Podgorica, (MINA) – Several NGOs have requested that the draft laws on the National Security Agency (ANB) and on internal affairs be removed from the agenda of the extraordinary session of the Parliament, until the European Commission (EC) issues its opinion and the proposals are fully aligned with European and international standards.

In the press release, submitted to the media by the Human Rights Action (HRA), the NGOs stated that they were protesting the decision of the Government and the Parliament to keep the draft laws on ANB and on internal affairs on the agenda of the second extraordinary session, although the EC has not yet issued an opinion on the proposed legislations. 

The NGO recalled that Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorcevic announced that the proposals of those laws would be considered and adopted only after receiving opinions and completing consultations with the EC, in line with the prescribed procedure.

They requested that the proposals be urgently removed from the agenda until the EC’s final opinion is obtained, as well as until they are fully harmonized with European and international standards in the field of human rights, rule of law and democratic supervision of the security sector.

The NGO warned that keeping those drafts on the agenda represents a gross violation of the principle of transparency of the legislative process and deliberate ignoring of the domestic and international public.

Those drafts, the NGOs emphasized, are not necessary for Montenegro’s EU accession process.

They recalled that the proposed laws had already been withdrawn from the procedure followingstrong public reaction, with a promise that the process would be improved and that the public and international partners would be involved in the development of solutions.