An analysis of the materials from the sessions of the 44th Government of Montenegro, covering the period from the start of its mandate (31 October 2023) until 1 January 2025, shows that out of 2,973 agenda items considered, 118—or 4%—were classified in such a way that even the titles and types of materials discussed and decided upon were concealed.
According to our information, the materials discussed in secrecy relate to personnel matters, budget management, information on contracts, current issues, and other topics. Therefore, it is unclear how disclosing the titles of these agenda items could cause “serious harmful consequences for the security and interests of the state or detrimental effects on the functioning of public authorities,” which are the legal grounds for assigning the classifications “internal” or “secret.”
We remind the public that successive governments—both before and after 2020—have rejected our initiative to amend the Decision on the Publication of Materials from the Sessions of the Government of Montenegro in order to make it mandatory to publish the full agendas and minutes of government sessions and those of its working bodies (commissions). The previous Government, near the end of its term, introduced an informal practice of publishing the titles of classified agenda items. However, as this was done without changes to systemic regulations, the current Government abandoned the practice immediately upon taking office.
Some documents are marked as “internal,” while others are classified as “secret,” meaning their confidentiality expires after 2 and 15 years, respectively. It is not publicly known whether the legal obligation to form a commission—tasked with periodically reviewing the level of data classification, and deciding whether to amend, extend, or lift it—has been fulfilled.
This question is relevant both for materials declared secret by the current Government and for those classified by previous governments.
Nikolina Radonjić
Institut alternativa