Yesterday's vote in the Parliament on the appointment of members of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services exposed the essence of the actions of the current majority - the systemic undermining of European integration and party control over institutions that, according to EU rules, must be independent and professional, representatives of 33 non-governmental organizations announced.
They announced that Dragoljub Duško Vuković remains a candidate in the new, fourth, public call, with the message that they will not allow political parties to choose who will represent the civil sector in institutions that must be independent.
Instead of respecting the law and European standards, as they said, the parliamentary majority has once again demonstrated an open willingness to collapse the institutional framework for the sake of narrow party interests.
"This continued a series of obstructions that began in June last year, marked by two illegally and senselessly annulled public calls for the appointment of members of the Agency Council, as well as the recent consultative hearing of candidates for members of the AVMU Council, which is not an integral part of the legally prescribed procedure," the statement reads.
"Although the Administrative Board confirmed that both candidates - Dragoljub Duško Vuković, a representative of the NGO sector, and Niko Martinović, a representative of CANU - meet all legal requirements, the parliamentary majority did not vote for them to be finally confirmed. This has brought the process of appointing members of the Council back to the beginning for the third time, and clear messages from EU institutions have been ignored," they add.
In the meantime, they remind you, the Agency is functioning with only three out of five members of the Council, which "seriously jeopardizes its work", especially when making decisions in the second-instance procedure, because it is necessary for all three members to be present and vote equally.
"The ruling majority, deliberately and in violation of the law, left the Agency on the brink of quorum in order to keep it captive, at a time when Montenegro is facing serious foreign disinformation campaigns aimed at stopping its path towards the EU and strengthening its position within NATO."
They say that an independent regulator, especially in this context, must not be held hostage to party calculations.
They believe that "full responsibility for the obstruction" of the implementation of the Law on Audiovisual Media Services and the work of the media regulator lies with the leaders of the parliamentary majority: Milojko Spajić, Andrija Mandić, Milan Knežević, Aleksa Bečić, Ervin Ibrahimović, Nik Đelošaj and Vladimir Joković.
"The failure to confirm candidates from the NGO sector and CANU, solely due to their professional autonomy, directly harms Montenegro's credibility in negotiations with the EU. Namely, this calls into question the temporary closure of Chapter 10 (Information Society and Media) and raises the possibility of its reopening. We also recall that the adoption and implementation of media laws, among which the Law on AVM Services is particularly important, was one of the conditions for obtaining a positive IBAR. By blocking its implementation, the parliamentary majority is sending a message that European rules only apply when it suits them," the statement reads.
They say this is not a question of one law, but "a maturity test of decision-makers that they are failing."
They claim that the goal is to minimize the role of the independent regulator and exclude civil society from the process of democratizing the media system.
"We are telling the majority leaders that their methods are neither new nor original – all of this was done before them by the DPS, which they allegedly fought against because it abused power. However, when they took office, their perspective suddenly changed and they quickly adopted all the bad practices," they said.
They also say that citizens deserve professional institutions, not party branches that change in accordance with election cycles, and in which professionalism is treated as a threat and party loyalty as the only acceptable qualification.
"Non-governmental organizations are already announcing today that the candidate in the new, fourth, public call remains Dragoljub Duško Vuković. We will not allow political parties to choose who will represent the civil sector in institutions that must be independent," reads the statement signed by them:
- Goran Đurović, Media Center
- Olivera Nikolić, Media Institute of Montenegro (IMCG)
- Daliborka Uljarević, Center for Civic Education (CCE)
- Milka Tadić Mijović, Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN-CG)
- Tea Gorjanc Prelević, Human Rights Action (HRA)
- Mila Radulović, Association of Professional Journalists of Montenegro
- Vuk Maraš, BIRN
- Radomir Krackovic, Media Union of Montenegro
- Aida Perović, NGO Prima
- Mustafa Canka, NVO "Ul Info"
- Zdravko Janjušević, Bijelo Polje Democratic Center
- Željko Đukić, NGO Multimedia Montenegro
- Nataša Nelević, NOVA – Center for Feminist Culture
- Slavica Striković, NGO Women's Action
- Nevenka Vuksanović, Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)
- Zlatko Vujović, Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI)
- Jovan Ulićević, SPEKTRA Association
- Maja Raičević, Center for Women's Rights
- Fana Delija, Center for Roma Initiatives
- Biljana Zeković, SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence Podgorica
- Hatidže Neljaj, SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence Ulcinj
- Marina Vuksanović, NGO Nada, Herceg Novi
- Aleksandar Jerotic, NGO Pandora
- Nazif Velić, New Horizons
- Duško Marković, Media team
- Musluć Muamera, NGO Đakomo Adriatic
- Boris Nedović, NGO Center of the North
- Radomir Petrić, NVU Sua Sponte Bar
- Zorana Marković, Center for the Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO)
- Marija Kalezić, Center for Civil Liberties (CEGAS)
- Staša Baštrica, Montenegrin LGBTIQ Association – Kvir Montenegro
- Mikan Medenica, NGO Natura
- Mirsala Tomić, Association for Civil Society Development
Bonus video:
