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Premierminister von Montenegro kündigt Visabeschränkungen für russische Reisende an
In einem ausführlichen Interview mit Euronews spricht der montenegrinische Premierminister Milojko Spajić über den EU-Beitritt seines Landes im Jahr 2028 und die Bedeutung der Angleichung seiner Außenpolitik an Brüssel.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2025/11/25/premierminister-montenegro-visabeschrankungen-russen
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In einem ausführlichen Interview mit Euronews spricht der montenegrinische Premierminister Milojko Spajić über den EU-Beitritt seines Landes im Jahr 2028 und die Bedeutung der Angleichung seiner Außenpolitik an Brüssel.
LESEN SIE MEHR : http://de.euronews.com/2025/11/25/premierminister-montenegro-visabeschrankungen-russen
Abonnieren Sie! Euronews gibt es in 12 Sprachen.
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NewsTranskript
00:00Hallo und willkommen zu der EUROPE CONVERSATION, ich bin Stefan Grobe.
00:12Mein Gast heute ist Miloiko Spajic, der Prime Minister von Montenegro,
00:17der vierte, jüngst, Head of Government in der Welt.
00:21So, youthful greetings, Prime Minister, to you,
00:24und danke dir so much for coming on the programme.
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, so thank you.
00:34Thank you for that.
00:36So, the European Commission considers Montenegro as the first ranked frontrunner
00:43among 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,
00:51but 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, and 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, you know,
01:13we opened all the chapters, now we are closing.
01:17We, you know, we are having IGCs and, like, keep closing
01:21and 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,
01:37we 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 two nice taglines.
01:55One was 28 by 28,
02:00to 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.
02:16And I think we have a really, really great chance
02:19to have a new member state in the mandate of this European Commission.
02:26So, when you talk about enlargement,
02:27there are two dimensions to this issue.
02:30There are the technical criteria that you all fulfill.
02:36And then there is the political will.
02:39Now, so far, there hasn't been a decision yet
02:44when Montenegro will be accepted.
02:48Do you fear that there are still some powers at work here
02:53that could derail your accession to the EU?
02:57Powers that you have no control over?
03:00I think that the technical side,
03:02like when you first mentioned,
03:04is extremely important.
03:07So, never to be forgotten
03:08that 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
03:20because, obviously, once we join the EU,
03:24we want to add value.
03:25We don't want to detract value.
03:28So, we want the EU to be richer with our sin.
03:31And this is truly what we really believe in.
03:35So, with all the reforms that we are going to do,
03:37with the economic growth that we will see in the next couple of years,
03:42we think we'll be a great candidate
03:44and, you know, we'll be somebody that 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,
03:59that it's in their national interest
04:01to 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,
04:08are more or less there.
04:10But we cannot relax.
04:12We have to be very, very focused
04:14on the great relations with all the 27 member states.
04:18Obviously, you know, like, there are member states
04:21that are a little bit more conservative
04:23towards 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
04:36have been, you know, focused in terms of that.
04:40So, we have to do absolutely, you know,
04:43we've done a lot of reforms,
04:44as evidenced by the interim benchmarks last year
04:46and as Chapter 5 that we closed this year.
04:50That'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
05:00in terms of rule of law.
05:01There is big popular support in Montenegro
05:04for your country joining the EU.
05:07I think 80% or something of people in Montenegro
05:11want to join the EU.
05:14Do you fear that this level of support and excitement
05:17might decrease if the whole process keeps dragging on?
05:23I think that's a fair point.
05:26You know, that's a great question
05:28and fair point that you just made.
05:29And we see, historically, support for EU accession
05:35of Montenegrins was always around 55-60%, 55-ish percent.
05:40There was a majority, but not a very strong majority
05:42until this government came in.
05:45So, since we came in and the optimism about the EU enlargement
05:50really took, you know, people felt it's really real this time.
05:55You know, you had a plethora of prime ministers
05:58who 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
06:09to work hard, et cetera.
06:11But, you know, like public administration was not,
06:13at some point of time, was saying,
06:15hey, this is like the people are changing
06:17and the same story is going on.
06:19But I think, finally, this time around,
06:23people really believe it's possible.
06:26Montenegro is a very diverse country,
06:30culturally, ethnically,
06:31at a time when diversity
06:35almost has become a negative connotation.
06:38I want to ask you, to what extent do you think
06:41this diversity in your country
06:46will be an asset for Europe?
06:50That's a great point.
