Director of Government's Directorate for Media makes statement regarding “Reporters without Borders” latest report

Podgorica, Montenegro (13 February 2014) – As regards the report of the international press freedom organisation "Reporters without Borders" and compliance of the Montenegrin media legislation with European standards, Željko Rutović, Director of the Directorate for Media (Ministry of Culture), emphasised in his press statement the assessment of the Analytical Report accompanying the European Commission's Opinion on Montenegro's Membership in the EU, which states: "Freedom of expression (including the media) is guaranteed by the Constitution and is widely used in practice."

The 2013 European Commission’s report on Montenegro in the Chapter 23 (Judiciary and fundamental rights) reads that “freedom of expression has continued to be ensured, e.g. with the recent start of more serious investigations into cases of violence against journalists and the pronouncement of verdicts in some cases,” Director of the Directorate for Media Rutović stressed.

He underlined that Montenegro has no outstanding issues in terms of redefining the media legislation, as evidenced by the latest Montenegro Progress Report which says in the Chapter 10, addressing the information society and media, that “a good level of legal alignment has been reached.”

Having in mind that freedom of expression is also protected at the public policies level, Mr Rutović concluded by pointing out the assessment from the latest European Commission’s report, which states that “promotion and enforcement of professional and ethical standards remains a challenge for most media.”