Montenegro takes pride in its majestic Adriatic coastline and towering mountains rising from the sea. But the so-called Balkan Wild Beauty is now faced with the problem of waste disposal that is threatening its natural wonders and its tourism industry.

Tons of hazardous and other waste are blemishing the spectacular scenery of Montenegro — a small country that declared itself an ecological state more than two decades ago — lying unprotected close to towns and villages, rivers and lakes, or newly built luxurious sea resorts.

Like most Balkan countries in transition, Montenegro has done little over the past decades to deal with waste disposal and other environmental woes, allowing the problem to grow. Now it must deal with the issue to advance its bid to join the European Union. "We are far from being proud of our environmental situation," State Secretary for Environment Daliborka Pejovic said.

The problem is visible just outside the capital, Podgorica, where colonies of gulls and cormorants rest on the shores of two huge red mud basins of a fallen aluminum giant, which was once the pride of Socialist-era industry. Natasa Kovacevic, from local environmentalist group Green Home, said that the basins, with about 7 million tons of mud, are contaminated with hard metals and cyanide. "We have at least five environmental black spots, along with some 350 identified and many more unidentified illegal dumps," Kovacevic said.

Government official Pejovic acknowledged it would be "a long-lasting process."

Some citizens, such as 71-year-old Veselin Vujovic, are angry and skeptical. "We are somewhere between an ecological state and an ecological catastrophe," Vujovic said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS