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Montenegro PM vows visa restrictions on Russian travellers
In a wide-ranging interview with Euronews, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić talks about his country joining the EU by 2028 and the importance of aligning its foreign policy with Brussels.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/20/montenegro-pm-vows-visa-restrictions-on-russian-travellers
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In a wide-ranging interview with Euronews, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić talks about his country joining the EU by 2028 and the importance of aligning its foreign policy with Brussels.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/20/montenegro-pm-vows-visa-restrictions-on-russian-travellers
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the Europe Conversation. I'm Stefan Grobe.
00:12My guest today is Miloiko Spajic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro,
00:17the fourth youngest head of government in the world.
00:21So, youthful greetings, Prime Minister, to you.
00:24And thank you so much for coming on the program.
00:26Thank you so much for having me and congratulations on the great pronunciation of my name,
00:31which is not the easiest one to pronounce.
00:33So, thank you. Thank you for that.
00:36So, the European Commission considers Montenegro as the first ranked frontrunner among all the candidate countries.
00:44So, what's going to happen next? Can we chill the champagne?
00:48I mean, it's great to be called frontrunner, but it's much harder to attain that status, obviously.
00:55And, you know, many other countries are doing great.
00:58You know, we see that.
01:00And we are happy for that.
01:01And we are actually, you know, this is not a competition.
01:05We are really not in a zero-sum game.
01:08Here, all of us, Montenegro is obviously, has done the, you know,
01:13we open all the chapters.
01:15Now we are closing.
01:17We, you know, we are having IGCs and, like, keep closing and have a pretty nice tempo of temporary closing the chapters.
01:25So, I'm pretty happy how the things are going so far.
01:29We have a stable government.
01:30We have, you know, full focus on reforms.
01:34July was a fantastic month for us.
01:36Like, a couple of months now as well, we are, again, speeding up with the execution in the parliament,
01:41which is very important.
01:42So, you know, I'm pretty happy how things are standing now.
01:46Is there a date that you're eyeing?
01:49And if yes, what is it?
01:51So, we had this, we had this two nice taglines.
01:55One was 28 by 28, to be the 28th member of EU by 2028.
02:03And the second one was 26 chapters by 2026.
02:08So, that was back then.
02:10Now it's a little bit less.
02:11But we are gunning for closing all the chapters by end of next year.
02:15And I think we have a really, really great chance to have a new member state in the mandate of this European Commission.
02:26So, when you talk about enlargement, there are two dimensions to this issue.
02:30There are the technical criteria that you all fulfill.
02:36And then there is the political will.
02:39Sure.
02:39Now, so far, there hasn't been a decision yet when Montenegro will be accepted.
02:48Do you fear that there are still some powers at work here that could derail your accession to the EU?
02:57Powers that you have no control over?
03:00I think that the technical side, like when you first mentioned, is extremely important.
03:06So, never to be forgotten that we need to do our fair share of the tasks.
03:12And we have to be ready for the entrance.
03:15And it's in our own interest.
03:17It's in the interest of the whole union.
03:21Because, obviously, once we join the EU, we want to add value.
03:25We don't want to detract value.
03:27So, we want the EU to be richer with us then.
03:31And this is truly what we really believe in.
03:34So, with all the reforms that we are going to do, with the economic growth that we will see in the next couple of years,
03:42we think we'll be a great candidate.
03:45And, you know, we'll be somebody that the EU will be richer with.
03:50Secondly, obviously, political support is very, very important.
03:54We need all the 27 member states to feel, truly believe that it's in their national interest to see Montenegro as part of the EU.
04:04We need to convince them in that.
04:05And I think most of them, or I would say all of them, are more or less there.
04:10But we cannot relax.
04:12We have to be very, very focused on the great relations with all the 27 member states.
04:18Obviously, you know, like, there are member states that are a little bit more conservative towards the enlargement as a concept.
04:26So, we have to work very hard on those countries.
04:30They're the ones that are very focused on the rule of law.
04:32And, obviously, Balkan countries traditionally have been, you know, focused in terms of that.
04:40So, we have to do absolutely, you know, we've done a lot of reforms, as evidenced by the interim benchmarks last year.
04:46And as chapter five that we close this year, that's one of the fundamental chapters.
04:52But, again, this is just the beginning.
04:56We have to do a lot more.
04:57We have to showcase that we are doing a great job in terms of rule of law.
05:02There's big popular support in Montenegro for your country joining the EU.
05:07I think 80% or something of people in Montenegro want to join the EU.
05:13Do you fear that this level of support and excitement might decrease if the whole process keeps dragging on?
05:23I think that's a fair point.
05:26You know, that's a great question and fair point that you just made.
05:30And we see, historically, support for your accession of Montenegrins was always around 55-ish percent.
05:40There was a majority, but not a very strong majority.
05:43Until this government came in.
05:45So, since we came in and the optimism about the EU enlargement really took, you know, people felt it's really real this time.
05:56You know, we had a plethora of prime ministers who were coming out in front of people saying,
06:00Hey, you know, we are doing this for European integrations.
06:05We are politically trying to motivate the public administration to work hard, etc.
06:11But, you know, like public administration was not, at some point of time, was saying,
06:15Hey, this is like the people are changing and the same story is going on.
06:19But I think, finally, this time around, people really believe it's possible.
06:26Montenegro is a very diverse country, culturally, ethnically.
06:31At a time when diversity almost has become a negative connotation.
06:39I want to ask you, to what extent do you think this diversity in your country will be an asset for Europe?
06:50That's a great point.
06:52And, you know, with tolerance, with the culture of building consensus,
07:01with culture of looking at the future, not looking at the past,
07:06or at the culture of non-zero-sum gain.
07:09So, as I say, like win-win, you know, striving for win-win situations.
07:16Even countries that are as diverse as Montenegro, which is, in Europe,
07:21there is no other country without ethnic majority.
07:25We are probably the only ones.
07:27You know, Montenegrins, 40-something percent.
07:29Then we have Serbs at 30 percent.
07:31We have Bosniaks, close to 20 percent.
07:33We have other groups like Albanians and Croats in significant numbers.
07:37Most recently, the Ukrainians and a bit of Turks and others.
07:45So, these are like, you know, the people.
07:48We are a very, very diverse country.
07:51But we are proud of that.
07:53Let's assume that Montenegro will join the EU soon.
07:56Do you think this would have a galvanizing effect for the whole process in the Western Balkans?
08:01This is what I'm trying to say.
08:02And I think we can be a fantastic bridge and a big help to all of the other countries,
08:08you know, to not only speed up reforms, but also to politically help them
08:12and to translate a little bit, you know, sometimes, you know,
08:19difficulty to understand the Western Balkan circumstances.
08:23That, you know, obviously, for the culture or other reasons,
08:27you know, it's not always easy to understand the Western Balkans.
08:29So, Montenegro has adopted the euro as its currency since 2002, I believe.
08:35We actually did this with Deutschmark first.
08:40So, we got grandfathered into the euro zone.
08:42Wonderful.
08:43So, you have the euro, you have aligned Montenegro's foreign policy with the EU.
08:49That begs the question, is there any alternative for Montenegro?
08:54You know, like, I'm not even thinking, nobody's thinking about the alternatives.
08:57You know, EU members, full membership of the European Union is what we are gunning for,
09:03what we are up there for, and I think that's just a fair point.
09:08You know, we are surrounded by the European Union.
09:13We are, as you already said, we are already with CEPA now.
09:17Just recently, we have introduced CEPA to our system.
09:21Very soon, we'll have free roaming with the European Union countries.
09:26So, we are integrating in the single market at the extent unseen until now.
09:30So, we are looking at, you know, we just had the European fantastic conference held in Lushtica in Montenegro
09:38between European Union and Montenegro on the investments coming from EU.
09:45We are building our infrastructure using the EBRD, EIB, and other IFIs coming from Europe.
09:52So, we are really, truly integrating further and further with Europe, with political Europe, with EU.
10:00So, this is our goal.
10:02I want to follow up on this.
10:03Sure.
10:04Because you have been touting Montenegro's green, sustainable development and digital transformation.
10:13You've talked about investment.
10:16What is it that Montenegro brings to the table?
10:20And some observers say that Montenegro is always more progressive than some old EU members.
10:27You know, it depends on the...
10:29I wouldn't compare us to anybody else.
10:31It's kind of difficult to compare because we are really a small country, which has its benefits as well.
10:37And being a small country and a country that is not really burdened with these ethnic tensions or...
10:45So, this is a factor that basically relieves...
10:49And also, our income per capita is highest of all the candidate states.
10:53So, as we are seeing with our most recent census, we have seen a slight increase in population in the last 10 plus years.
11:03So, we are not likely to see big emigration or people living in Montenegro, but rather than actually some of the Central or Western Europeans might consider living in nice weather and, you know, in a country of relatively low taxes as compared to the other options.
11:22So, and the friendly system, nice food and, you know, so Montenegro is a place that I think, you know, many Europeans, obviously, and, you know, many Montenegrins, many Montenegrin kids will go to universities around Europe.
11:37And, you know, many people from our public administration might come to work in Brussels.
11:42So, as a part of EU, you know, there will be a labor movement.
11:46And I think Montenegro is unlikely to see a big number of people leaving the country.
11:52But going back to the point of the benefits of Montenegro joining, I think we can be a fantastic, really good bridge to the other candidate states.
12:01As through our ethnic fabric, through our understanding of the whole region, through our shared history and the culture and the values, I think we can really help bridge this gap that is sometimes existing.
12:18And also, I think what we also bring to the table is, as a small dynamic economy, is a country that can be seen as incubator of some of the more progressive ideas in terms of innovation.
12:36And it's not burdened with the old vested interests that some other, you know, big countries have.
12:41But, you know, we don't have as much developed these industries.
12:45So, it's naturally we are positioned, we have a very, you know, it's not that hard to change our legislation, etc.
12:54We are much more flexible on this.
12:56On something totally different.
12:57Sure.
12:58So, due to the wars in what used to be Yugoslavia, there is still a large stockpile of weapons in circulation in Montenegro.
