Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 16/02/2023
Due to the unstable political situation in Montenegro, numerous foreign officials have repeatedly expressed concern and called on the leaders to take sensible actions. Recently, this was done by the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, who is now credited with “taking it out on Montenegro”.
The IN4S web portal published an article with the following title:
The political bullying of the Brussels autocrats is not subsiding: Varhelyi demands early parliamentary elections in the spring
The article was also shared on their Facebook page and it is available here.
The article also points out that Varhelyi said this at the session of the European Commission in Strasbourg and adds that after such a “thoughtless bullying” he “should prescribe some more prescriptions, that is, ultimatums.”
By reading the content of Varhelyi’s statement, in which he points out that Montenegro has not progressed in the accession process for three years, we find that it is not true that he is demanding anything, which becomes clear from the following:
“The next step for Montenegro is to deliver in line with internal benchmarks related to the rule of law, Cluster number 1. Any progress is conditional on the delivery of those priorities. While I was coming here, I heard that the Parliament supposedly agreed and that four new members of the Constitutional Court will be nominated, and I hope that this will create the possibility to convene the elections as early as this spring. A strong majority in the Parliament should be brought through these elections. Montenegro clearly needs elections, and we need everybody needs to work for that,” Varhelyi said.
Varhelyi said this at the European Commission’s session, answering a question from the European Parliament rapporteur for Montenegro, Tonino Picula, which can be listened to at this link that features the complete 19-minute statement.
It is clear from it that Varhelyi is not demanding anything from Montenegro, but rather that he said what the leaders of our country should do on the path to the European Union if they want the country to achieve progress.
Because of this, the post by IN4S is rated as both fake news and clickbait.
The “Fake news” rating is given to an original media report (completely produced by the media that published it) that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be reliably determined to have been created and disseminated with
the intent to misinform the public, that is, to present a completely false claim as fact.
The “Clickbait” rating is given to a media report whose title has no grounds in the article that follows. Such articles and features aim to attract the attention of the consumer with a sensational title, promising content that does not actually. Such reports are mostly motivated by financial interest, i.e. to increase readership.
