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Premier Czarnogóry zapowiada ograniczenia wizowe dla rosyjskich podróżnych
W obszernym wywiadzie dla Euronews premier Czarnogóry Milojko Spajić mówi o przystąpieniu jego kraju do UE do 2028 roku oraz o znaczeniu dostosowania polityki zagranicznej do Brukseli.
CZYTAJ WIĘCEJ : http://pl.euronews.com/2025/11/25/premier-czarnogory-zapowiada-ograniczenia-wizowe-dla-rosyjskich-podroznych
Zasubskrybuj nasz kanał.Euronews jest dostępny na Dailymotion w 12 językach
W obszernym wywiadzie dla Euronews premier Czarnogóry Milojko Spajić mówi o przystąpieniu jego kraju do UE do 2028 roku oraz o znaczeniu dostosowania polityki zagranicznej do Brukseli.
CZYTAJ WIĘCEJ : http://pl.euronews.com/2025/11/25/premier-czarnogory-zapowiada-ograniczenia-wizowe-dla-rosyjskich-podroznych
Zasubskrybuj nasz kanał.Euronews jest dostępny na Dailymotion w 12 językach
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00:00Dzień dobry, witam na EUROPE CONVERSATION, jestem 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, 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, but it's much harder to attain that status, obviously,
00:55and, you know, many other countries are doing great, you know, we see that,
01:00and we are happy for that, and 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 open all the chapters, now we are closing, we, you know, we are having IGCs and, like,
01:20keep 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, we have, you know, full focus on reforms.
01:34July was a fantastic month for us, like, a couple of months now as well,
01:37we are, again, speeding up with the execution in the parliament, which 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.
01:56One 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, now 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 to have a new member state
02:21in 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
02:53that could derail your accession to the EU, powers that you have no control over?
02:59I think that the technical side, like when you first mentioned, is extremely important.
03:07So, 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, it's in the interest of the whole union,
03:21because obviously we want, once we join the EU, we 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 will 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 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
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 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,
04:44as evidenced by the interim benchmarks last year.
04:46And as Chapter 5 that we closed 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.
05:01There is 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.
05:14Do you fear that this level of support and excitement might decrease
05:19if 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
05:36was always around 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.
05:56You know, we 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 at some point of time
06:14was saying, hey, this is like the people are changing
06:17and the same story is going on.
06:19And, but I think finally this time around,
06:23people 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.
06:38I want to ask you to what extent do you think this diversity
06:43from, in your country will be an asset for, for Europe?
06:50That's a great point.
06:52And, you know, with tolerance,
06:55with, with the, with the culture of building consensus,
07:01with culture of looking at the future,
07:03not looking at the past or at the culture of non-zero-sum game.
07:10So, as I say, like a win-win, you know, striving for win-win situations,
07:16even countries that are as diverse as Montenegro,
07:20which is in Europe, there is no other country with,
07:22with, without ethnic majority.
07:25We are probably the only ones, you know,
07:27Montenegrins, 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.
07:38Most recently, the, the Ukrainians and, and a bit of Turks and others.
07:45So, these are like, you know, the people, we, we, we are very,
07:49very diverse country.
07:50And, but we are proud of that.
07:53And let's, let's assume that, 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.
08:03And 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, sometimes, you know,
08:19difficulty to understand the Western Balkan circumstances that, you know,
08:24obviously before, for the culture or other reasons, you know,
08:27it'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, we, we, we 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, with the EU.
08:49That begs the question, is there any alternative for Montenegro?
08:54I, you know, like, I, I'm not even thinking, nobody's thinking about the alternatives.
08:57You know, EU members, full membership of the, of the European Union is what we are gunning for,
09:04what we are up there for.
09:05And I think that's, that's, it's just a fair point.
09:08You know, we are, we are, we are surrounded by European Union.
09:13We are, as you, as you already said, we are already with, with CEPA now.
09:17Just recently, we, we have introduced CEPA to, to our system.
09:21Very soon, we'll have free roaming in, in, with European Union countries.
09:26So, we are integrating in the single market at the extent unseen until now.
09:31So, we are, we are looking at, you know, we just had the European fantastic conference
09:36held in Lusztice in Montenegro between European Union and Montenegro on the investments coming
09:44from, 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 and further and further with, with Europe, with
09:58political Europe, with EU.
