On 6 and 7 July 2026, a delegation of the Venice Commission and the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity (DGII) of the Council of Europe conducted a visit to Podgorica, Montenegro, in the framework of the preparation of the Joint Opinion on the draft amendments to the law on minority rights and freedoms. The Opinion was requested by Mr Fatmir Gjeka, Minister of Human and Minority Rights of Montenegro.

The delegation of the Venice Commission had exchanges of views with the Minister of Human and Minority Rights, as well as with representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Media, the Parliamentary Majority and Opposition, the Minority Councils, the Ombudsman, the Centre for Preservation and Development of Minority Cultures, the Fund for Protection and Development of Minority Rights, academia, civil society organisations as well as the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro.

The draft Joint Opinion is being prepared under the Expertise Co-operation Mechanism in the framework of the EU/CoE joint programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye, co-funded by the Council of Europe and the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe.

The draft Opinion will be submitted for adoption at the October Plenary Session of the Venice Commission (9-10 October 2026).