Statement by PM Abazović on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day

Prime Minister Dritan Abazović congratulated media workers on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, stating that the conditions in which they perform their jobs today are a consequence of a systemic problem that the State Department and the European Commission have warned about in their reports.

The democratic development of Montenegro is best illustrated by the situation in the media. The current results in the field of media freedom are not satisfactory. Therefore, the new government will advocate primarily for the implementation, but also for changing certain parts of the legislative framework that regulates the media, said Abazović.

The Prime Minister pointed out that far more serious institutional support is needed in solving the problems and needs of journalists, photojournalists, camera operators, as well as all other media workers. All subjects in the country must adequately respond to soft censorship, low level of media literacy, false news and misinformation that flourish in the media space. Having in mind the seriousness and responsibility that work in the media brings with it, the levels of salaries are very low, which results in violations of the Code of Ethics, lack of professionalism, non-existent self-regulation, etc. Although, essentially, we have no reason to celebrate, this day is an opportunity to show respect and gratitude to those media workers who do their job honorably and professionally.

Abazović said that journalism has often been the target of many criminal and obscure structures in Montenegro over the decades, reminding of some of unsolved cases such as the murder of Dan Editor-in-Chief Duško Jovanović, an assassination attempt on Vijesti journalist Olivera Lakić, attacks against investigative journalist Tufik Softić, arrest of investigative journalist Jovo Martinović, as well as frequent attacks against journalists and disrupting their work on field.

Everyday pressures and intimidation that journalists in Montenegro suffer, inadequate conditions in which they work, and about which they are silent, because, unfortunately, those things are mostly perceived as normal, lead only to an undemocratic society. Changing these conditions is something that the state of Montenegro, on its European path, must insist on. The priority of this Government is the European path, and while I am its Prime Minister, I will strive for media freedom to become our reality, and not the ideal we dream of and advocate once a year as mere rhetoric. Montenegro will be in the European community of nations, as a state of independent media, Abazović concluded.