received in audience at the Presidential Palace in Podgorica Mr. John Kennedy together with Dr. Ivan Gazivoda, anæsthesiologist, Managing Director of Hospital “Danilo I” Cetinje, and a delegation of the Abruzzo Regional Committee of the Italian Red Cross (IRC), including Prof. Dr. Maria Teresa Letta, Regional President and IRC International Delegate for Balkans [1], and Mgr. Fra’ Giovanni Scarabelli, Representative of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Grand Priory of Genoa and Liguria.

This audience was accorded by President Vujanović on the occasion of a new donation — personally managed by Mr. Kennedy in coordination with Prof. Dr. Letta — to benefit Hospital “Danilo I” Cetinje and presented to Dr. Gazivoda on behalf of the Italian Red Cross, Regional Committee of Abruzzo, in the presence of Dr. Milovan Janković, Mayor of Cetinje. The donation consisted of a fully equipped “Volkswagen” intensive care ambulance, to be used exclusively by the Hospital for their patients requiring emergency acute transportation and treatment.

This donation followed a previous one — also personally coordinated by Mr. Kennedy with other friendly Italian benefactors — presented to Dr. Gazivoda on August 1st last, and consisting of an apparatus for anæsthesia and intensive care, and laboratory microscope.

On the occasion, Mr. Kennedy and Prof. Dr. Letta gave together an interview to Podgorica daily Republika — a newspaper which regularly opens its columns to Mr. Kennedy — where they particularly insisted on the other donation to come, involving a second new emergency ambulance, baby incubators and various medical treatment equipments for an amount of $7,600.

The event, announced to be organised on behalf of Crown Prince Nicolas Petrovitch Njegosh, was not attended by His Royal Highness, neither the reception at the Presidential Palace, nor the presentation ceremony in Cetinje.
In his speech — as reported in Republika the day after, on November 7 — Mr. Kennedy just made reference to Crown Prince Nicolas as in the humanitarian line of his glorious ancestors, King Nikola I (º1841, †1921), who made built Hospital “Danilo I” in 1873; Queen Elena of Italy (º1873, †1952), who was President of the Italian Red Cross for many years; and his mother, Mrs. Geneviève Prigent (º1919, †1990), who was President of the Yugoslav Red Cross.
However, Mr. Kennedy did not mention Prince Nicolas was directly implicated in the mounting of the donation.

Republika, November 7, 2008