Montenegro was rated as third in the region in the Journalists’ Safety Index, with a score of 3.40, after North Macedonia (3.95), and Croatia (3.73). Compared to the previous year, the rating for Montenegro is significantly lower (down from 3.59), primarily due to the record number of attacks on journalists. This was explained at the presentation of the Journalist Safety Index of Montenegro for 2021, which was held at Europe House as part of the panel on “The Role of Independent Media in a Democratic Society” organised by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Podgorica.

The Western Balkan Journalist Safety Index is a mechanism that measures and monitors changes in the social and political environments that have a direct or indirect impact on the safety of journalists and media professionals while carrying out their profession, and consists of four separate units that reflect the overall picture of journalist safety. Montenegro received the worst ratings in the Real Security category, which also recorded the biggest drop in rating from 3.58 to 3.20 for 2021. The record number of attacks, threats, and pressures on journalists contributed most significantly to this.