STATUS OF MONTENEGRO'S NATO-RELATED REFORMS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PODGORICA 000265 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/RPM AND EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MW SUBJECT: STATUS OF MONTENEGRO'S NATO-RELATED REFORMS REF: (A) PODGORICA 240 (B) PODGORICA 251 (C) PODGORICA 254 (D) STATE 83856 PODGORICA 00000265 001.2 OF 002 REF:(A) PODGORICA 240 (B) PODGORICA 251 (C) PODGORICA 254, (D) STATE 83856 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The GoM has continued to make progress on fulfilling the USG's NATO-related priorities (Ref D). Most significantly, the Parliament recently passed two acts -- a resolution endorsing Montenegro's policy of integration with the Euro-Atlantic community and a law authorizing deployments to international peacekeeping missions. Among other steps forward, the GOM has finished work on a secure communication facility designed to comply with NATO standards and is continuing its campaign to boost public support and to strengthen judicial standards. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) The bilateral Montenegro - U.S. working group (Ref A and previous) met on 6 October to review progress towards NATO MAP. In the areas identified as the greater challenges (Ref A, Paragraph Four),Montenegro had positive developments to report. -- Plans for NATO partnership goals: The MoD has developed a matrix for all 32 activities planned between 2008 and 2010. The MoD is responsible for 26 of these, including five of the six scheduled for 2008. The five cover Organization of the Headquarters, Information Services for Headquarters and Command Center, Medical Support, Safe Electronic Email System, Building Staff Efficiency. MoD officials stated they are on track to meet these five goals this year. The sixth goal for 2008 falls under the purview of the Information Security Agency (see next item). Most of the goals for the remaining two years come under MoD, except four for the Border Police and one for Ministry of Interior. -- Data Protection and Information Security: Under the leadership of a new director, Savo Vucinic (no relation to the Minister),the Information Security Agency completed construction of its secure communication and storage facility within the MoD. Vucinic transmitted to NATO Headquarters a formal request for NATO certification of the facility, and NATO's final inspection is scheduled for 12-14 November. At the outset, MoD expects to have the necessary clearances and training for five of its staff, rising to a total of 14 by late ¶2009. �A; -- Rule of Law: In a separate meeting, Ministry of Justice officials told us that the GoM has fulfilled the 2008 goals in its Action Plan for judicial reform. The MoJ highlighted legislation to de-politicize selection of judges and prosecutors, and to this end a judicial council began functioning in early 2008 to monitor standards and impartiality. The GoM has also adopted a code of ethics for government officials and is soon presenting to the Parliament stronger conflict of interest legislation mandating dismissal and/or fines for violations. In a major change to the criminal justice system, the MoJ also expects to submit to the Parliament a revised Criminal Procedure Code strengthening its prosecutor-led adversarial trial system. The MoJ stressed that all five of Montenegro's major war crimes cases are now out of the investigation phase and in the courts. Officials also highlighted revisions to the Criminal Code to cover Montenegrin military personnel in peacekeeping missions. -- Public Support: The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff reviewed activities by the Coordination Team for the "Implementation of the Communications Strategy on Euro-Atlantic Integrations". The GoM has already completed several planned initiatives targeting specific groups, such as journalists, academics and local politicians. To engage mass audiences (an area earlier neglected),it has begun airing documentaries about NATO on state-run television, placed a PfP brochure in four daily newspapers and redesigned a public website on NATO. The GoM likewise plans to contract an outside PR firm to help beef up its mass media campaign. GoM officials have also sought guidance from new member countries -- e.g. Poland, Lithuania and Croatia -- on how to build public support for membership. The televised parliamentary debate over the resolution endorsing PODGORICA 00000265 002.2 OF 002 Montenegro's path to NATO and the EU appears to herald a new, more intensive effort to woo public opinion (REF B). ¶3. (SBU) The GoM has stepped up the pace of its consultations with NATO on both military and civilian topics. Two of the GOM participants commented on an October 1 expert session related to economic issues, pointing out that NATO officials seemed to lack direct information about Montenegro. The GoM intends to address this by more frequent briefings and providing written materials, such as its various Action Plans for reforms. The GoM participants added that NATO officials had read a recent Transparency International report on Montenegro, but were not aware of the GoM Action Plan against corruption or reports by its anti-corruption commission. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: While our GoM interlocutors may have a point about lack of awareness in Brussels, they still have difficulty distilling their mass of data into succinct talking points. This is perhaps most important for the rule of law, the area in which they must overcome the greatest international skepticism. To this end, it will be important that the GoM continue to show practical results. The GoM's success in pushing through Parliament two acts -- a resolution endorsing Montenegro's integration with the Euro-Atlantic community and a law authorizing participation in international peacekeeping missions (REF C) -- clearly reaffirmed the commitment of the Montenegrin leadership to a pro-NATO course. END COMMENT. MOORE