Although the Europe Now Movement (PES) claims that its leader and prime minister Milojko Spajic he did not "have a presidential campaign" last year because he was disqualified in the fight for the position of head of state, he and the party undoubtedly ran a campaign then, in which marketing experts from Great Britain were also engaged. In addition, it is possible that PES and Spajić then violated the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns.
According to that act, a campaign is a set of activities of a political entity (party, coalition, candidate for president...) from the announcement of elections to the announcement of their final results, which relate to the public presentation and promotion of candidates, election programs, etc. PES and its leader carried out such activities publicly, from January 16, when the elections were announced (for March 19), until the rejection of Spajić's candidacy on February 18, which means that the campaign was over.
There are more examples for that. On Spajić's account on the social network Iks (formerly Twitter), at the beginning of February last year, several promotional videos with the campaign logo - "President Spajić 2023" were published.
"Vijesta" confirmed yesterday that British citizens participated in the production of those videos Dominik Garner (Dominic Garner), a British lawyer of George Cottrell (George Cottrell) - for whom the recent Minister of Justice and former high official of PES Andrej Milović, and before him some other Montenegrin politicians, claim that he financed that party and its campaigns.
Cottrell was one of the advisors of the former British MP and one of the loudest proponents of Great Britain's exit from the European Union (EU). Nigel Farage (Nigel Farage). He was in charge of raising money for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), until he was arrested in the United States of America (USA) in July 2016, where he was charged with money laundering, fraud, blackmail and extortion. In December of the same year, he reached an agreement with the prosecutor's office there, and 20 counts of the indictment were dismissed in exchange for his pleading guilty to an electronic fraud in which he explained the ways in which money can be laundered. He spent eight months in prison.
Some Montenegrin politicians claimed last year that Cottrell is the owner of an illegal cryptocurrency trading machine in Tivat, which one of his lawyers then denied.
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Milović announced on Wednesday that Spajić and the prime minister's chief of staff would Branko Krvavac to deny that Kotrel finances PES, and that is why, as he stated, he published photos on Iks, which allegedly show the head of PES with "Kotrel's team", i.e. Gavejnom Taulerom (Gawain Towler), "Cottrell's key campaign man", who "was the man-in-chief for Brexit" (the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU).
One of the photos corresponds to a video that Spajić published on the Iks network in February 2023, in which Milović can be seen.
Until recently, the Minister of Justice and the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) also claim that "Kotrel and his team" followed Spajić during the submission of ballots for the local elections in Pljevlje and Bijelo Polje, which were held in the fall of 2022.
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Lawyer: Cottrell did not finance Spajic's campaign, nor did he hire Tauler
Cottrell, through attorney Garner, claims that it is not true that he personally financed Spajic's presidential campaign, or that he made any political donation to PES, at any time.
"We add that, since Mr. Cottrell has no right to make any political donation because of his citizenship, any claim that he financed the presidential campaign of Mr. Spajić would not only be untrue, but would represent a serious accusation of crime against Mr. Kotrela", it was assessed.
Cottrell denies that he hired British media consultant Tauler and his team to shoot promotional videos for Spajic's presidential campaign. The lawyer states that they were informed that, "along with several other well-established foreign media advisors and consultants", PES hired Tauler to "provide them with consulting services in the context of the presidential campaign of Mr. Spajić".
“Mr. Cottrell was not a party to any contract between Europe Now and Mr. Tauler for such services, nor did he pay for them. Mr. Cottrell understands that these services have been fully funded and paid for by Europe now," Garner underlines.
Tauler is, as it says on his LinkedIn account, "a passionate communications, external affairs and PR expert, with strong connections in Westminster...". From June 2004 to February 2018, he was the director of communications at UKIP. The London "Guardian" recently wrote that Tauler is considered one of Farage's few confidants.
Although he was active on LinkedIn yesterday morning, Tauler did not answer the questions that "Vijesti" sent him the day before through that platform - whether he and three other Britons shot videos for Spajić's campaign, who and when hired his team for that, whether it was Kotrel, and how many recordings they made, how much it cost and who paid them for that service.
Spajić posted the first video that was most likely shot and edited by the British on his X account on February 5, 2023, from a press conference where he announced that he would run for president. At the end of that video, the logo of his campaign was shown.
The next day, he posted a "repackaged" version of the video he first posted on September 26, 2022, which shows him and Krvavac walking around Pljevlja and talking to citizens.
"I am happy that the campaign has finally started," Spajić wrote in that tweet.
