INTERVIEW / Spajić: “Montenegro is aligned to EU and NATO. The Chinese presence no longer a concern”

Brussels – Montenegro seems to have finally achieved stability after years of political and institutional upheaval. Despite enduring turbulence, Podgorica has remained steadfast on its path toward European Union membership and now the goal seems to be even closer on the horizon. “We are working very hard and I think it will be monumental to have 28 Member States by 2028”, Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, underlines in an exclusive interview with Eunews in Brussels, on the occasion of the inauguration of the ‘Enlargement Candidate Members’ initiative by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

Prime Minister Spajić, how feasible is it for Montenegro to take part – five years from now – in the next European elections, according to your estimation?

“We will be ready even earlier than 2028. But we do understand that the EU enlargement is a two way process – we will do our utmost to conclude the accession negotiations in 2026 and allow until 2028 until all Member States ratify the Accession Treaty. Since the EU already had 28 members, there is no need for prior internal revision of EU treaties before our joining the club. It would be historical to have Montenegrin politicians competing for the elections for the renewal of the European Parliament in 2029”.

What kind of partner is Montenegro for the European Union?

“The relationship with the European Union and with the other countries in the Western Balkans is the highest in history, but we need to improve even further. Concerning investments, we invite European companies, businesses and institutions to rebuild infrastructures. We also want to have even more trade between Montenegro and European Union, and even more businesses opening in Montenegro and vice versa. I think this is a big opportunity also for Italy, for example. Montenegro is a low-hanging fruit – but also all the Western Balkans – because our citizens love Italy, they look at it as a role-model in terms of society and EU membership. We want more Italian businesses in Montenegro, as well as from other EU countries”.

Yet Montenegro in recent years has raised quite a few concerns in Brussels.

“The biggest problem in Montenegro was that in 2020, when I became Minister of Finance, almost 60% of tourism came from outside the European Union, the region and NATO countries, as well as the infrastructures were 100% financed by countries and entities outside this political space, and 90% of the investments came from the East as well. At the same time, geopolitically we are a NATO member and want to become a EU Member State, we are 100% aligned with EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. So, we had a sort of bipolar situation, in which we were geopolitically aligned on one side, but economically we were completely secluded by the European continent, and we acted like a Central Asia nation. In four years – I was minister of Finance at the beginning and now acting as Prime Minister – we have completely changed the economic trajectory of Montenegro”.

How concerning is the Chinese influence in the country’s economy?

“We inherited the loan with the China Investment Bank, we have hedged successfully and we have reduced exposure from 27% of the GDP to 7/8%. Now, it is completely manageable and negligible, it is only one of the loans in our portfolio and it does not worry us very much. We want the financing of the infrastructures in the future to come almost exclusively from our allies in the region, in the European Union and in NATO. We are finally adjusting economy and geopolitics in the right way”.

Regarding NATO, are you concerned about Donald Trump’s assertions that the U.S. may not defend allies who fail to meet defense spending targets in countering a possible Russian aggression?

“I would risk joining U.S. political campaign, if I comment this statement. I want to understand it as a crucial message from all the U.S., not only from Trump but also from Biden: they want to see more active contribution from all NATO partners. We have heard that message, Montenegro wants to be a credible NATO partner to all the allies. The government took office on 1st November 2023 and we did not have much time: the previous budget draft said that the expenditure for NATO purposes was 1,8% of the GDP, but we managed in only a month’s time to increase it to 2.01%”.

Becoming one of the 18 NATO members that have met the minimum threshold of 2% defense spending in relation to GDP this year.

“This shows how much we are committed. After the Russian aggression against Ukraine, we see how important is security not only theoretically, but really in a practical way. It is unimaginable that a NATO member would be overrun and conquered by a foreign power, the way Russia did with Ukraine”.

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