RSF: Montenegro advances three places, government tries to influence RTCG's independence

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

Montenegro is striving to join the European Union, and the ruling coalition, which took power in 2023, has harmonized national legislation with European standards.

"However, suspicions have resurfaced that the government is trying to influence the independence of the Public Service Broadcaster - RTCG. The parliamentary majority has adopted a new law that allows the Director General of the Public Service Broadcaster to remain in that position, despite multiple court decisions declaring his election illegal," reads the accompanying report for Montenegro in the World Press Freedom Index for 2025, published by the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on the occasion of May 3 - World Press Freedom Day.

Montenegro has advanced three positions in the index, and is now in 37th place out of 180 countries in the world. A year earlier, it was in 40th place. Media freedom in Montenegro is in the yellow zone - satisfactory in the latest RSF report.

When it comes to countries in the region, the best ranked are Slovenia (33), North Macedonia (42), Croatia (60). They are followed by Albania (80), Bosnia and Herzegovina (86) and Serbia (96).

The report highlights concerns that “foreign owners of some media outlets could influence editorial policy in favor of the interests of other countries, such as Serbia, and their political actors.”

“Montenegro’s constitution and laws guarantee freedom of speech and expression, but media freedom remains threatened by political pressures, unresolved attacks on journalists, and economic pressures,” RSF said.

Despite its small population, the report says, Montenegro has dozens of registered media outlets, including several daily newspapers, national private and public television channels, and one news agency.

“Three out of five television networks with national coverage are partly or fully foreign-owned, mostly by companies from neighboring Serbia.”

RSF also points out that, as the main advertiser, the state has for decades channeled most of its funds to “loyal” media outlets.

"While the state primarily finances RTCG and local public broadcasters, private media are largely dependent on the influence of advertisers and an unstable market. In response to the serious economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the media sector, which are further aggravated by the challenges of a small market, the government introduced new legal measures in 2024 to strengthen the fund for supporting journalism in the public interest," the report says.

It also states that Montenegrin society is characterized by deep ethnic, religious and political divisions, as well as an authoritarian political culture inherited from the past. "In such an environment, the media are often accused of working for foreign interests and of betraying the nation or the church," it specifies.

RSF also emphasizes that "almost all crimes against journalists from recent years have been resolved, but many older cases remain unsolved."

"This is the case with the murder of newspaper editor-in-chief Duško Jovanović in 2004 and the attempted murder of investigative journalist Olivera Lakić in 2018. Journalists are regularly targeted by smear campaigns instigated by politicians from both the government and the opposition," the report concluded.