06:52And, you know, with tolerance,
06:55with the culture of building consensus,
07:01with culture of looking at the future
07:03and not looking at the past,
07:05or at the culture of non-zero-sum game.
07:10So, as I say, like win-win,
07:13you know, striving for win-win situations.
07:16Even countries that are as diverse as Montenegro,
07:20which 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.
07:32We have other groups like Albanians and Croats
07:36in significant numbers.
07:38Most recently, the Ukrainians
07:42and 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
07:58for the whole process in the Western Balkans?
08:01This is what I'm trying to say.
08:03And I think we can be a fantastic bridge
08:05and a big help to all of the other countries,
08:08you know, to not only speed up reforms,
08:10but also to politically help them
08:12and to translate a little bit,
08:15you know, sometimes,
08:17sometimes, you know,
08:19difficulty to understand the Western Balkan circumstances.
08:23That, you know, obviously,
08:24for the culture or other reasons,
08:26it's not always easy to understand the Western Balkans.
08:29So, Montenegro has adopted the euro as its currency
08:33since 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,
08:45you have aligned Montenegro's foreign policy
08:47with the EU.
08:48That begs the question,
08:50is there any alternative for Montenegro?
08:54You know, like, I'm not even thinking,
08:55nobody's thinking about the alternatives.
08:57You know, EU members,
08:58full membership of the European Union
09:02is what we are gunning for,
09:04what we are up there for.
09:05And I think that's just a fair point.
09:08You know, we are surrounded by European Union.
09:12We are, as you already said,
09:15we are already with CEPA now.
09:17Just recently, we have introduced CEPA to our system.
09:21Very soon, we'll have free roaming
09:23with the European Union countries.
09:26So, we are integrating in the single market
09:28at the extent unseen until now.
09:31So, we are looking at, you know,
09:34we just had the European fantastic conference
09:36held in Lushtica in Montenegro
09:38between European Union and Montenegro
09:42on the investments coming from EU.
09:45We are building our infrastructure
09:47using the EBRD, EIB,
09:49and other IFIs coming from Europe.
09:52So, we are really, truly integrating
09:55and further and further with Europe,
09:58with political Europe, with EU.
10:00So, this is our goal.
10:02I want to follow up on this.
10:03Sure.
10:04Because you are,
10:06you have been touting Montenegro's
10:08green sustainable development
10:10and digital transformation.
10:13We've talked about investment.
10:16What is it that Montenegro brings to the table?
10:20And some observers say that Montenegro
10:22is always more progressive
10:24than 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
10:33because we are really a small country
10:34and which has its benefits as well.
10:37And being a small country
10:39and a country that is not really burdened
10:42with these ethnic tensions or,
10:45so this is a factor that basically relieves,
10:49and also our income per capita
10:50is highest of all the candidate states.
10:52So, as we are seeing
10:54with our most recent census,
10:57we have seen a slight increase in population
11:01in the last 10 plus years.
11:04So, we are not likely to see
11:07big emigration or people living in Montenegro,
11:10but rather than actually
11:11some of the Central or Western Europeans
11:14might consider living in nice weather
11:16and, you know,
11:17in a country of relatively low taxes
11:19as compared to the other options.
11:21So, and the friendly system,
11:24nice food and, you know,
11:26so Montenegro is a place
11:28that I think, you know,
11:30many Europeans, obviously,
11:32and, you know, many Montenegrins,
11:34many Montenegrin kids
11:35will go to universities around Europe
11:37and, you know,
11:38many people from our public administration
11:39might come to work in Brussels.
11:42So, as a part of EU,
11:44you know, there'll be a labor movement
11:45and I think Montenegro
11:47is unlikely to see
11:50a big number of people
11:51leaving the country.
11:52But going back to the point
11:54of the benefits of Montenegro joining,
11:56I think we can be a fantastic,
11:58really good bridge
11:59to the other candidate states
12:01as through our ethnic fabric,
12:05through our understanding
12:07of the whole region,
12:08through our shared history
12:10and the culture
12:10and the values.
12:12I think we can really help
12:15bridge this gap
12:16that is sometimes existing.
12:19And also,
12:19I think what we also bring to the table
12:22is as a small dynamic economy,
12:26is a country that can be seen
12:28as incubator
12:31of some of the more progressive ideas
12:34in terms of innovation.
12:36And it's not burdened
12:37with the old vested interests
12:38that some other, you know,
12:40big countries have.
12:41But, you know,
12:41we don't have as much
12:44developed these industries.
