Charles Tannock

The European Parliament is to debate freedom of the media in Montenegro on Thursday amid concern that the media community is highly divided and that attacks on journalists remain unsolved.

Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee will debate a draft resolution on Montenegro, which also notes that journalists are poorly paid and that jobs are insecure.

Parliament's Security and Defence Committee on Monday uged the National Security Agency to continue to keep track of Islamic extremism and radicalism in the light of the activities of the Islamic State in Balkans.

The European Parliament, joined by the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, on Tuesday debated reform efforts made by Montenegro last year as a candidate country for EU membership.

The resolution called on Montenegro to tackle corruption and organised crime, as well as improve media freedom.

The US ambassador in Podgorica, Margaret Ann Uyehara, on Monday praised the efforts of Montenegro to curb violent extremists but urged MPs to speedily adopt amendments to the criminal code, penalising participation in foreign battles.