Centre for Civic Education (CCE) analysed publicly available information on the educational backgrounds of members of the Government of Montenegro and members of the Parliament of Montenegro, identifying numerous gaps and shortcomings in their official biographies. In many cases, essential information that would allow the public to verify the educational qualifications presented by holders of the country’s highest public offices is missing.
Elected and appointed public officials have highly diverse educational backgrounds, ranging from doctoral and master’s degrees to undergraduate qualifications. However, there are also cases in which biographies do not specify where a particular qualification was obtained or whether studies that were started were ever completed. Almost two thirds of Members of Parliament publicly list undergraduate studies as their highest completed level of education, while the Government has a higher proportion of members holding master’s and doctoral degrees.
Montenegrin legislation does not require higher education as a qualification for serving as a Member of Parliament, a minister or the Prime Minister. The composition of Parliament reflects the outcome of elections, while the Government is formed through political appointments, and educational attainment is not a legal criterion for holding office. Nevertheless, the public must have access to complete, accurate and verifiable biographies of those entrusted with making decisions of public importance.
Government Reshuffle Changed the Composition, but Not the Practice
From its formation until the latest reshuffle, the 44th Government of Montenegro included a total of 41 members: 29 members of the original cabinet, eight ministers who were subsequently dismissed, and four new members appointed by Parliament on 23 July 2026.
The current Government consists of 33 members. Although the reshuffle somewhat reduced the number of unknowns regarding the educational backgrounds of members of the executive branch, it did not resolve the broader problem of transparency. Moreover, the fact that the biographies of some newly appointed ministers were not even made available to Members of Parliament before the confirmation vote demonstrates the absence of a systematic approach to publishing basic information about candidates for the country’s highest public offices.
Of the 33 members of the current Government, nine hold a master’s degree as their highest completed level of education: Milojko Spajić, Aleksa Bečić, Ervin Ibrahimović, Momo Koprivica, Novica Vuković, Marash Dukaj, Simonida Kordić, Bojan Božović and Admir Šahmanović. Three hold an academic doctoral degree (PhD): Budimir Aleksić, Filip Ivanović and Anđela Jakšić Stojanović. At the same time, Vojislav Šimun, Tamara Vujović and Jelena Borovinić Bojović hold the professional title of Doctor of Medicine (MD), obtained upon completion of integrated medical studies, which should not be equated with an academic doctoral degree (PhD). Šimun and Borovinić Bojović are currently enrolled in doctoral studies but have not yet completed them.
Six members of the Government have completed specialist or other postgraduate studies without obtaining an academic degree at that level: Damjan Ćulafić, Majda Adžović, Fatmir Gjeka, Maida Gorčević, Ernad Suljević and Milutin Butorović.
Ten members have completed undergraduate studies, with no higher level of education publicly reported: Dragan Krapović, Danilo Šaranović, Naida Nišić, Damir Gutić, Filip Radulović, Slaven Radunović, Mirsad Azemović, Radoš Zečević, Zoran Jojić and Jovan Vučurović.
Two cases fall outside these categories. Nik Gjeloshaj, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Minister of Economic Development, completed a Higher School of Pedagogy, which formally represents a lower level of education than a university degree. The biography of Vladimir Joković, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, states only that he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Montenegro, without indicating whether he completed his studies.
For four of the 33 Government members (12.1%), biographies specify an academic title or educational profile but do not indicate the higher education institution where the qualification was obtained. These are Naida Nišić, Slaven Radunović, Admir Šahmanović and Majda Adžović.
Compared with the composition of the Government prior to the reshuffle, the share of members whose biographies do not publicly identify the higher education institution they attended decreased from 16.2% to 12.1%. Maja Vukićević, whose biography did not specify the faculty she attended, was replaced by Radoš Zečević, whose biography states that he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro. Dragoslav Šćekić, whose biography likewise omitted the name of his faculty, was succeeded by Zoran Jojić, whose biography identifies the Faculty of Physical Education in Priština. Srđan Pavićević, a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine in Niš, was replaced by Jelena Borovinić Bojović, whose biography includes information on her completed university degree, medical specialisation and ongoing doctoral studies.
