It is necessary to emphasize the essence and not the form, plan less and do more, it was concluded at the opening of the final national conference "Let's place corruption in the museum", organized by the Center for Civic Education (CGO).

A more substantial and better balance of results in the fight against corruption at the local level is sought

The Minister of Public Administration, Suzana Pribilovic, pointed out that the fight against corruption at the local level is an important topic not only in the context of EU integration, but also, as she stated, in institutional maturation through the reform process, which strives to build a transparent and efficient public administration.

"And that is why it is important that we all recognize our role within the framework of our activities, whether it is the Government, the non-governmental sector or citizens. It is important for us as the Government to take a responsible approach to this problem and act proactively. The goal of our reform efforts is for the administration to be at the service of the citizens. I will remind you that through the adoption of the Law on Local Self-Governments, we emphasized the importance of the issue of integrity of local officials and employees, and on the other hand, through the adoption of the Integrity Plan, we created the conditions for preventing corrupt activities," explained Pribilovic.

She also emphasized the role of civil society.

"Non-governmental organizations greatly contribute to the development and monitoring of anti-corruption policies." In this sense, I would like to highlight the importance of your engagement and analytical approach to the various anti-corruption mechanisms applied by the institutions," she said.

The transparency of public administration is, as she said, the basis for the development of anti-corruption practices.

"Coordinated anti-corruption policies encourage public participation and reflect the principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, integrity and accountability." We are all responsible for the success of anti-corruption policies. We must promote successful practices even more loudly, and I believe that the results of the project "Put corruption in the museum" are one such example," said Pribilovic.

The Head of the Cooperation Sector of the EU Delegation in Montenegro, Herman Spitz, assessed that corruption is an insult and a betrayal of the fundamental political, economic and social values ​​of a community.

"Corruption has serious and widespread effects. Corruption undermines the rule of law, limits investment, weakens trust in the government and promotes the development of crime. That is why it is crucially important to fight corruption," said Spitz.

He recalled the assessments from the EC Report that Montenegro has reached a certain level of readiness in this area since the opening of negotiations, but that corruption remains, as he stated, an issue that causes concern, especially considering its spread in numerous areas.

"What we need are sustainable efforts, both in the prevention and repression of corruption, including more transparency in all areas of particular risk for the disease of corruption." The lack of capacity and control leaves room for abuse. And this is where greater citizen activism is valuable - not only to hold local authorities accountable, but to ensure the effectiveness of their policies and the overall progress of local communities," said Spitz.

He referred to the successes of the "Let's put corruption in the museum!" project, especially in the part of strengthening civil society organizations and their cooperation with competent institutions in the direction of a stronger response to corruption, but he also pointed to areas in which work still needs to be done, which are the responsibility institution.

"We are concerned about the small number of cases of judicial prosecution of corruption at the local level that have been initiated and processed." We expect more concrete results in the implementation of integrity plans, especially in the parts related to rational and merit-based employment at the local level. A more substantial and better balance of results in addressing corruption at the local level is needed," specified Spitz.

There is no alliance for either Montenegro or Europe without breaking with bad practices

The executive director of the Center for Civic Education (CGO), Daliborka Uljarevic, emphasized that the fight against corruption at the local level requires a continuous and layered approach.

As she explained, the effectiveness of the existing mechanisms was assessed by measuring the level of transparency of local self-governments, assessing the level of implementation of anti-corruption documents at the local level, analyzing the reports of the State Audit Institution, the results of the prosecution of corruption at the local level by prosecutors' offices and courts, as well as through direct experience. citizens of Montenegrin municipalities in an attempt to report corruption.

Uljarevic apostrophized the connection between further progress in the fight against corruption and the establishment of a functional government with political will.

"We need strong political will, responsible decision-makers at all levels and in all competent institutions who will be at the service of public and not party interest, efficient processing of all corrupt behavior with constant vigilance of civil society and active citizens." It is especially important that competent institutions at the national level - the Government, APC, Prosecutor's Office, SAI - have a non-selective approach towards all municipalities and officials and make maximum use of their powers. There is no alliance for either Montenegro or Europe if they do not break with bad practices whose focus is party, not public interest. Of course, breaking with such a practice implies painful cuts, but they are necessary in order to transform the system from one that feeds, hides and protects corruption into a system that works to discourage all those who choose the corrupt path, to discover, shame and prosecute them. Such a system would be the guarantor of a decent society and a sustainable alliance in the public interest, in which there would be no pop patriotic measurement of commitment to the state, because the state can only defend itself with strong institutions, laws that apply to everyone equally, responsible decision-makers and active citizens," Uljarevic concluded.

The executive director of the Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), Ana Nenezic, said that the key question is whether municipalities fight against corruption, how they do it and what mechanisms are available to them.

"Unfortunately, we cannot base this assessment on any official umbrella document. Earlier, we proposed that it is necessary to conduct a wider national analysis of the results of the application of all anti-corruption mechanisms at the local level, and then define one institution that will be dominantly responsible for the supervision and implementation of these policies. We also proposed that it should be APC, but that proposal, unfortunately, was not taken into serious consideration," explained Nenezic.

She assessed that neither the action plans for the fight against corruption at the local level, nor the integrity plans have yielded results so far.

"If we want to set up effective mechanisms for the prevention of corruption, in addition to the anti-corruption legislative and institutional framework, it is important to dedicatedly implement strategic documents and carry out continuous monitoring and assessment of the application of their impact." In order for this strategic framework and established mechanisms to produce results, we believe that this must be preceded by a comprehensive analysis of the situation, with a realistic risk assessment, which would be prepared in consultation with other relevant entities. In this way, we would have consolidated all the data into one national document with precisely defined and realistically achievable recommendations," explained Nenezic.

The most transparent Bijelo Polje and Podgorica

As part of the project Let's place corruption in a museum!, the transparency of local governments was measured and the Transparency Index of Montenegrin municipalities was created. Transparency was measured in six areas - the work of the local assembly, the budget, the fight against corruption through existing mechanisms, the general availability of information, public procurement, and public hearings and public tenders, using a total of 61 indicators. As the most transparent municipalities in 2019, the municipality of Bijelo Polje and the Capital City of Podgorica were awarded, and the awards were received by Petar Smolovic, President of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje and Djordje Suhih, President of the Municipal Assembly of the Capital City of Podgorica.

The project "Let's place corruption in a museum!", CGO implements in partnership with non-governmental organizations Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), Bonum from Pljevlja, UL-Info from Ulcinj and Za Druga from Petrovac, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration and the Agency for Prevention of corruption (APC), with financial support from the European Union and co-financing from the Ministry of Public Administration.