Former heads of Eurostat supported Radojević: The more relevant the data, the more likely it is to be targeted by politics

The Institute for Statistics of Montenegro, Monstat, is facing unprecedented political pressure these days, said director Gordana Radojević.

Radojević said that the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare is asking Monstat to conduct a census by the end of 2021, without fulfilling the prerequisites that guarantee quality, completely contrary to what Monstat planned.

"As the director, I warned the minister in writing about the violation of the Law on Statistics and the Code of Practice of European Statistics. Instead of a discussion, a procedure was initiated for my dismissal, based on reasons that were invented. One of them is a pilot project in agriculture, the results of which have not yet been published. claiming that as director I caused enormous damage to agriculture," Radojević wrote on Linkedin.

She said that she believes that Monstat will soon return to the European road that it has been on for 15 years.

The former director of Eurostat, Walter Rademacher, wrote that the more relevant the statistical data, the more likely it is to be targeted by politics.

"The European Statistical Code is in a dangerous zone. Of course, the Code applies to statisticians and statistical institutions. Perhaps even more importantly, it should be pointed out that it is equally binding for users and clients in the political arena. I hope that your problem will be solved," said Radojević.

The former director of Eurostat for international cooperation and key statistical indicators, Peter Everas, said that he was sorry to hear the worrying news, and that he hoped that he was getting enough help from Eurostat.

Eurostat expert who collaborated with Monstat during the 2011 census, Roberto Biankini, said that he supports Radojević and Monstat in the current difficult circumstances.

"As an independent census expert, I directly observed the implementation of the last statistical campaign in 2011, which was unanimously declared to be of high quality. I hope that the same will happen with the next census, with adequate preparation and training of statisticians. These are basic, internationally recognized prerequisites for a successful population and household census," Biankini said.