(Podgorica, 8 March 2013) – The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe recognized MANS’ work to date in investigating the abuse of state resources and authority during elections. For this reason, in cooperation with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, these organizations will continue to support our work in elections monitoring for 2013 as well.
Therefore, yesterday, MANS signed an agreement with these two organizations, which will assist us through the TRAIN 2013 program to investigate abuses of the state budget by public officials, as well as highlighting key problems in the implementation of existing laws relating to campaign financing. On this basis, MANS will prepare a set of recommendations for the improvement of the policies of practices of Montenegro’s electoral institutions.
We are extremely grateful to these institutions, as well as to the Government of Germany, for recognizing the importance of the struggle against political corruption, which remains one of the main obstacles in the process of negotiating Montenegro’s accession to the European Union. We believe that following the implementation of this project, the scope of abuses that are repeatedly marked during election campaigns in the country will be reduced.
We plan to implement this project throughout 2013, with the most important findings released to Montenegro’s public, state institutions, as well as the governments of EU member states, as well as international organizations, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and OSCE/ODIHR and others.
