Montenegro becomes member of European Audiovisual Observatory

by Vladan Petkovic

14/06/2012 - The Strasbourg-based agency European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe, analyses and regulates audiovisual industries and provides market and legal information. The membership of Montenegro means that information on this country’s media industries will now be made available to European professionals and decision-makers via the Observatory’s’ information services.

Montenegro will be represented within the Observatory’s Executive Council by Ms Jadranka Vojvodić, deputy director in the Agency for Electronic Media of Montenegro. Vojvodic said that she was “delighted that Montenegro became part of the Observatory’s network of countries exchanging information on their audiovisual industries". Wolfgang Closs, executive director of the Observatory, stated that Montenegrin media professionals would also benefit from “clearer information about the markets and legal situation in potential partner countries for their work”. Closs concluded that, in its 20th anniversary year, the Observatory is “broadening its horizons” in order to supply facts and figures on an even greater number of countries.

The news comes in the moment when the small Balkan country, with about 600,000 inhabitants, is under strong scrutiny of official European bodies due to recently revealed legal and financial scandals regarding the political influence of the family of long-time Prime Minister Milo Djukanović. It is widely considered that Djukanović still rules the country in all practical matters, although he stepped off from the PM position in 2010.

Currently, Montenegro has only 18 theatrical screens, with exhibitors working through Serbian distributors, and has produced three feature films in the past two years.