Government-tailored blockade: The work of the AMU Council is questioned after the current president announced his resignation

The work of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (SAMU) could be blocked as early as next week, after the current president Branko Bosković announced his resignation from the position of chairman, "Vijesti" was told by several unofficial sources.

Bošković confirmed to the editorial team yesterday that, following the decision of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption that he had violated regulations because he voted for his own election to head SAMU four years ago, he informed his colleagues from the Council that he was resigning as president.

"Upon learning of the decision of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, I acted responsibly, respecting the decisions of other bodies and institutions of this country. Regardless of the fact that the ASK decision does not emphasize the need to take other legal actions, I informed the members of the Council that I am resigning from the position of president and that I will remain a member. I would like to point out that the ASK decision relates exclusively to my election as president of the Council in 2021. The Council session will be convened in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, at this moment I have no information when it will be," Bošković told "Vijesti" yesterday.

This, according to unofficial sources, could completely block the work of the Council, and thus the Agency.

WHO WILL SIGN THE DECISIONS?

According to the Statute of the AMU, as well as the Rules of Procedure of the SAMU, the President of the Council is elected and dismissed by secret ballot. The President becomes the member who receives the majority of the total number of colleagues in the Council.

The AMU Council, however, has been functioning with a truncated composition for years - instead of five, it has three members. Sources of the editorial office claim that at this moment it is impossible to elect a president without one of the three being in a conflict of interest, as ASK recently announced, using the example of Bošković.

The SAMU Rules of Procedure provide for the possibility that the President of the Council, in the event of absence or inability to act, may be replaced by a member of the Council designated by him. If the President has not designated a member of the Council to replace him, this duty shall be performed by the oldest member of the Council.

Although this seems like a temporary solution, "Vijesti" sources claim that the oldest member of the AMU Council will be able to convene sessions and that this body will be able to make decisions, but that the question is whether he will also be able to sign the decisions made.

FAILED COMPETITIONS AND ABSTENTIONS

The possible blockage of the Council was mainly contributed to by the fact that the ruling majority in the Parliament of Montenegro failed to elect the two missing members of that body through public competitions for more than a year, while the current mandates expire in April and June.

The Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services has been in a reduced composition since December last year, because representatives of non-governmental organizations in the field of media Milan Radović and Montenegrin PEN Center Rajko Todorovic mandate expired. Although he was supposed to announce the competition in the middle of last year, Mandić did so in January of this year, but soon withdrew the invitation, explaining that he was doing so "due to a technical error." Two candidacies were submitted for the repeated competition - Dragoljub Duško Vuković were proposed by non-governmental organizations, while the candidate of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts was Niko Martinović, but the Administrative Committee assessed them as incomplete at the end of March.

The NGO that nominated Vuković at the time announced that such a decision by the Administrative Board was "politically motivated and legally unfounded, but also a clear expression of the ruling majority's intention to capture the media sector through party politics at the cost of jeopardizing Montenegro's European path."

A few days later, a warning came from the European Union (EU) Delegation in Podgorica. They said that it was urgent to appoint new members of SAMU to ensure its functioning and independence.

Although the Administrative Committee concluded this summer that the candidacies of Vuković and Martinović were valid, they did not receive the required number of votes at the parliamentary session on July 30 - out of a total of 56 MPs, 12 voted for the proposal, while the rest - 44 of them - abstained.

During that vote, cries of "Oh, my Europe" were heard from the assembly hall.

EC: POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES FOR CHAPTER 10

Europe responded very quickly. In its latest progress report, the European Commission stressed that the Parliament had not yet appointed a member of the Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services and warned that this “could have consequences for Chapter 10 in the negotiations with the EU”.

"The Parliament has repeatedly failed to appoint two members of the AMU Council, significantly exceeding the deadline prescribed by the Law on Audiovisual Media Services. The Parliament has twice annulled the competition for the selection of members. Additionally, in the third repeated attempt, in July 2025, the Parliament again failed to appoint members of the AMU Council. This situation prevents the full implementation of the legal framework and may have consequences for Chapter 10 in the negotiations with the EU. Montenegro must urgently appoint the remaining members of the AMU Council," the report states.

Shortly after such EC assessments, the President of the Assembly's Administrative Committee Jelena Nedović (PES), during a conference titled "Media Horizons - Efficiency of Regulatory Bodies", announced that it "has nothing personally against" the candidates proposed by the NGO - Vuković.

"Nor do any of us believe it, but I think that a compromise measure would be for non-governmental organizations to propose another candidate in this public call. Maybe the MPs will agree on that other candidate because, after all, the law is such that a candidate is elected in parliament," Nedović said on November 6.

Non-governmental organizations that supported Vuković's candidacy responded that the PES MP's stance "proves that the parliamentary majority is trying to politically capture one of the most important institutions in the media system, contrary to the law and European standards."

The competition for two members of the AMU Council - representatives of the civil sector and CANU, i.e. the PEN Center, is ongoing.