10:00So, this is, this is our goal.
10:02I want to follow up on this.
10:03Sure.
10:04Because you, you, you are, you have been touting Montenegro's green, sustainable development
10:10and digital transformation.
10:13We've talked about investment.
10:16Yeah.
10:16What is it that Montenegro brings to the table?
10:20And because some observers say that, that Montenegro is, it was more progressive than some
10:24old EU members.
10:27You know, depends on the, I wouldn't compare us to any, anybody else.
10:31It's, it's kind of difficult to compare because we have really a small country and, which is,
10:36has its benefits as well.
10:37And being a small country and a country that there is not really burdened with these ethnic
10:43tensions or, or, so this is, this is, this is a, this is a factor that basically relieves
10:49and also our income per capita is highest of all the candidate states.
10:52So, as we are seeing with our most recent census, we, we have seen a slight increase in population
11:01in the last 10 plus years.
11:04So, we are not likely to see a big emigration or people living Montenegro, but rather than
11:11actually some of the central or Western Europeans might consider living in a nice weather and,
11:17you know, in a country of relatively low taxes as compared to the, to the other options.
11:21So, and the, the friendly system, nice food and, you know, so Montenegro is, is, is a place
11:28that I think, you know, many Europeans obviously and, you know, many Montenegrins, many Montenegrin
11:34kids will go to universities around Europe and, you know, many people from our public administration
11:39might come to work in Brussels.
11:42So, as, as, as a part of EU, you know, there'll be a labor movement.
11:45And, uh, I think, I think Montenegro is, is unlikely to see a big number of people living
11:51the country.
11:52But, uh, going back to the point of, of the benefits of Montenegro joining, I think
11:56we can be a fantastic, really good bridge to the other candidate states as through our
12:03ethnic, uh, uh, ethnic fabric, uh, to our understanding of the whole region through, through our shared
12:09history and the culture and, uh, and the values.
12:12I think we can really help, uh, bridge this gap that is sometimes existing.
12:18And also, I think what we, what we also bring to the table is, uh, is as a, as a small dynamic
12:25economy is a country that can be seen as, uh, uh, as, uh, as incubator of some of the, uh,
12:33more progressive ideas in terms of innovation.
12:35And it's not burdened with the old vested interests that some other, you know, big countries have.
12:41But, you know, we, we don't have, uh, we don't have as much, uh, developed these industries.
12:45So it's, it's naturally we, we are positioned, we have a very, uh, uh, you know, it's not,
12:51it's not that hard to change our legislation, et cetera.
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
13:05circulation, uh, in Montenegro.
13:07And, um, in, uh, together with Serbia, people own the most weapons in Europe, uh, namely 39
13:16per 100 inhabitants.
13:18And this is surpassed only by the United States and Yemen, which is of course in a civil war.
13:24How does this dangerous legacy influence society?
13:28And are you at odds with the rest of Europe on this?
13:34No, this is, this is a great question.
13:36And, uh, this is, uh, this was what we were targeting this year, actually.
13:40So it's, uh, it's the newest measures that we, we've actually had thousands of pieces of
13:46weapons of the people voluntarily returning.
13:48Uh, we have increased the penalties for, for, uh, uh, for holding weapons without the,
13:54without the, uh, uh, proper permits.
13:57We have made the permitting system a very, very strict.
14:01So I think the number that you just, uh, that you took is probably from maybe three or
14:07four years ago.
14:08As of now, the number is at least, at least at half of that.
14:11So, uh, uh, because of the, because of the really swift action we've taken in the last,
14:16uh, in the last couple of years.
14:17So I think, I think definitely this is, uh, this, there, there, there are some of the
14:23remnants of the past, but we are overcoming this.
14:26Another remnant of the past is, um, uh, travel of Russians to Europe.
14:31The EU has, uh, restricted, um, a visa travel from Russians to the EU.
14:38What about Montenegro?
14:39There are a lot of Russians who own property in, in Montenegro.
14:43There are a lot of Russians coming and, and visit.
14:46What's going to happen once you're a member of the club?
14:51We follow the European, uh, common foreign security policy, uh, to the 100% extent.
14:58So as, as you have seen, and we, it's not only the current government, it's been like
15:03last five governments or something for 13 years.
