The Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajić visit to NATO.

Following a statement from NATO Headquarters, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajić to NATO on Friday (26 January 2024).

The Secretary General outlined Montenegro’s contributions to Allied security, including deploying troops to multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria and Latvia. Montenegro also contributes to building more effective and inclusive security forces as a part of NATO’s training mission in Iraq.

Mr Stoltenberg stressed Montenegro’s critical role in securing stability in the Western Balkans. He welcomed the Prime Minister’s strong commitments to reform, as well as Montenegro’s path to Euro-Atlantic integration.

Confirming NATO’s strong commitments to the Western Balkans, the Secretary General has condemned last year’s outbreaks of violence in Kosovo and highlighted NATO’s swift response, deploying 1,000 additional troops and heavy armour. He underscored that NATO is “committed to ensuring that KFOR continues to fulfil its UN mandate.” The Secretary General also noted that NATO ambassadors will visit Sarajevo next week, calling this a demonstration of strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

On support for Ukraine, Mr Stoltenberg thanked Montenegro for its contributions through NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) and urged Allies to continue stepping up support for Ukraine at this critical time. 

Looking ahead to the upcoming Washington Summit, the Secretary General said  that Sweden’s entry into NATO will make the whole Alliance stronger. He thanked President Erdoğan for swiftly signing the recent ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. He looks forward to Hungary’s ratification as soon as the parliament reconvenes.

Comments: The newly elected Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić, has made his first visit abroad to Brussels, where meetings in the EU institutions and NATO are part of the mandatory protocol. During these visits, the positions of the new government are commented, as well as the corresponding demands are made. For his part, Jens Stoltenberg used the meeting to raise again the most relevant issues related to NATO and expectations from Cherna Goral. Naturally, during such visits, he gives high marks to the policy of the visiting country.