12:46So it's naturally
12:47we are positioned,
12:48we have a very,
12:50you know,
12:51it's not that hard
12:52to change our legislation,
12:54et cetera.
12:54We are much more flexible on this.
12:56On something totally different.
12:57Sure.
12:58So due to the wars
13:00in what used to be Yugoslavia,
13:02there is still a large stockpile
13:03of weapons in circulation
13:05in Montenegro.
13:07and together with Serbia,
13:10people own the most weapons
13:12in Europe,
13:14namely 39 per 100 inhabitants.
13:18And this is surpassed
13:19only by the United States
13:20and Yemen,
13:21which is, of course,
13:22in a civil war.
13:24How does this dangerous legacy
13:27influence society?
13:29And are you at odds
13:32with the rest of Europe on this?
13:34No, this is a great question.
13:36And this is what we were targeting
13:39this year, actually.
13:40So it's the newest measures
13:42that we've actually had
13:44thousands of pieces of weapons
13:46of the people
13:47voluntarily returning.
13:49We have increased the penalties
13:50for holding weapons
13:53without the proper permits.
13:58We have made the permitting system
13:59very, very strict.
14:01So I think the number
14:02that you just,
14:03that you took
14:04is probably from
14:06maybe three or four years ago.
14:08As of now,
14:09the number is at least
14:10at half of that.
14:11So because of the,
14:13because of the really swift action
14:15we've taken
14:15in the last,
14:16in the last couple of years.
14:18So I think,
14:19I think definitely this is,
14:21this,
14:21there are,
14:22there are some of the remnants
14:23of the past,
14:24but we are overcoming this.
14:26Another remnant of the past
14:27is travel of Russians to Europe.
14:31The EU has restricted visa travel
14:36from Russians to the EU.
14:38What about Montenegro?
14:39There are a lot of Russians
14:41who own property in Montenegro.
14:43There are a lot of Russians
14:44coming and visit.
14:46What's going to happen
14:47once you're a member of the club?
14:51We follow the European
14:53common foreign security policy
14:56to the 100% extent.
14:59So as,
14:59as you have seen,
15:00and we,
15:00it's not only
15:01the current government.
15:02It's been like last
15:03five governments or something
15:05for 13 years.
15:07And this is,
15:09this is some,
15:10this is a very,
15:11something that Montenegro
15:13is proud of
15:14and that we are,
15:14we are constructive.
15:16Even before having
15:17membership status
15:19and membership benefits,
15:20we behave as a member state.
15:23So we will fully align
15:25with,
15:26with the visa policies
15:27of European Union
15:28and there's absolutely nothing,
15:30nothing,
15:31you know.
15:32Obviously,
15:33you know,
15:33we are a tourist country
15:34primarily,
15:35so we are trying to get
15:36as many tourists
15:37from all kinds of places.
15:39The Russian tourists
15:39are actually,
15:40actually as not as numerous
15:42as they used to be before.
15:44The real estate holding
15:45that was maybe
15:46some 15,
15:4720 years ago
15:48was way higher.
15:49Now it's,
15:50now the Russians
15:51are just like
15:51one of the groups
15:52including Germans,
15:54Italians,
15:55Serbs,
15:56Bosniaks,
15:57Albanians
15:57and the other,
15:58other foreigners
15:59who are holding
16:00the real estate assets
16:01in Montenegro.
16:02So it's,
16:03it's much more diversified now
16:04and,
16:05you know,
16:06this is,
16:06we are not,
16:07we are not too worried
16:08about the,
16:08about the trends.
16:09But obviously
16:10as a tourist country,
16:12we are,
16:14we are,
16:14we are trying
16:15to have this,
16:16this policy,
16:18we are trying
16:19to have this policy
16:20but of the,
16:21as easy travel
16:23to Montenegro
16:24as possible.
16:25That said,
16:25we will fully align
16:26with all the visa policies
16:29of European Union
16:30very soon.
16:31I have a personal question
16:33if I may.
16:33Please.
16:34When you were,
16:36well,
16:36tempted to say young
16:37but you are young,
16:38when you were younger,
16:39you studied in Japan
16:41and China.
16:42I wonder
16:43how that experience
16:45has shaped your thinking.
16:48You know,
16:49that this is a question
16:50that I don't get,
16:51get to be asked
16:52actually a lot
16:52so,
16:53so thanks for that.
