Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the field of media today called on the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mandić, "to stop obstructing the implementation of the Law on Audiovisual Media Services, which has been going on for more than a year, because the consequence of the irresponsible actions of the parliamentary majority he leads may be the reopening of Chapter 10 (Information Society and Media), which was temporarily closed at the end of last year," according to a statement submitted today by the NGO Media Center.
The statement states that NGOs active in the media field submitted an Initiative to Mandić today to contribute to the implementation of media laws and the election of members of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services.
"Non-governmental organizations active in the field of media have called on the President of the Parliament to issue a public call for the fourth time for the appointment of two members of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AVMU), in order to finally implement the Law on Audiovisual Media Services. NGOs call on the President of the Parliament to stop obstructing the implementation of the Law on Audiovisual Media Services, which has been going on for more than a year, because the consequence of the irresponsible actions of the parliamentary majority he leads may be the reopening of Chapter 10 (Information Society and Media), which was temporarily closed at the end of last year," the statement submitted by the Media Center states.
The statement added that in June 2024, through the process of working towards obtaining a positive IBAR, media laws were adopted with the participation and praise of civil society and the support of the opposition.
"The parliamentary majority, led by the Speaker of the Parliament, unanimously supported them at the time. The only objection from civil society and the opposition related to the lowering of the criteria for the election of the Director General of RTCG - from 10 to 5 years of work experience - which was initiated at the last minute by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, and apparently so that the same director would be re-elected, although there are already two final judgments for two of his illegal appointments and one first-instance judgment for the third appointment, which remains a serious political and legal compromise. However, thanks to the adoption of new media laws, Chapter 10 was temporarily closed at the end of last year," it states.
The statement says that NGOs are pointing out to Mandić that, in accordance with the Law, he had to announce the call for the election of two members of the Council in June 2024, and that he only announced the first public call on December 10, 2024.
"Then, on January 24, 2025, the President of the Parliament canceled the call due to an alleged technical error, using as justification the initiative of an NGO, which was obviously forced and legally unfounded. The second call was announced on January 30, 2025, after reactions from civil society and the EU, and the Administrative Board unlawfully canceled it in April due to allegedly unclear forms, even though they were precisely their decision. The European Commission and the European Parliament clearly registered this delay and obstruction in their reports. It is clear to us that this is being done with the intention of entering the process of changing the appointment procedure to the AVMU and RTCG Councils, all so that the ruling majority can maintain political control over institutions that, by law and European standards, must be independent. Ironically, the same model of selecting eligible members was once used by the DPS, for which, as the then opposition, the current government criticized it, as well as civil society," the statement added.
It is stated that under pressure from the EU, the third public call was only announced on May 13, 2025.
"After checking the documentation, candidates Dragoljub Vuković (NGO) and Niko Martinović (CANU) met the requirements. Instead of appointment, a so-called consultative hearing was held, which is not recognized by the law, as we pointed out, and then the majority abstained in the plenum, which again prevented the filling of the Council. Thus, the ruling majority for the third time prevented the filling of vacant positions in the Council of the Agency for AVM Services. The consequence of such actions is that the AVMU Council works with three out of five members, which means that all decisions can only be made unanimously and under enormous pressure. This blockade directly threatens the institution's capacity to respond to the most difficult cases in media market regulation, including the ban on broadcasting content from Serbia that denies the identity of Montenegrins, insults minorities or spreads hate speech towards those who are not to the liking of the ruling majority in Montenegro," the Media Center said in a statement.
It is also stated that the NGOs reminded Mandić that he must publish a new call for a member of the Council from the ranks of universities in early October, because the law requires that the call be published six months before the expiration of the term.
"NGOs took the opportunity to inform the President of the Parliament that they will communicate this initiative with the EU Delegation to Montenegro, as well as the EU institutions in Brussels. If Chapter 10 is reopened, the responsibility for slowing down Montenegro's European integration and the new humiliation of the country before its partners lies with you, as the President of the Parliament and leader of the NSD, together with colleagues from the parliamentary majority Milojko Spajić, Milan Knežević, Aleksa Bečić, Vladimir Joković, Ervin Ibrahimović and Niko Đeljošaj," the statement submitted by the media center reads.
Initiative submitters:
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)
Mila Radulović, Association of Professional Journalists of Montenegro
Mustafa Canka, NVO "Ul Info"
Zdravko Janjušević, Bijelo Polje Democratic Center
Željko Đukić, NGO Multimedia Montenegro
Nataša Nelević, NOVA – Center for Feminist Culture
Muamera Muslić, NGO Đakomo Adriatic
Boris Nedović, NGO Center of the North
Radomir Petrić, NVU Sua Sponte Bar
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