The Parliament of Montenegro once again took the leading position in the regional Openness Index, which analyzes the degree of openness of parliaments towards citizens and society, through four principles: transparency, accessibility, integrity and efficiency.
The Montenegrin Parliament announced that, according to the results of a recently published survey for 2025/2026, it ranks first with 82,26 percent fulfillment of a total of 109 indicators. It is followed by the Assembly of North Macedonia with 76,04 percent, then the Assembly of Serbia with 59,42 percent, while the average result for the state parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 58,49 percent.
Secretary General of the Parliament Boban Stanišić expressed his satisfaction with the continuously high results achieved by the Montenegrin Parliament during the ten cycles of monitoring the openness and transparency of the work of the Parliament, which are carried out by the non-governmental sector.
He particularly emphasized the importance of the achieved result in the context of “the intense dynamics of the parliament’s work, marked by increased legislative activity and the harmonization of domestic legislation with the acquis communautaire.” As he stated, despite the increasingly demanding pace of work in the final phase of accession negotiations, with a special focus on closing the remaining negotiation chapters, the Parliament still maintains the status of the most open parliament in the region.
Stanišić emphasized the Parliament’s commitment to continuously improving platforms for more active citizen participation in democratic processes, developing digital tools that further facilitate access to parliamentary information, as well as strengthening communication and cooperation with various social groups, with a special focus on youth.
He particularly referred to the aspect of the research that indicates that the Parliament of Montenegro is significantly ahead in the availability of information in certain segments of its work. This, as announced, is particularly reflected in the wide range of publicly available data, including information in the field of finance, whereby the Parliament “confirms its commitment to transparency and further strengthening citizens’ trust in the work of the parliament.”
The Index principles are developed through quantitative and qualitative indicators, which are assessed based on the availability of information on the institution’s website, information searches in other public information sources, analysis of the legal framework, as well as the institution’s response to requests for free access to information and questionnaires.
The Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) within the regional network of non-governmental organizations ACTION SEE conducts annual research on the openness of executive and legislative institutions in the Western Balkans, as part of a project supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The research is conducted through the Regional Openness Index, which determines the extent to which authorities in Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina make information in their field of work publicly available.
