Montenegro Opposition Leader Claims PM Spajic is Serbian Army Reservist

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic. Photo: EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC. Montenegrin opposition leader Milan Knezevic on Thursday presented documents that he alleged show that Prime Minister Milojko Spajic sought to join Serbia’s military reserve and was subsequently accepted. Knezevic called for Spajic’s resignation and questioned how a member of the Serbian armed forces could serve as prime minister of a NATO member state, Montenegro. Knezevic, leader of the Democratic People’s Party, which until recently was part of the ruling parliamentary majority and which has close ties to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, displayed three documents at a news conference in Podgorica. He said the first showed Spajic applied on February 17, 2023 to become a member of the Serbian military reserve, while the other two allegedly confirmed his admission and obliged him to report for duty if required. The documents’ authenticity could not be independently verified. Knezevic claimed the papers had been provided by “disappointed” members of Spajic’s Europe Now movement. He accused the prime minister of violating several laws and deceiving the public. Spajic responded to the allegations by accusing Knezevic of “obediently carrying out the tasks of his (in)formal boss from Belgrade” – a reference to Serbian leader Vucic – in an effort to slow Montenegro’s path towards the European Union. “It is sad to watch a man who was indisputably rhetorically talented and interesting in the past,” Spajic wrote on X. The allegations come amid a renewed dispute over Spajic’s ties to Serbia and his citizenship status. In February 2023, Spajic’s candidacy for Montenegro’s presidential election was rejected by the State Election Commission after information emerged that he held Serbian citizenship and had maintained residence in Serbia. Spajic said at the time that he had submitted a request to renounce his Serbian citizenship and had deregistered his Serbian residence. His candidacy was ultimately rejected, and the Europe Now movement replaced him with Jakov Milatovic, who went on to win the presidential election. Knezevic also alleged that Spajic had received political backing from Serbian President Vucic, before later turning against him. Knezevic called on President Milatovic and EU ambassador Johan Sattler to address the allegations. There was no public response from Serbian officials by the time of publication of this article.