Almost Every Fifth MP Has No Publicly Available Information on Their Faculty
The analysis also covered 98 MPs who have held a parliamentary mandate during the current legislature, including those whose mandates have since ended. Information confirming some form of higher education qualification was found for 96 individuals, while no information on either their qualification or the institution attended was available in the publicly accessible biographies of Mirko Đukić and Vesko Delić.
Of the 81 current MP, 16 (almost one in five) have biographies published on the Parliament’s website that do not specify the faculty where they obtained their publicly presented qualification. These are: Anđela Vojinović, Artan Çobi, Bogdan Božović, Boris Bogdanović, Danijel Živković, Darko Dragović, Dejan Đurović, Dražen Petrić, Jelena Kljajević, Mehmed Zenka, Nermin Abdić, Nikola Rakočević, Nikola Rovčanin, Oskar Huter, Slađana Kaluđerović and Vaso Obradović. In some cases, information about educational qualifications could only be found on political party websites or in media reports, despite being absent from the Parliament’s official website.
According to publicly available information, among the 81 current MP, nine hold an academic doctoral degree (PhD) (Aleksandra Despotović, Dejan Đurović, Dritan Abazović, Nikola Milović, Vladimir Bakrač, Ivan Vuković, Elvir Zvrko, Ilir Çapuni and Uglješa Urošević), 19 have completed master’s, specialist or equivalent postgraduate studies, while 53 publicly list undergraduate or integrated university studies as their highest completed level of education, including six holders of the professional title of Doctor of Medicine (MD). This analysis also includes Jovan Vučurović, who has since been appointed a minister after previously serving as a MP.
For six MPs whose mandates ended shortly after being confirmed (Nihad Canović, Mirko Đukić, Milutin Đukanović, Stevan Katić, Tihomir Dragaš and Vesko Delić), the Parliament’s website contains no information about their educational background. The short duration of their mandates cannot justify the absence of institutional records; rather, it points to the lack of a systematic requirement to publish complete biographies either upon nomination or immediately after assuming office.
Education Is Not a Requirement – Transparency Is
Neither the Constitution of Montenegro, the country’s electoral legislation, nor the regulations governing the work of the Government prescribe any specific level of education as a formal requirement for election or appointment as a Member of Parliament, minister or Prime Minister. The issue, therefore, is not the level of formal education held by public officials, but rather the fact that, in a significant number of cases, the public is unable to verify where the qualifications presented in their official biographies were obtained.
Taken together, the findings show that the public cannot fully verify the educational background of more than 17% of holders of the country’s highest public offices—or slightly more than one in every six officials. Such a practice is inconsistent with the principles of public accountability and with citizens’ right to access complete and verifiable information about those holding the highest public offices.
More than a year ago, CCE submitted an initiative to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation proposing the mandatory public disclosure of information on the higher education institutions from which members of the Government and Members of Parliament obtained their degrees. The Ministry has not responded. In the meantime, Members of Parliament Uglješa Urošević of the Europe Now Movement (PES) and Ivan Vuković of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) publicly launched an initiative calling on MPs to publish their diplomas. CCE welcomed this initiative, but it has likewise remained limited in scope and has not developed into a systemic solution.
CCE proposes the establishment of a single, publicly accessible and easily searchable database of biographies of public officials. Parliament and the Government should standardise the format in which biographies of elected and appointed officials are published by requiring the disclosure of academic qualifications, faculty, university and the year in which the degree was obtained, while ensuring that these records are regularly updated following every change in their composition.
Trust in public institutions begins with transparency. If the public cannot verify even the most basic information contained in the biographies of the country’s highest public officials, it is difficult to expect full confidence in the accountability of the institutions they represent.
Snežana Kaluđerović, Senior Legal Advisor