Podgorica, (MINA) – Presidents of Montenegro have awarded a total of 200 state honors over the past 20 years, while there are still no clearly defined rules on award nominations, the criteria used to assess candidates and merits on which awards are granted.

These are the findings of the publication issued by the Center for Civic Education (CGO) “High Awards, Unclear Rules – State Awards in Montenegro 2006-2026”, authored by Aleksandra Mihaljevic.

CGO said that during his two and a half terms in office, former president Filip Vujanovic awarded 110 state honors, former president Milo Djukanovic awarded 48 in one term, while current President Jakov Milatovic has awarded 42 so far.

Milica Borozan, CGO project assistant, stated in a press release that the key issue is not who was awarded the state honors or how many have been awarded, but rather the fact that the procedure for awarding them is not sufficiently regulated.

“Although the president of the state exercises this authority in line with the Law on State Awards and Recognitions, the current regulations do not define who can nominate candidates, according to which criteria their merits are assessed, nor the president is required to explain his decisions”, the press release said.

The analysis identifies three key shortcomings of the system: no clearly defined criteria for assessing the merits of candidates, lack of regulated nomination procedure, and lack of obligation to explain the decisions on awarding state honors.