The latest report of the European Commission on the progress of Montenegro in European integration shows that Brussels will no longer tolerate the lack of specific results in the fight against corruption and organized crime on a high level and illegal enrichment powerful individuals.
If the Government of Montenegro does not show that is really ready to implement radical reforms and if continues to subordinate them to private interests of corrupted officials and heads of organized criminal groups, negotiations with tthe EU will be blocked, which would cause immeasurable damages to the state and citizens.
Ratings given in the report of this year show that the Government would not succeed to “smear eyes” of the European Commission using cosmetic changes and statistics, but must give concrete results at a high level. At the same time, that report confirms that the previous statements of heads of the Government about a huge progress were mere manipulations, and that the trapped institutions only reflect the lack of reforms and specific results.
MANS continuously warned the executive branch right on the key problems underlined by the European Commission in its report, and its leaders responded to us by pressures, threats, insinuations, and the worst forms of retaliation. Today they have to face consequences.
In fact, in the report of the Commission are initiated problems that Montenegro has with electoral corruption, its demanded more active role of the prosecution to discover and prosecute actors of political corruption, and expressed dissatisfaction with the way that the state responded to the scandal “Snapshot” and numerous misuses discovered by MANS, including misuse of state funds for political purposes, vote buying and irregularities in the electoral roll.
In the report it is also criticized and the facts the the key provisions of the Law on financing political parties are suspended on the initiative of deputies of the DPS, despite the fact that they were introduced based on the recommendations of the OSCE, GRECO, on what MANS continuously warned.
We especially note the recommendation of the Commission related to the criminalization of illegal enrichment, suggested by MANS many times, and the National Commission headed by Dusko Markovic rejected it with the explanation that there is no need for that. Finally, the Commission recognizes that the greatest contribution in uncovering corruption, especially at the highest level, have citizens and NGOs, not the police whose job is that.
For such harsh ratings of the European Commission the greatest responsibility has the executive branch headed by the Prime Minister, so in any state where officials have a moral and professional obligation to bear the elementary responsibility for their results, the Prime Minister with the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Interior, would resign today. However, it is crystal clear that will not happen, since their priority is not to implement reforms and to meet requirements of the European integration process, but to stop them in order to protect private interests of the ruling elite and with them connected criminal milieu and tycoon business.
Vanja Calovic
Executive Director
