Prime Minister Milojko Spajić apologized to the citizens for spending four days on vacation in Saint Tropez "because a large number of citizens cannot afford it."
He announced that he would do everything to change that, that is, to improve the standard of citizens. He said that the Government is working hard to raise standards to allow citizens to see everything that Europe has to offer.
As "Vijesti" previously reported, Spajić spent the summer with his wife and brother in a luxurious villa in the fashionable resort of St. Tropez on the Cote d'Azur, where he allegedly traveled by private plane from Tivat on August 12. He denied that because of this he did not attend the session of the Defense Council, which was scheduled for August 20.
Regarding the "accusations of influential Twitter users", Spajić said that he thinks that these people are harmless, but that this "extradition of the political scene goes beyond certain measures". He also said that "two organized criminal groups are behind some of the accounts on social networks", so this is an issue that should be the subject of the attention of the security services.
"There are finances, logistics, monitoring done by two organized criminal groups that are in the background of those tweeters, that is something that worries and the security situation must be the topic of our services," Spajić said.
When asked if he asked for a security assessment, he replied that he felt safe and that the problem was "if you can take pictures of the prime minister so easily, what can you do".
In response to accusations that he was calling out and targeting people from the former Twitter (now "X"), Spajić repeated that these are harmless people, but that the problem is the logistics provided to them by criminal groups.
Asked how much the trip to Saint-Tropez cost, he replied that he came to Montenegro as a rich man and that he could afford it.
"I flew in economy class where the return ticket cost about 500 euros...", he added.
The prime minister also said that the accommodation in Saint Tropez was not a gift, because they were "with the owner, so it is not a gift, but he will check with the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK)".
He said that he paid for the trip himself and that he did not use the government plane because it was being overhauled in Germany. He said that the plane was not used for private purposes and will not be used.
"I did not spend a single cent of the national team," he said and added that his cabinet also spent minimally.
He said that criminal organizations are not satisfied with the current situation in Montenegro and that they are responding in this way through political structures "that are at their disposal".
He said he could not talk about which two criminal groups they were.
"I am not the type of politician who shares operational information in detail," he said.
He stated that until 2020, criminal groups supported the DPS, and since then they have supported at least two political options. He didn't want to say who he was referring to.
He said that it is not true that he did not attend the session of the Defense Security Council because he was in Saint Tropez.
"I was in Montenegro and I informed that I could not attend. The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the president of the country did not sign any decision on the appointment, and the government and the prime minister did their part. We fulfilled our obligations, and the president did not sign any," said Spajic.
He explained that he had urgent private obligations - on August 18, a 40-day memorial service for his father and on August 20, a probate proceeding.
He confirmed that he will go to the session of the Council for Security and Defense on August 28 and thanked that the request to hold that session after August 25 was respected.
Spajić said that political competition did not have a program or results when they led the executive branch.
As he says, criminal groups are in a panic, and this is the reason for the "hysterical attacks". He stated that the campaign against him and the team he leads started back in December 2020, when he became the Minister of Finance and Social Welfare.
"Our political competitors are against progress, they don't have a program, only insults. Attacks were first carried out by (Nebojša) Medojević, then (Dritan) Abazović, (Aleksandar) Damjanović, and now here is one (Andrej) Milović. Name one economic reform of Dritan's The government, let's not talk about DPS. The same people are against this idea, against the progress of citizens, against the decriminalization of Montenegro. It's much easier to buy people when their salaries are low, but some don't want to be bought anymore," Spajić said .
He added that last year "they had a fake affair before the elections and it was proven to be a lie".
"We will not do that to our political opponents. We will deal with a decent campaign and a campaign of results. I ask the citizens to judge us based on the results, not on the basis of politicking. Let the prosecution deal with the accusations," said Spajić.
The Prime Minister said that "it seems that they have opposition in the trade chains as well" and that they will not allow them to grab the benefits from the Europe Now program for themselves.
He announced the limitation of margins and the introduction of competition from abroad.
He said that the Europe now 1 and 2 programs are "just the beginning of economic reforms".
He reminded that he announced his resignation if he did not implement the Europe now 1 program, and the same will be true for the rest.
Spajić said that he did not receive the proposal of the President of the Parliament of Montenegro Andrije Mandić regarding the Security and Defense Council. He said that he did not want to respond to media allegations "because it is frivolous".
Mandić proposed that the Council for Defense and Security no longer decides unanimously, by consensus of three members, but by majority vote. Mandić said this to "Vijesta" on Saturday, saying that he formally proposed to amend the Rules of Procedure of the supreme command, in the decision-making part.
When asked about Kotrel, he replied that there was misinformation about a meeting with him in the summer of 2022.
The recent Minister of Justice and former member of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Andrej Milović today asked Spajić to inform the public, PES and the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption about how much money he received from the convicted criminal George Cottrell.
Milović wrote on the social network X that the public was deprived of discussion on some important topics when Spajić, as he says, ran away from the Assembly from him, and that one of them was Cottrell, who was arrested and convicted in the United States of America (USA). due to money laundering, extortion and blackmail.
Spajić said that the former Minister of Justice Andrej Milović "stated untruths" and that they took out a loan for the Evropa Sad campaign.
When asked how satisfied he is with the cooperation with the Parliament and whether the President of Montenegro is complicating the situation, Spajić called on Jakov Milatović "not to obstruct the work and be more up-to-date". He said that he was satisfied with the cooperation with the parliament.
He says that he is very surprised by the reactions of the state president, who returns some laws for a new decision.
"It's incomprehensible, I don't know why it's being done. Maybe they want some media attention. It's complicating things and we call on him to be more up-to-date," said the prime minister.
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