The lack of transparency in the appointment of the general director of the Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG), Boris Raonic, must be investigated because it represents a serious violation of European standards established by the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), said the president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Maja Sever.
She said that transparency criteria must be met in order to ensure that public service media fulfill their role as defenders of public interest and pluralism.
"The lack of transparency in the appointment of the general director of RTCG must be investigated because it represents a serious violation of the European standards established by EMFA," said Sever.
In the EFJ announcement, it is stated that this organization, as well as the Union of Media in Montenegro (SMCG), is concerned about the manner in which the general director of the Public Series was elected on August 31.
EFJ and SMCG called on all competent institutions, above all the Labor Inspectorate, to take measures as soon as possible in order to clarify the situation in which Boris Raonic became the general director of the Public Service for the third time.
The EFJ recalled that the Montenegrin parliamentarians ignored the appeals addressed to them before the adoption of amendments to the Law on Radio and Television of Montenegro, which referred to the unnecessary lowering of the criteria that candidates for the post of general director must meet.
"If the appeals had been accepted, the Public Service would not have been in such an unfavorable situation," the statement said.
As it is added, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, published a statement in which he tries to transfer the responsibility for amendments to the law to the European Commission.
EFJ recalled that RTCG and Raonic lost two cases before the Montenegrin courts in connection with his appointment in 2021 because he was in a conflict of interest, that is, he did not meet the criteria for appointment.
As they added, the RTCG, i.e. the Council and Raonic, also lost two cases before the Basic Court in Podgorica related to his re-appointment in 2023, where it was again established that his appointment was illegal.
"This year, Raonić resigned from the position of general director after the adoption of a law that favored him, only to be appointed acting director within 15 minutes at the same session of the RTCG Council, which is unheard of in practice," the statement said.
It is stated that the elections on August 31 were marked by numerous controversies, primarily due to non-transparency, which raised suspicions that they were politically or interest-driven, violating legal norms.
The EFJ said that the council, with six of the nine members present, elected Raonic with five votes in favor and one invalid vote, although it is suspected that he did not meet one of the two conditions for participating in the competition, that is, that he does not meet the requirement of five years of work experience according to the Montenegrin Labor Law.
"He has already been appointed general director twice, which is contrary to the Law on Public Media," the statement said.
The statement says that EFJ and SMCG support the claims of the eight candidates, who refused to further participate in what appears to be pre-arranged elections.
As they state, if Montenegro wants to stay on the path of European and NATO integration, such legal failures and similar scandals should not characterize the public service.
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