There is a serious level of mistrust between the Government and NGOs

There is a serious degree of mistrust between the Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), it was assessed at the meeting of Prime Minister Duško Marković with the civil sector.

Marković said that the civil sector is needed as a partner on the way to the European Union (EU).

"We need a political partnership with the civil sector, in the sense of what are the crucial strategic issues of this country," said Marković at the round table Cooperation between the Government and NGOs in the EU accession process, organized by the General Secretariat of the Government.

He announced that once every two months he will initiate meetings with NGOs where they will discuss topics that have a broader aspect for the community.

Marković said that the problem in the work of the working groups, in addition to the absence of civil sector representatives, is that the representatives of the state administration are not committed to the meetings either.

He suggested that the minutes of the meetings of the working groups should be made available to the public.

The Prime Minister was interested in why representatives of the civil sector are not actively involved in the work of working groups for certain negotiation chapters, why some of them have never attended working meetings.

The executive director of CRNVO, Ana Novaković, reminded that the first consultations between the Prime Minister and representatives of the NGO sector were organized in January 2017 and that the next meeting was long awaited.

According to her, cooperation between NGOs and the Government has become a political criterion for EU membership.

"In the cooperation between the government and civil society, we have form without substance," Novaković assessed.

As she stated, in the last few years, legal and sub-legal acts important for the work of NGOs have been passed and, as she said, these are important steps taken by the Government and the NGO does not dispute that.

She said that in one period civil society activists were exposed to an unprecedented media campaign just because they were doing their job and recalled the changes in the council of RTCG and ASK.

"With these moves, all procedures for the selection of representatives of the NGO sector in advisory and regulatory bodies are rendered meaningless. The only criterion that recommends you for election to these bodies is that you are up to the standards of the authorities," Novaković said.

She assessed that the insufficient trust of the NGO sector in the Government's sincere intentions for cooperation is justified for now.

"Neither the best laws nor institutional solutions can restore mutual trust and establish cooperation if we know that freedom of expression is limited," said Novaković.

She said that the government should only apply what is in the laws and that they should be equal for everyone.

"The common denominator of the Government and NGOs is the public interest. When the public interest is imperative to dialogue with civil society, you can always count on it, even when our views are diametrically opposed," said Novaković.

The Minister of Justice, Zoran Pažin, said that one of the attributes of the political system is that Montenegro has a very strong civil society with well-profiled and influential organizations.

"This is not a coincidence, but a consequence of the fact that NGOs have significant capacities to deal with certain social issues," said Pažin.

According to him, the Government treats civil society organizations with great respect.

"We are aware that one of the roles of civil society is to criticize authorities, and that is not in dispute. But the role of civil society in criticizing public authorities is not exhausted, nor is the social reality in Montenegro such that there are only topics that polarize Montenegrin society," he said. Pazin.

He is convinced that there is a wide field of common values ​​on which it is possible to cooperate and called on civil society organizations to cooperate.

"It is not good to deal only with what was, I would rather turn to what is the field of potential cooperation," Pažin said.

The executive director of CDT, Dragan Koprivica, believes that both the NGO and the Government should take a step forward and reconsider how they have behaved so far and whether it should be changed.

As he said, we don't need a technical agreement, but a political solution.

"We need principles of cooperation that we will respect. On what principles do we cooperate and what do we get from it," said Koprivica.

Milenko Vojičić from UMHCG said that what happened until today should be seriously looked at.

"It is easier to reach the Government through Brussels in order to ask them a question," Vojicic said.

Jovana Marović from the Politikon network said that the NGO sector plays in the Montenegrin team.

"We are wearing the Montenegrin jersey, but the Government does not see it," stated Marović and suggested that the Council for the Rule of Law should not be a political body and that members of working groups should be allowed to attend.

Dina Bajramspahić from the Institute of Alternatives believes that working group meetings are pointless and that arguing at the most technical level is a waste of time.

"When we are right, we do not have majority support in the working group, so the only way is to present the demands in the media and express our dissatisfaction with the non-fulfilment of those demands," concluded Bajramspahić.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Milutin Simović, said that they have daily communication with NGOs, which is not formal but essential and completely flexible.