16:54Um,
16:55you know,
16:55I studied undergrad
16:56in,
16:56in Japan,
16:57uh,
16:58for five years
16:59and I was,
17:00uh,
17:01I was under
17:01the Japanese government
17:02scholarship
17:02called Monbu Kagakusho
17:04and it was at the time
17:06when Japan was like,
17:07uh,
17:07second largest economy
17:08in the world
17:09and Japan was,
17:10uh,
17:11was a very,
17:12very significant partner
17:12to United States
17:14and to Europe
17:14and this is actually
17:15something that I would
17:16like to work on
17:17politically as well
17:18to be sort of a bridge
17:19between Japan
17:20and European Union
17:21in the future
17:22amongst other things.
17:23I,
17:23I,
17:24I forgot to say that
17:25because of this,
17:26uh,
17:27this,
17:28uh,
17:28cultural and other ties
17:29that we,
17:29that I,
17:30I have with,
17:31with Japan
17:31and,
17:32uh,
17:32you know,
17:32I feel it's,
17:33it's my,
17:34I can easily say
17:35my second home
17:35and it's,
17:36I have a lot of friends
17:37in Japan
17:37and,
17:38uh,
17:39I stayed there
17:39for five years.
17:40I was actually,
17:41and I was on an exchange
17:42in,
17:42uh,
17:42Tsinghua University
17:43in Beijing
17:44on learning Chinese language.
17:46So,
17:47uh,
17:47so that's another,
17:48uh,
17:48uh,
17:48it was another blessing
17:50that I'm,
17:50I,
17:50I had from,
17:51from Asia.
17:52I lived afterwards
17:53in Singapore
17:53for six years
17:54combining the,
17:56you know,
17:56Mandarin language,
17:57uh,
17:57Japanese language skills
17:58and understanding
17:59of the,
17:59of the broader
18:00Asia-Pacific region
18:01as,
18:02uh,
18:02as a distress credit
18:03analyst at Goldman Sachs.
18:05So these are all experiences
18:06that actually helped me,
18:08helped me in the job
18:09that I'm doing now
18:10and,
18:10uh,
18:10things that are,
18:12that actually I didn't believe
18:13would be useful
18:14to a politician.
18:15And if somebody asked me
18:16at six or seven years,
18:17would you be a politician
18:19and being,
18:19uh,
18:20in the role that I'm doing now,
18:21I wouldn't be able to say,
18:24uh,
18:24that I would believe
18:25that the person,
18:25I would think he was,
18:26he's crazy or something
18:27because I,
18:28I'm an introvert
18:29as,
18:29as a,
18:30you know,
18:30personally,
18:31I'm not really
18:32a classical politician.
18:34I am not a classical politician.
18:36But that said,
18:37that said,
18:38I think,
18:38uh,
18:38the patience,
18:40uh,
18:41that,
18:41that is maybe not,
18:43uh,
18:43characteristic for,
18:44for somebody my age,
18:45uh,
18:46mixed with the passion
18:47and mixed with the,
18:49with the,
18:49uh,
18:50resolution,
18:50uh,
18:51in Japan they say
18:52kodavari is like
18:53the focus on the,
18:54on the goal
18:54and focus on the,
18:55what you want to achieve.
18:57But at the same time,
18:57strategic patience
18:59and,
18:59and also,
19:00there's this concept
19:01called ba concept
19:03in Japan,
19:03which I think
19:05we should,
19:06uh,
19:07we should have more
19:08in Europe
19:09and in Balkans
19:10for sure,
19:11but in,
19:11you know,
19:12in Western cultures,
19:13uh,
19:13in general,
19:15you know,
19:15there is,
19:16uh,
19:17you should have your opinion,
19:19your contribution
19:19to the table,
19:20but at the same time,
19:22your contribution,
19:24your addition
19:24to the table
19:25shouldn't be
19:26detrimental
19:27to the harmony
19:28of the table.
19:30So while giving
19:31your addition
19:32and your,
19:33your,
19:33your,
19:34your card,
19:35your,
19:35you know,
19:36your cherry
19:36on top of the cake,
19:38you shouldn't
19:38destroy the cake.
19:40And this is
19:41something that I think
19:42we can definitely
19:43learn from the Japanese
19:44and we can learn
19:45from the Eastern cultures.
19:47And on that note,
19:48Loiko Spajic,
19:49Prime Minister of Montenegro,
19:50thank you so much
19:51for coming on today.
19:52Great conversation.
19:53Thank you very much
19:54for calling me in.
19:55Thank you very much
19:56for calling me in.
19:57Thanks for calling me in.
20:00Thank you very much
20:00for calling me in.
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