Suspicions regarding the validity of the documentation submitted by non-governmental organizations that nominated Veselin Drljević for a member of the RTCG Council have proven justified, confirming that the political parties in power have decided to choose their own candidates contrary to the law and its spirit.

For example, the non-governmental organization Association for the Protection and Preservation of Nature “Kapetanovo Jezero”, which supported Veselin Drljević, was registered on September 30, 2010, under number 5261, with Labud Minić listed as the authorized representative and its seat in Kolašin. These data are available in the old Register of Active Non-Governmental Organizations of the Ministry of Public Administration dated March 25, 2021. However, in the current register of the Ministry of Regional-Investment Development and Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations, published at https://ngo.gov.me, there is no organization named Association for the Protection and Preservation of Nature “Kapetanovo Jezero”. A search for entry 5261 shows that, during 2021, the statute, address, name, and authorized representative were changed. The new name of this organization is the Association for Information and Publishing Activity “Radio Svetigora”, and the authorized representative is Dalibor Milaković. This organization appears as the founder of Radio Svetigora in the register maintained by the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services. The decision on the transfer of authorization lists the changes to the name, seat, and authorized representative.

Furthermore, the list of NGOs that supported Veselin Drljević includes organizations that have no known activities in the field of media, such as the Center for Culture and Education, which also has no available financial reports for the past three years. It is interesting that the NGO “Let Us Preserve Democratic Values” is registered at the same address as the Center for Culture and Education, while the last available report for this NGO dates back to 2018, and there is no publicly available information about activities carried out in the field of media.

It is also unclear what connection the NGO Center for Rural Development of Montenegro has with the media, or what connection the NGO Football Academy Pro – Football School has with the media sector. In addition to the unclear link between the Football Academy and media-related activities, according to data available online, the Football Academy had revenue of €1,217 in 2023, which is below the legal requirement of €3,000.

The NGO Association of Writers is primarily an organization in the field of culture, and no activities of this NGO in the field of media are known. Such activities would have had to be financed with at least €2,000 annually in the 2023–2025 period in order for the organization to meet the requirement to nominate Drljević for a member of the RTCG Council in that category.

Neither of the two journalists’ associations that supported Veselin Drljević has available financial reports for the past three years, which raises doubts as to whether they met the requirement of having annual budgets above €3,000 from 2023 to 2025 — a legal obligation if they wish to nominate a candidate for a member of the RTCG Council. More precisely, among those that supported Veselin Drljević is the Association of Journalists of Cetinje, led by Nikola Vujanović, who is employed by RTCG, as is one of his sons, while his other son is currently an intern at RTCG. This NGO’s revenue in 2023 was €1,900, which means it does not meet the legal requirement of at least €3,000 in annual revenue from 2023 to 2025 in order to nominate a candidate for a member of the RTCG Council. For the NGO Society of Montenegrin Journalists, there are no available financial reports for the past three years, and one of the representatives of this NGO is also employed by RTCG.

There are also no publicly available financial reports for the past three years for the Association of Sports Journalists of Southeast Europe in the Fight Against Doping.

These few examples alone show that the documentation for all candidates must be carefully reviewed, as it already seems obvious that the majority of NGOs that supported Veselin Drljević fail to meet at least one of the legally prescribed requirements.

We also doubt the validity of the documentation for candidate Amar Škrijelj. According to data available on Company Wall, the NGO Youth Factory, which supported candidate Škrijelj, had revenue of €7 in 2023, which is below the legal requirement of at least €3,000.

Based on data collected from the internet, we are convinced that the parliamentary service did not properly assess whether the candidates for RTCG Council members met the legal requirements and submitted valid documentation.

Article 26 of the Law on RTCG provides:

“A non-governmental organization may be a nominator for the appointment of a Council member if it meets the following conditions:

1. in its founding act and statute, as its basic objectives and tasks, it includes issues from the areas referred to in Article 24, paragraph 1, items 3, 5, or 6 of this Law, and has continuously dealt with those issues during the three years preceding the publication of the public call for nominating candidates for Council members;
2. during the three years preceding the publication of the public call for nominating candidates for Council members, its annual budget for the implementation of activities in the field in which it nominates a candidate for Council member was not less than €3,000;
3. during the three years preceding the publication of the public call for nominating candidates for Council members, at least €2,000 in one calendar year was spent on the implementation of activities in the field in which the candidate for Council member is being nominated.”

If the authorities continue to insist on these candidates, they will openly demonstrate their intention to render meaningless everything that has been done over more than three years in drafting media laws, and to trample on the basic principles of the rule of law. At the core of those principles are respect for legally prescribed requirements and the application of clear criteria for the election of all RTCG Council members. Otherwise, some new majority may, in four years, be given the opportunity to choose candidates suitable to them, regardless of whether they personally, or those nominating them, meet the requirements. In that way, we will never have a professional public media service.

The law prescribes criteria in order to ensure that only active NGOs from specific fields, such as human rights and media, can select their representatives through the required process. The purpose of the legal requirements and criteria for both the candidates themselves and the authorized nominators, including NGOs, was to ensure that people elected to the RTCG Council would be resistant to various influences.

We point out that even this information, which we obtained through a brief internet search and available databases, should prompt the Administrative Committee to make all documentation of all candidates public already on Tuesday, at the session of this committee at which the hearing of all candidates is planned. There is no reason in the public interest not to dispel all doubts by publicly publishing the documentation before the process of electing new RTCG Council members is completed.

We believe it is much better to resolve all uncertainties before the election of RTCG Council members than to later deal with determining the criminal liability of all those who participated in an unlawful process.

Bearing in mind that the package of media laws was also a condition for obtaining a positive IBAR, we will inform EU institutions about this violation of the law and the continuing political influence on RTCG, and request that they act to stop the authorities in yet another manipulation or sanction it in some other way.

Goran Đurović, Media Center

Olivera Nikolić, Media Institute of Montenegro (MMI)

Daliborka Uljarević, Centre for Civic Education (CCE)

Milka Tadić Mijović, Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIN-CG)

Tea Gorjanc Prelević, Human Rights Action (HRA)

Darko Ivanović, NGO 35 mm

Zdravko Janjušević, Bijelo Polje Democratic Centre

Nataša Nelević, NOVA – Centre for Feminist Culture

Zorana Marković, Centre for Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (CRNVO)

Nevenka Vuksanović, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)

Maja Raičević, Women’s Rights Centra (WRC)

Muamera Muslić, NGO Đakomo Adriatic

Boris Nedović, NGO Centre of the North

Marina Vujačić, Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro (UMHCG)

Nataša Međedović, SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence Nikšić

Radomir Kračković, Trade Union of Media of Montenegro

Aida Petrović, NGO Prima

Budislavka Mira Saveljić, Women’s Safe House