13:07And together with Serbia, people own the most weapons in Europe, namely 39 per 100 inhabitants.
13:18And this is surpassed only by the United States and Yemen, which is, of course, in a civil war.
13:25How does this dangerous legacy influence society?
13:29And are you at odds with the rest of Europe on this?
13:34No, this is a great question.
13:36And this is what we were targeting this year, actually.
13:40So, it's the newest measures that we've actually had thousands of pieces of weapons of the people voluntarily returning.
13:49We have increased the penalties for holding weapons without the proper permits.
13:57We have made the permitting system very, very strict.
14:01So, I think the number that you just, that you took is probably from maybe three or four years ago.
14:08As of now, the number is at least at half of that.
14:11So, because of the really swift action we've taken in the last couple of years.
14:17So, I think definitely this is, there are some of the remnants of the past, but we are overcoming this.
14:26Another remnant of the past is travel of Russians to Europe.
14:32The EU has restricted visa travel from Russians to the EU.
14:38What about Montenegro?
14:39There are a lot of Russians who own property in Montenegro.
14:43There are a lot of Russians coming and visit.
14:46What's going to happen once you're a member of the club?
14:51We follow the European common foreign security policy to the 100% extent.
14:59So, as you have seen, and it's not only the current government.
15:02It's been like the last five governments or something for 13 years.
15:07And this is something that Montenegro is proud of and that we are constructive.
15:16Even before having membership status and membership benefits, we behave as a member state.
15:22So, we will fully align with the visa policies of the European Union and there's absolutely nothing, you know.
15:32Obviously, you know, we are a tourist country primarily.
15:35So, we are trying to get as many tourists from all kinds of places.
15:39The Russian tourists are actually not as numerous as they used to be before.
15:43The real estate holding that was maybe some 15, 20 years ago was way higher.
15:49Now, the Russians are just like one of the groups, including Germans, Italians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Albanians,
15:57and the other foreigners who are holding the real estate assets in Montenegro.
16:01So, it's much more diversified now and, you know, this is, we are not too worried about the trends.
16:09But obviously, as a tourist country, we are trying to have this policy.
16:18We are trying to have this policy, but of the as easy travel to Montenegro as possible.
16:25That said, we will fully align with all the visa policies of the European Union very soon.
16:31I have a personal question, if I may.
16:33Please.
16:34When you were, I was tempted to say young, but you are young.
16:38When you were younger, you studied in Japan and China.
16:42I wonder how that experience has shaped your thinking.
16:48You know, this is a question I don't get to be asked actually a lot, so thanks for that.
16:55You know, I studied undergrad in Japan for five years.
16:59And I was under the Japanese government scholarship called Monbu Kagakusho.
17:05And it was at the time when Japan was like second largest economy in the world,
17:09and Japan was a very, very significant partner to the United States and to Europe.
17:15And this is actually something that I would like to work on politically as well,
17:18to be sort of a bridge between Japan and the European Union in the future, amongst other things.
17:23I forgot to say that because of this cultural and other ties that I have with Japan.
17:32And, you know, I feel it's my, I can easily say, my second home.
17:35And I have a lot of friends in Japan.
17:37And I stayed there for five years.
17:40I was actually, and I was on an exchange in Tsinghua University in Beijing on learning Chinese language.
17:46So that's another, it was another blessing that I had from Asia.
17:52I lived afterwards in Singapore for six years, combining the, you know, Mandarin language,
17:57Japanese language skills and understanding of the broader Asia-Pacific region
18:01as a distress credit analyst at Goldman Sachs.
18:05So these are all experiences that actually helped me, helped me in the job that I'm doing now,
18:10in things that are, that actually I didn't believe would be useful to a politician.
18:15And if somebody asked me at six or seven years, would you be a politician and being in the role that I'm doing now,
18:21I wouldn't be able to say that I would believe that the person, I would think he's crazy or something.
18:27Because I, I'm an introvert as a, you know, personally, I'm not really a classical politician.
18:34I am not a classical politician.
18:36But that said, that said, I think the patience that is maybe not characteristic for, for somebody my age,
18:45mixed with the passion and mixed with the, with the resolution.
18:51In Japan, they say kodavari is like the focus on the, on the goal and focus on the, what you want to achieve.
18:56But at the same time, strategic patience and, and also there's this concept called ba concept in Japan,
19:03which I think we should, we should have more in Europe and in Balkans for sure,
19:11but in, you know, in Western cultures in general, you know, there is, you should have your opinion,
19:19your contribution to the table.
19:20But at the same time, your contribution, your addition to the table,
19:25shouldn't be detrimental to the harmony of the table.
19:30So while giving your addition and your, your, your, your card, your, you know,
19:36your cherry on top of the cake, you shouldn't destroy the cake.
19:40And this is something that I think we can definitely learn from the Japanese
19:44and we can learn from the Eastern cultures.
19:46And on that note, Laito Spagic, prime minister of Montenegro,
19:50thank you so much for coming on today.
19:52Great conversation.
19:54Thank you very much for calling me in.
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