Stanić: Government without anti-crisis measures, European Union supports trade union demands

The government's refusal to accept the workers' demands is a true reflection of their attitude towards those who create in Montenegro, who pay taxes and fill the state coffers, said Mirko Stanić, president of the Main Committee of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and representative of the European Union (EU).

As he pointed out, while the governments of EU countries are racing to see which of them will provide better conditions for their citizens, the government in Montenegro is looking at how to extract every last euro from their pockets.

"So they decided not to keep their promise to reduce excise taxes on fuel, but to try to collect more, even though a significantly higher amount than planned is being collected on fuel based on VAT," he said, adding that the government "does not think of reducing the VAT rate on fuel, as the governments of Spain (from 21 percent to 10 percent) or Poland (from 23 percent to eight percent) have done, thereby helping both the economy and citizens and reducing the prices of transportation, services, and food products."

"Therefore, we strongly support the demands of workers and their union representatives for the signing of a new Sectoral Collective Agreement, as well as an increase in wages, especially for those categories that are currently most vulnerable due to price increases," he points out.

Stanić notes that Montenegro is "a country that has no anti-crisis measures and in which the government meets at midnight to increase, not reduce, taxes on citizens."

"The European Union will continue to propose anti-crisis measures and laws, with parliamentary activity and support for unions in their fight to improve workers' standards," he concludes.