Podgorica, (MINA) – Closing negotiation Chapters 23 and 24 by the end of the year will not be possible without concrete reforms in ​​the fight against corruption, said director general of the Directorate for Civil and Criminal Legislation at the Ministry of Justice, Jelena Grdinic.

Speaking at the round table “Chapter 23: Implementation of the Final Benchmark 2 – Fight Against Corruption”, organized by the Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), she said that Chapters 23 and 24 are the first to be opened and the last to be closed.

“We will certainly not close them without reforms concerning both prevention and the effective fight against corruption”, said Grdinić, who also heads the negotiating working group for Chapter 23.

Speaking about amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption, Grdinic recalled that work on the regulation began in 2024, after which the draft was submitted to the European Commission (EC) for an opinion, with the final assessment received at the beginning of this year.

Grdinic recalled that the deadline for adoption of the law is June 30, in order to allow time to monitor the initial results of its implementation before closing the chapter.

Referring to the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, she stated that it is necessary to further analyze its compliance with international recommendations.

Grdinic stressed that all priority laws, after receiving a positive opinion from the EC, will be adopted under an urgent procedure and immediately forwarded to the Parliament.

Nemanja Stankov of CeMI stated that the EU negotiation process is essentially based on progress in Chapters 23 and 24, adding that full membership cannot be achieved without measurable results in those areas.

He pointed to the issue of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) operating without a full-time director for more than a year and a half.

Stankov said that another key task is ensuring balance of results in the fight against corruption, especially in the work of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office and the courts.

Acting ASK director Dusan Drakic said that fulfilling obligations under Chapter 23 is based on three key dimensions: normative, institutional and operational.

In the normative sense, he stated that in the previous period significant progress has been made through changes to numerous laws, including the Law on Prevention of Corruption, the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns, as well as regulations concerning civil servants, the Government and free access to information.