The report of the European Commission on the progress of Montenegro for 2020 showed that there are reasons for concern because Montenegro did not achieve the expected and significant, but mostly limited, progress. This report shows that in the period under analysis, our institutions have still not managed to face the biggest problems in chapters 23 and 24. For this reason, we see that many assessments are similar to those from the previous report.

The problems of electoral legislation reform and judicial reform remained the main obstacles to progress in the negotiations.

Although it is stated that the State Election Commission respected the deadlines and worked transparently, as well as that the elections were competitive, we should not forget the recommendation that a decisive dialogue should be conducted for the reform of election laws. More precisely, political parties must show responsibility at this very moment, not allowing a positive assessment of the competitiveness of the electoral process to be a reason to forget about serious deficiencies in the current legislation. Accordingly, we expect the President of the Assembly to initiate the formation of a new working group that will deal with the comprehensive reform of electoral legislation. Also, it is necessary to carefully consider the statement that identity and religious issues played an important role in the election process. This is especially important because the aforementioned statement was made in a negative context.

Judicial reform remains an unfinished process, and at the same time, the repeated assessment that there is political influence on the judiciary is worrying. Also, it should be noted that there is no political will to elect members of the Judicial Council from the ranks of eminent lawyers, as well as the Supreme State Prosecutor, by a two-thirds or three-fifths majority in the Parliament of Montenegro. This part of the report states one of the most important messages of the European Commission, namely that there is a lack of political dialogue in Montenegro. According to the above, the exit from acting status at the top of the judiciary remains a big challenge for the new composition of the Assembly, and the statement of its leader that the Assembly will position itself in a way to successfully respond to this task is encouraging.

Also, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption must face a negative reputation and ensure integrity and responsibility, which will be a demanding task for the Agency's bodies and the newly elected director.

In addition to the reasons for concern, which make up the majority of the report, there are also certain reasons for optimism. Namely, the general score (3.18) is the highest in the last four years, and in addition, progress was registered in the field of human rights, which was achieved through the adoption of new laws and the strengthening of institutions. The importance of the adoption of the Law on Life Partnership of Persons of the same sex was particularly highlighted, as was the fact that Montenegro is the only country in the region that has regulated the status of same-sex couples. However, all this is not enough for a country that has a notable position among candidate countries for joining the European Union.

Ivan VUKCEVIC, program director of the Centre for Monitoring and Research CeMI