N1 Serbia Portal he published the text in which they write that, reading this, one gets the impression that Montenegro has gone far ahead of Serbia, and not only when it comes to European integration.
One of the interlocutors of that media outlet was the assistant editor-in-chief of "Vijesti" Vukašin Obradović, who said that Montenegro has progressed in many areas and has serious ambitions and chances on its European path.
Montenegro, among other things, reminds N1, has restricted the broadcasting of two morning programs of TV Pink for six months, and the same could happen with the programs of TV Prva and Informer, all because of hate speech, denial of national identity and glorification of war criminals. Although the same content is also watched by citizens of Serbia, and in much larger numbers, and the regulations are similar, N1 points out, the regulatory body for electronic media in Serbia does not see anything controversial in all this. "On the wings of these and other, seemingly impossible situations in Serbia, Montenegro is rapidly moving towards the European Union, which is also visible on its planes - the goal is to get there by 2028," the media outlet writes.
They remind that Montenegro has opened all, and so far closed 13 chapters that make up the accession negotiations for EU membership, and that European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos recently said that the European Commission is ready to help Montenegro close all chapters by the end of this year.
"That's why the Montenegrin government printed its motto '28 out of 28' on Air Montenegro planes - meaning the 28th member of the Union by 2028. Reading news from the region, one gets the impression that the 'brotherly' state has gone far ahead of Serbia, and not only when it comes to European integration," the text says.
"Impressions are not deceiving"
That the impression is not deceiving, as N1 writes, is confirmed by the assistant editor-in-chief of "Vijesti" Vukašin Obradović, former president of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, who continued his decades-long journalistic career in Montenegro.
"Montenegro has made progress in many areas and has serious ambitions and chances on its European path. What is important for the citizens of Montenegro and what distinguishes it from Serbia, where support for the European Union is rather ambiguous, is that the concrete measures adopted in Montenegro and related to the chapters have concrete consequences for people's lives and society as a whole," said Obradović.
He recalls that Montenegro began accession negotiations before Serbia in the first decade of the 2000s, but that it stagnated for a long time – until August 2020 and the fall of Milo Đukanović's regime.
"A kind of political consensus has been reached on Montenegro's European path. The peculiarity is that, to a large extent, the parties, both the government and the opposition, have reached an agreement that EU entry is everyone's common goal," notes Obradović.
"A tacit agreement to make everyone agree on a common goal"
This is confirmed, as the text adds, by Montenegrin writer and columnist Đuro Radosavović, who lives in Belgrade. He estimates that in Montenegro there is a tacit agreement that everyone agrees on a common goal, even those who are at odds.
Key points on that path are chapters 23 and 24, which deal with the rule of law, democracy and freedoms, which are the last to be closed. That is why Montenegro is finalising its negotiations by introducing constitutional amendments to strengthen the judiciary and prosecution, writes N1.
Obradović explains that the key change will be that the Minister of Justice will no longer be a member of the Judicial Council. Serbia did the same in 2022, it is recalled, when the composition and election of the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council were changed. However, since 2021, Serbia has not moved on its European path, and at the beginning of 2026 it also received the "Mrdić laws", writes N1.
"In Serbia, a large part of the judiciary, namely the prosecution, is being placed under direct control," Obradović pointed out in an interview with the media portal.
However, the introduction of order into the Montenegrin judiciary, as well as the fight against organized crime, "are not going very smoothly," the text says.
"When one considers Montenegro's legacy and the devastating consequences in the judiciary, it is clear that Montenegro is facing the difficult task of reforming the judiciary, which has long been under the control of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). The progress that has been made clearly demonstrates the willingness to take into account the statements of EU officials and there are objections that this is not going at the desired speed, but clear efforts are being made to close these chapters," Obradović assessed.
Radosavović points out that the key moment that allowed Montenegro to step forward was the arrest of Vesna Medenica, the former president of the Supreme Court. She was "said to be Milo Đukanović's 'black box'."
He adds that despite this, the government still does not know how to resolve matters in the judiciary and deal with organized crime, and that everything boils down to chasing its own tail.
"Even when the police arrest someone, they tease them a little, like the one with the goldfish - kiss it and let it go. The judiciary is slow, because it was elected by the DPS," says Radosavović, adding that events show that organized crime is more organized than the police and the state.
"Despite all this, Medenica and her son were sentenced to first instance, and former special prosecutor Milivoj Kantić and special prosecutor Saša Čađenović are being tried on the basis of the skype messages, and proceedings are also being conducted against several high-ranking police officers," the text reads.
Radosavović: Montenegro in the EU "through a connection"
Although Enlargement Commissioner Marta Koss said that Podgorica still has a lot to do, the messages from Brussels are encouraging, according to N1. Last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Podgorica: "You are committed, you are ambitious, and we love that and that is why we will support you."
"They are pulling from Montenegro towards the EU, and they are pulling from the EU quite strongly," says Radosavović, adding that he thinks that Brussels is now more concerned with accepting Montenegro into the Union than some others.
"The irony is that Montenegro will enter the European Union 'through a connection'. It seems to be written into the country's genetic code," says Radosavović.
When asked what the connection was, he stated that the current "situation dictates so."
"Just so that Mandić, Jakov and Spajić don't get killed. So that they don't fight over who will be the first to cut the ribbon and be remembered as the one who brought Montenegro into the European Union," he says.
"Media regulated - somewhat"
Before it regulated the judiciary, Montenegro brought the media into order and is actively working on it, writes N1.
Radosavić says that in Montenegro there are shows where you can see and hear different actors arguing about different topics. The Council of the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (SAMU) is taking into account how far the debate will go and what will be said in the electronic media, which has banned the rebroadcast of Jovana Jeremić's morning program on TV Pink for six months and threatened Informer and Prva with similar measures.
Vukašin Obradović says that the situation in Montenegro should not be idealized and that there are certain pressures and phenomena that distort the media image, but that the atmosphere in which journalists work is completely different from that in Serbia.
In the last three years, 12 verdicts have been issued in Montenegro for attacks on journalists, and proceedings are underway against the attackers of journalists from "Pobjeda" and "Vijesti" during the unveiling of the monument to Chetnik duke Pavle Đurišić in August last year.
For comparison, N1 writes, it took the Serbian police two and a half months to identify the attacker on the media team at the so-called Ćacilende, while the person who sent the threatening letter to the N1 editorial office by mail has not been found even after eight months, even though the post office number is visible on the letter.
"Generally speaking, a lot still needs to be done on media freedoms, but the situation is incomparable in terms of political pressure and attacks on journalists, especially independent ones," Obradović pointed out.
Restricting the rebroadcast of the morning program of TV Pink is not the first time that the Montenegrin regulatory body has reacted to the content of television stations from Serbia, and the most common actions have been initiated against TV Hepi and TV Pink, N1 reminds. In addition to the spread of hate speech and discrimination against Montenegrins and other peoples, the reason in 2022 was also inappropriate reporting on the mass murder in Cetinje, when ten people were killed and six injured.
SAMU did not take such actions against local media.
Obradović explains that the media image of Montenegro is characterized by certain media outlets, primarily portals and television stations, which are under the direct control of Serbia.
"Here too, we see a Pink-informist approach, and the state does not have an adequate solution to influence these media to adhere to journalistic standards," said Obradović, adding that these media are exerting a malignant influence on Montenegrin society.
He notes that the reach of SAMU is limited, that there are no self-regulatory bodies such as the Serbian Press Council, and that legal mechanisms to influence the aforementioned media have not been sufficiently developed or implemented.
"Other mechanisms are not used, because these media are under the auspices of pro-Serb parties and remain outside the reach of those possible measures," explained the N1 portal's interlocutor.
"European standards in a local way"
While fulfilling its tasks on the European path, Montenegro has passed and is passing a series of laws that directly affect the lives of citizens, N1 points out. The Constitutional Court, they remind, overturned the 2019 decision that banned work on Sundays, due to violations of freedom of entrepreneurship and equality. Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović reacted to this by announcing that he would propose a change to the Constitution to make Sunday a non-working day a constitutional right.
The state recently, at the suggestion of the Institute of Public Health, made a decision to ban unvaccinated children from enrolling in kindergartens. The exception is those who cannot be vaccinated due to permanent medical reasons. The reason for changing the law was the measles epidemic and the increasing number of unvaccinated children. Despite the good intentions of the state, the public reacted violently.
Vukašin Obradović notes that there are a small number of those who support changes to the law and that the main objection is that more work should be done on the emancipation of citizens before introducing such restrictive measures.
Montenegrins, writes N1, reacted even more violently when they heard that through amendments to the Labor Law, the government plans to oblige fathers to take two months of maternity leave, while mothers will be with their baby for 10 months.
In the Montenegrin parliament, but also in the public, the text adds, one can hear that the proposed law is detrimental to mothers.
Đuro Radosavović explains that this is a human issue that should be decided by the mother, because “men get away with it anyway.” “I'm not interested in the European Union,” he points out, adding that the duration of maternity leave and who will be with the baby should be decided by women alone.
"More efficient administration and some absurdity"
In "checking" European standards, Montenegro has filled in a lot of boxes, and many of them have experienced their absurdity in reality, says Radosavović. As an example, he cites the drawing of bicycle paths in Podgorica where they are impossible and where cycling is impossible.
What is improving is the retrieval of documents, he says.
He cites the example of his friend who decided to open an eco-park in Pljevalje. He went to that city and prepared to stay there for seven days and prayed to God that he would be able to do everything during that time. However, everything was finished in two days. He adds that the situation is similar in other smaller cities, where the administration has become much more efficient.
Podgorica residents could soon get a wastewater treatment plant, but its construction in Botun has become a national issue, writes N1. At the same time, it is also a European issue, they point out, because the start of work was a condition for closing Chapter 27 on the environment and justifying the huge funds provided for this purpose by the European Union.
"Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić says that he will not accept being blackmailed and that the sewage system will be built as planned. In the meantime, Belgraders are counting the years since President Aleksandar Vučić took office in Borča in 2019 and promised sewage to the residents of the left bank of the Danube," the text concludes.
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