15:07And this is, this is some, this is a very, uh, something that Montenegro is, is proud
15:14of and that we are, we are constructive, uh, even before having membership status and membership
15:19benefits, we behave as a member state.
15:23So we will fully align with, uh, uh, with the visa policies of European Union.
15:28And there's absolutely nothing, uh, nothing, you know, uh, obviously, you know, we are
15:33a tourist country primarily.
15:35So we are trying to get as many tourists from all kinds of places.
15:38The Russian tourists are actually, actually as not as numerous as they used to be before.
15:43Uh, the real estate holding that was maybe some 15, 20 years ago was way higher.
15:49Now it's, now the Russians are just like one of the groups, uh, including Germans, Italians,
15:54uh, Serbs, uh, Bosniaks, Albanians, and the other, uh, other foreigners who are holding
16:00the real estate assets in Montenegro.
16:02So it's, it's much more diversified now.
16:04And, uh, uh, you know, this is, we are not, uh, we are not too worried about the, about
16:09the trends, but obviously as a tourist country, uh, uh, we are, we are, we're trying to,
16:15to have this, uh, uh, this policy, uh, we are trying to have this policy, but, uh, of
16:21the, as easy travel to Montenegro as possible, that said, we will fully align with, uh, with
16:27all the visa policies of European Union very soon.
16:31I have a personal question, if I may.
16:33Please.
16:34When you were, well, tempted to say young, but you are young, when you were younger, you
16:40studied in Japan and China.
16:42Okay.
16:42I wonder how that experience has shaped your thinking.
16:48Uh, you know, that this is a question that I don't get, get to be asked actually a lot.
16:52So, so thanks for that.
16:54Um, you know, I studied undergrad in, in Japan, uh, for five years and I was, uh, I was under
17:01the Japanese government scholarship called Monbu Kagakusho.
17:05And it was at the time when Japan was like, uh, second largest economy in the world.
17:09And, uh, Japan was, uh, was, uh, very, very significant partner to United States and to
17:14Europe.
17:14And this is actually something that I would like to work on politically as well, to be
17:19sort of a bridge between Japan and European Union in the future, amongst other things.
17:23I, I, I forgot to say that because of this, uh, this, uh, cultural and other ties that we,
17:29that I, I have with, with Japan and, uh, you know, I feel it's, it's my, I can easily
17:34say my second home.
17:35And it's, I have a lot of friends in Japan and, uh, I stayed there for five years.
17:40I was actually, and that was on an exchange in, uh, Tsinghua University in Beijing on learning
17:45Chinese language.
17:46So, uh, so that's another, uh, uh, it was another blessing that I'm, I, I had from, from
17:51Asia.
17:52I lived there afterwards in Singapore for six years, combining the, you know, Mandarin
17:56language, uh, Japanese language skills and, uh, understanding of the, of the broader Asia
18:00Pacific region as, uh, as 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
18:09now in, uh, 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, uh,
18:19in the role that I'm doing now, I wouldn't be able to say, uh, that I would believe that
18:25the person, I would think he was, he's crazy or something because I, I'm an introvert as,
18:29as a, you know, personally, I'm not really a classical politician.
18:34I am not a classical politician, but that said, that said, I think, uh, the patience,
18:39uh, that, that is maybe not a characteristic for, for somebody my age, uh, mixed with the
18:47passion and mixed with the, with the, uh, resolution, uh, in Japan, they say Kodavari is
18:53like 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, uh, and also there's this concept called
19:02BA concept in Japan, which I think we should, uh, we should have more in Europe and in Balkans
19:10for sure, but in, you know, in Western cultures, uh, in general, you know, there is, uh, you
19:17should have your opinion, your contribution to the table, but at the same time, your contribution,
19:24your addition to the table shouldn't be detrimental to the harmony of the table.
19:29So while giving your addition and your, your, your, your card, your, you know, your cherry
19:36on top of the cake, you shouldn't destroy the cake. And this is something that I think
19:42we can definitely learn from the Japanese and we can learn from the Eastern cultures.
19:47And on that note, Loiko Spajic, prime minister of Montenegro. Thank you so much for coming
19:52on today. Great conversation.
19:53Thank you very much for calling me in.
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