10 July 2019 - Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanović made a national statement at the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London, sponsored by the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada, stressing that for the Government of Montenegro, freedom of the media is the basis of democratic life.
"All legal and institutional mechanisms, responsibility and trust the Government of Montenegro has among citizens are directed at establishing a society in which credible media affirm a credible public. We are committed to the prevalence of public interest over any particular, political or corporate one. In that regard, we learn from your best democratic practices and experiences, from your suggestions and good recommendations, because the struggle for the media freedom is ultimately the fight for the widest freedom of both the media and society," he said.
Minister Bogdanović recalled that the current normative environment in the regular annual reports of the European Commission noted on several occasions as "a good level of legal compliance". Ministry of Culture of Montenegro reported that he also reminded of the words of the Ambassador of Great Britain in Montenegro, who recently said that "Montenegrin press is the freest in the region and usually expresses a wide range of opinions".
"The Government of Montenegro, with the previous financial support activities and the envisaged measures of the future Fund for Pluralism of the Media, financial support for self-regulation and fostering public awareness of the importance of media literacy as a critical understanding of content analysis, wants to continuously encourage and promote the media as a controlling, social and critical corrective of all phenomena in society," Minister Bogdanović emphasised.
He pointed out that the obstacles facing Montenegro are not related to freedom of the media and freedom of expression, but to challenges of stronger implementation of the rule of law.
During his activities in London, Minister Bogdanović signed the Final Document on Media Freedom.
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