Podgorica, (MINA) – For the fight against corruption, Montenegro needs a more proactive approach and cooperation between all relevant institutions at the national and local level, whereas the support of CSOs, media and citizens is a precondition for results in that area.
This was heard at the national conference organized within the project entitled “Let’s put corruption into museum”, hosted by the Center for Monitoring and Research (CEMI) and the Center for Civic Education (CGO).
Minister of Public Administration Suzana Pribilovic noted that integrity of local civil servants and government employees and the fight against corruption at the local level are the key qualities of the new approach in the functioning of local self-governments.
“In the local self-governments, in addition to legal, there are certain ethical rules and standards of conduct that are applicable to all public officials and local level employees,” Pribilovic noted.
CGO Executive Director Daliborka Uljarevic stated that corruption has far-reaching and complex effects on the society, both at the national and the local level.
“In order for local communities to be more efficient in tackling corruption, it is necessary to consider realistically, above all, the conditions and causes that give rise to corruption and to clearly map the areas that are most exposed to corruption,” Uljarevic noted.
She claimed that Montenegro does not have a comprehensive and realistic analysis of the situation in the anti-corruption institutions.
Head of the Coordination Section at the EU Delegation in Montenegro Hermann Spitz remarked that Montenegro has made certain progress in the fight against corruption, arguing that corruption if still present in many areas and remains ‘a cause for concern’.
He noted that local self-government is the administrative level that is closest to the citizens.
“Public accountability of decision makers in local self-governments is a precondition for efficient fight against corruption,” Spitz stated.
According to him local self-government should find innovative solutions and use modern management practices, following the principles of transparency and equal access.
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