The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) expects Montenegro to fully address remaining issues related to the independence of the judiciary, trust in the electoral process, the fight against corruption and the media environment.
This was stated in the resolution (Resolution 2580) adopted by the PACE at its session on Monday, which concerns the continuous monitoring of member states' compliance with their obligations to the Council of Europe in the period from January to December 2024. These are ten countries under full monitoring and four in post-monitoring dialogue. Montenegro is among the countries in post-monitoring.
The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the continued commitment of the Montenegrin authorities to fulfil their obligations towards the Council of Europe and to cooperate with the various bodies of the Council of Europe in order to achieve this objective.
"The Assembly takes into account two urgent opinions on the Prevention of Corruption and the Law on Confiscation of Criminal Assets, as well as three urgent follow-up opinions on the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office and the Law on the Special State Prosecutor's Office, which were published by the Venice Commission in 2024," the resolution states.
The CoE Assembly, it added, welcomes the reforms adopted in a short period of time in order to meet the provisional criteria for accession to the European Union.
"These reforms bring Montenegro closer to fully fulfilling the obligations of membership and the obligations of the accession process, which could lead to the conclusion of the post-monitoring dialogue. The Assembly reiterates that, in order to achieve this, Montenegro is expected to fully address the remaining issues related to the independence of the judiciary, trust in the electoral process, the fight against corruption and the media environment," the resolution reads.
The PACE commended the Monitoring Committee for its efforts, while expressing concern about the backsliding of democracy and human rights problems in several countries, including Azerbaijan and Georgia.
"The Assembly calls on all countries under monitoring to strengthen their commitment to reforms and democratic principles, while recognizing positive developments in other countries, such as Armenia and Moldova. It attaches particular importance to cooperation with the Venice Commission and calls for greater visibility of monitoring procedures through the translation of reports. The Assembly remains committed to supporting member states in fulfilling their obligations," the CoE said. Montenegro has been a member of the CoE since 2007 and was subject to full monitoring until 2015.
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