Brussels, 4 April 2023
The EU congratulates Jakov Milatovic on his election as new President and looks forward to working with all political stakeholders to help Montenegro stay firmly on the EU strategic path. Building consensus on priority actions that are key to the country’s EU accession progress, focusing on the urgent rule of law reforms outlined by the European Commission in the latest Enlargement report are crucial to this end. We stand ready to continue to support Montenegro in moving towards EU membership. Political stability is key for advancing on the path towards the EU, a process that delivers benefits for both Montenegro and to Europe as a whole.
The joint election observation mission from the OSCE/ODIHR, the European Parliament, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe characterised the election as competitive and overall adequately managed. In the light of their preliminary findings they assessed that fundamental freedoms were respected in the campaign. However, the legal electoral framework has numerous gaps and ambiguities that undermine its effectiveness and, therefore, a thorough revision is called for to address all pending issues, most notably campaign finance regulations that allow for circumvention of obligations, limiting accountability.
Additionally, in its preliminary assessment, the OSCE/ODIHR mission noted that the two presidential candidates had equal access to the public media, but also pointed to concerns about the media outlets remaining highly vulnerable to internal and external influence from corporate and political interests. These concerns should be addressed as soon as possible as the country is preparing for the general elections, to ensure transparency and accountability, and to avoid legal uncertainty.
Source – EEAS