Vučinić: The National Security Agency must be depoliticized and reliable

"’The National Security Agency (ANB) must be depoliticized and reliable national institution’’, said its Director, Boro Vučinić, stating that significant changes have been introduced in the past few years.
Commenting on remarks that the security services still have at the important positions the cadre that is considered to be unreliable, Vučinić said that it would be useful for such arbitrary assessments and qualifications, regardless from whom they come, to be supported by concrete arguments, and more precisely put in a time frame.
‘’This is especially important due to the fact that some accusations have been levelled against people personally, as well as that the qualifications carry much weight if they affect a member of management, that is, a person from the management structure’’, said Vučinić in his interview to the MINA Agency.
According to him, in contrast to earlier period, when the states and politics were changed, and the goals were often undefined or blurred, today there is a strategic vision and clear goal - the path to NATO.
‘’That is why one cannot find himself/herself at any responsible position in the ANB if he/she doesn’t share the values of the Collective Security System’’, said Vučinić.
He said, also, that an adequate procedure would be immediately launched against any member of the Agency who, in any way, demonstrated the lack of professionalism, especially in terms of negligence in handling the classified information.
‘’The ANB must be depoliticized and reliable national institution in each of its professional segments, which is why any form of non-professionalism, negligence at work or unreliability should not be tolerated’’, said Vučinić.
As for the staff, he reiterated, as he said, significant changes that had been made in the past few years.
Vučinić said that apart from more experienced personnel in certain positions, also a number of young officers who imposed themselves with responsibility and commitment got a chance.
He announced that the ANB in the coming period would be intensively committed to improving the personnel capacities, training of personnel and development of human resources.
‘’However, such important institution, in addition to the affirmation of younger staff, to a certain extent, has to rely on both experience and expertise of professionals acquired through long standing execution of he responsible tasks in the Agency’’, said Vučinić.
He pointed out that, in previous period, a significant number of members of the Agency had used the legal benefits associated with retirement and left the ANB.

Vučinić said that, as a part of the overall reform process, in order to further strengthening and planned development of its personnel capacities, the ANB had established a separate organizational unit responsible for human resources management and further modernization of the Agency in this regard.
‘’The need for engagement of a new, primarily young highly-educated staff, has been defined as one of the key priorities’’, said Vučinić.
He is, as he pointed out, satisfied with the expressed interest of the very category of persons in employment within the ANB.
‘’Namely, upon recent activation of a new web portal, through a permanently open application for potential candidates for employment, the ANB has received over 300 applications and CVs. Diversity and quality of educational background as well as the expressed enthusiasm and motivation of the candidates give pleasure’’, said Vučinić.
He said that all submitted applications and supporting documents would be included in the register of potential candidates for the job, adding that they would be taken into consideration in accordance with the future ANB human resources demands.
‘’In this regard, I believe that the Government will soon provide a support in allocation of funds for the engagement of a number of interested candidates’’, said Vučinić.

Speaking about the necessary reforms of the security services, he said that Montenegro, guided by its strategic commitment, besides the challenges and threats on the national and regional level, shared challenges and threats to the NATO member states, which, he said, demanded a reformed ANB that would represent one of the Collective Security System links.
‘’In this context, it is logically raised issue of the reform of the security services, by our partners, as well as by domestic political and general public. We also identified it as a top priority institutional obligation, which we are committed to on a daily base’’, he claimed.
As he said, given that the partnership is a relationship in which both parties seek the same standards and qualities as a prerequisite for good relations, the ANB has intensified cooperation with the NATO member state services, and every reform step was made after consultations with NATO partners.
‘’A lot of things we do together, because only in that way we can build the relations based on full confidence. The issue is of crucial importance, which is why we are pleased with the achieved level of partner cooperation, as well as the assessments we receive from partners on progress in the reform process in the ANB. Of course, the reforms are an ongoing process, and there are still many reform challenges ahead’’, said Vučinić.

The reform process, he says, continues in all segments, including the normative one, in full cooperation with the partners, although the ANB, he says, is already, to the largest extent, compatible with modern Security Systems.
‘’Within efforts on creating legal prerequisites, during 2012 and 2013, 22 by-laws and general acts and ten books of rules in the field of the financial management and control were adopted, thus creating conditions for the entire implementation of the laws and the legality of the procedure, as well’’, said Vučinić.
He said that the work on amendments to the Law on the ANB was initiated because such a necessity had emerged from the experience during the past implementation and the commitment in achieving the standards of the Collective Security System.
‘’In 2013, a new Book of Rules on the organization and the systematization in the ANB was adopted, in the preparation of which, the most applicable experiences of the NATO member state partner services were used. It was just one of preconditions for a fast harmonization to the Collective Security System’’, said Vučinić.
According to him, in the context of both the national and regional challenges, Montenegro, as the country which shares the values of the Alliance, has identified the security risks and threats to the Allies as its security interest, and, accordingly, defined the structure of its institutional organization.