– Dirk Lange, Head of the Unit for Montenegro in the Directorate General for Enlargement of the EU
– Yolanda Valassopoulou, political desk for Montenegro
– Angela Longo and Sonja Dies, a unit for Montenegro, the area of rule of law
– Wolfganf Nozar, progress reports, the Directorate General for Enlargement of the EU
– Sabine Zweanepoel, chapters 23 and 24, the Directorate General for Enlargement of the EU
– Liane Adler, NIS Project Directorate-General for Enlargement of the EU
– Nicola Bertolini and Henk Visser, Department for Civil Society, Directorate-General for Enlargement of the EU
The letter was sent also to the EU Ambassador in Montenegro, Mitja Drobnic and Charls Tank, Main reporter of the European Parliament for Montenegro.
The content of the letter:
Transparency International (TI) appears before you to express its deep concern over the last filthy campaign against civil society activists, Vanja Calovic, Executive Director of MANS, which is our partner organization, but also because of the situation of civil society in the country.
Last smear campaign is again an attempt to jeopardize credibility of Calovic through the fabricated videos and judicial processes. This campaign is matching with the publication of the final report of MANS on elections which were held in May, and recently published the results of an investigation about troubling connections between organized crime, Government’s institutions and commercial banks in Montenegro.
Furthermore, the nature of the filthy campaign indicates a particularly cruel effort to silence and intimidate a prominent civil society activist. On several occasions, and the last time in June of this year, Transparency International addressed the Government of Montenegro and other relevant actors demanding an effort to be made to protect the environment in which work the civil society organizations that fight against corruption, but also to allow them to work without fear and intimidation.
However, intimidation has further intensified, and by dirty attacks deny the fundamental right to human dignity to Calovic, which formally is protected by Article 28 of the Constitution of Montenegro.
Transparency International thoroughly supports the important work of our partners from Montenegro and condemns latest shocking smear campaign against Vanja Calovic. In this regard, we ask you to take decisive action and that, on behalf of the European Union, remind the Government of Montenegro that a safe environment for civil society is a critical element for the future member of the European Union. The organizers of this public attack should be investigated and brought to justice.
Sincerely,
Anne Koch
Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia
