Đurović: Nedović announced that they want control over AMU, Vuković will be a candidate until the appointment is finalized

Parliamentary majority MP Jelena Nedović has clearly stated that they want control over the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AMU), Goran Đurović, director of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Media Center, announced today.

He said this in response to a statement by Jelena Nedović, President of the Administrative Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro and MP for the Europe Now Movement (PES).

Nedović said today at the conference "Media Horizons - Efficiency of Regulatory Bodies", held in Podgorica, that a compromise measure is for non-governmental organizations to propose another candidate instead of Dragoljub Duško Vuković from the Media Center in the public call for the election of two members of the AMU Council.

"The statement by PES MP Jelena Nedović, the strongest political party leading the government, that they want a docile NGO representative on the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services, clearly indicates the fact that the parliamentary majority does not actually care about adopting the values ​​and standards that are a prerequisite for Montenegro's entry into the EU. The EU standard is that the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services must be professional and independent of party influence. The media laws adopted in June 2024 as part of the so-called IBAR law have created the prerequisites to meet the EU standard. That is why the European Commission has temporarily closed negotiating chapter 10 (information society and media)," Đurović pointed out in a statement.

He added that the European Commission, in its report, clearly communicated to the parliamentary majority that the process of appointing members of the AMU Council must be completed as soon as possible.

"Also, the European Commission has clearly stated to the parliamentary majority that there are no changes to the media laws that could call into question the independence of the work of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services and RTCG. The European Commission has hinted at the possibility of reopening Chapter 10 if the procedure for appointing members of the Council of the Agency for AVM Services is not completed as soon as possible. All of this is not enough for the parliamentary majority, but they are demanding that NGOs from the media field adapt their candidate to the wishes of Milojko Spajić, Andrija Mandić, Milan Knežević, Aleksa Bečić, Niko Đeljošaj, Vladimir Joković. Such an alleged NGO representative, and essentially a party representative, can only be nominated by a group of government NGOs, 30 of them, who at one time requested changes to the media laws in order to provide the authorities with an alibi for taking control of the Agency for AVM Services and maintaining control over RTCG. NGOs active in the media field will not follow the wishes of political parties, but their own principles, which is to propose persons with integrity and experience who will not trade with parties," said Đurović.

He said that "the Media Center informs the parliamentary majority that the candidate of an NGO from the field of media for a member of the AMU Council, for the fourth time, is Dragoljub Duško Vuković and will remain so until the appointment process is completed."

"We call on the parliamentary majority to abandon the obstruction of the implementation of the law, which has been going on for 15 months, and to bring the procedure for appointing two members of the Agency Council to an end, in accordance with the law. We remind the public that the obstruction of the appointment of members of the Agency Council, which is now being carried out by the current parliamentary majority, is nothing new. The DPS did the same thing in coalition with the SDP from 2006 to 2009 in the procedure for appointing a member of the RTCG Council. The novelty (although it has not been for a long time) is that there is no difference between the current government and the DPS in relation to institutions, their professionalism and independence in their work. Also, what was once allowed to the DPS to do while Montenegro was not in the process of accession to the EU is not allowed by the current parliamentary majority in the last year of the accession process," said Đurović.

In his words, Nedović's statement "clearly indicates that the parties that make up the government want to have the opportunity to elect suitable members of the Agency Council, as they had when they elected members of the RTCG Council in 2021, according to the law passed by the DPS in June 2020."

"Such party-controlled, alleged NGO representatives have illegally elected the obedient general director of RTCG three times. The majority political parties obviously want to repeat this with the key institution in the media field, the regulator of the media market, an institution that can sanction media when they break the law, when they spread hate speech or ban the broadcasting of media content from countries in the region when it incites hatred, discrimination, or insults members of ethnic communities (as is the case with media from Serbia, Pink, Happy)," said Đurović.

He said that Nedović's statement is "another confirmation that in Montenegro, only the majority of active NGOs, a smaller number of media outlets and a smaller number of political parties care about essential changes, EU values-standards, and the liberation of institutions from inappropriate party influence."

"Actually, the same actors who acted in an identical manner and had the same demands during the DPS rule. The good news for all those who truly want a better state for all its citizens is that the European Commission is on the side of the minority that wants real changes. This is also bad news for the parties that make up the government, because by the end of the year they will have to vote in the Parliament for representatives of NGOs in the field of media and representatives designated by the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences, which we also believe will not adapt its candidate to the wishes of the parties," said Đurović.