Until February 17, he posted eight more videos - from Bar, Budva, Cetinje, Herceg Novi, Žabljak, presenting his candidacy for the elections, another from Pljevlja under the snow, as well as one from the reception where he talks to officials in Japanese and countries. Each of the shots ends with the presidential campaign logo.
After that, posts on Spajić's account followed in which he defended himself against the attacks of political opponents at the time.
PES: Ask Milatović who financed the campaigns
The day before yesterday, Spajić did not answer questions about whether Cottrell financed his campaign, whether Tauler's team shot promotional videos, if so - whether Cottrell hired him and who paid for it, but instead referred "Vijesti" to the party. She did not answer those questions directly, but said that her boss answered journalistic questions on that topic at the press conference that day, and that all answers can be "found and downloaded on the Government's Flickr account".
"We expect that instead of sensationalism, the opposition will prosecute all disputes at the SDT (Special State Prosecutor's Office), as the government did when the (former) prime minister was misused for lobbying purposes (Dritana) Abazović, which is now the subject of an investigation", they stated.
At that conference, Spajić did not want to directly answer the question of whether he met with Cottrell in Montenegro.
The night before yesterday, PES forwarded the answers to "Vijesti" to other media as a statement, with the addition that Spajić was disqualified from the presidential race "due to the unconstitutional actions of members of the SEC (State Election Commission)", and that because of this "he did not even have a presidential campaign". The SEC rejected Spajić's candidacy because it was established that the prime minister also has Serbian citizenship. This was determined before Spajić ran for president on February 16, which some lawyers called a serious abuse.
"The only campaign for the presidential elections that PES has run is the presidential campaign Jakov Milatović, who became the President of Montenegro as a PES candidate. Who worked and financed the presidential campaign, as well as the campaign for the local elections in Podgorica and other municipalities in 2022, you can directly ask the then candidate Milatović", stated PES in a statement the night before yesterday.
On September 27, 2022, less than a month before the local elections in 13 municipalities, Spajić published on his Iks account a video clip of the handover of the PES list in Bijelo Polje - apparently filmed and edited in the same style as the videos for the presidential campaign head of PES. However, it cannot be determined with certainty whether the same team worked on Spajić's campaign for the presidential elections.
The issue of the alleged relationship between Spajić and Kotrel was first raised by the leader of the Movement for Change (PzP), five days before last year's parliamentary elections in which PES won. Nebojsa Medojevic. He then stated that the PES election campaign was helped by "one of the financiers of Brexit, a man arrested in the USA, accused of money laundering through cryptocurrencies, who also lives in Montenegro."
"That Cottrell gave Spajic money for PES campaigns... It is a double-digit amount in euros. I will tell the details that I know (to the chief special prosecutor Vladimir) Novovic if he tightens the noose to finally bring that man (Spajić) to justice", said Medojević at the time.
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Spajić, Milatović and Ivanović met with Cottrell
"Vijesti" has unofficially learned from several sources that in the summer of 2022, on the eve of the local elections, Spajić organized a meeting with Kotrel in Podgorica, which was attended by his then deputy Milatović and a member of the PES Presidency. Filip Ivanovic. Milatović confirmed this to the list yesterday, saying that, "in the days of the formation of PES, sometime in the summer of 2022", he and Ivanović were invited to attend a meeting with, "as we were told by Mr. Spajić presented - a communications expert from Great Britain, with extensive experience in the field of election campaigns".
"I didn't know him from before, nor did I know who he was. The meeting was in Podgorica," he says.
Milatović claims that during the meeting it was clear "that the mentioned person has known Spajić for a long time", and that he spoke at the meeting about his experience in election campaigns, "saying that he worked on numerous campaigns in Great Britain, including for the British politician Nigel Farage, known for its role in Brexit".
"Considering that I entered politics with the desire to bring Montenegro into the EU, I thought that the anti-EU narrative presented was bad and wrong for Montenegro, and thus for our nascent movement. After the meeting, I presented the same to Mr. I will also connect with other colleagues at the top of the movement. The obvious closeness of Mr. Spajića with representatives of the international crypto community, was also one of the reasons for the political passing between the two of us", says Milatović.
Asked whether Cottrell financed, monetarily or in kind, his presidential campaign and the campaign for any elections while he was in PES, the president replied that the PES campaigns for the mayor of Podgorica and the head of state, of which he was a part, fully financed from funds allocated from the budget of Montenegro.
"This is confirmed by numerous reports sent to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK), as a regular part of reporting within the electoral process. Also, what many members of the Presidency and the Main Board of PES can confirm is that during my candidacy for the presidency, at the moment when Prime Minister Spajić was disqualified due to having dual citizenship by the decision of the SEC and the votes of the representatives of DPS and DF (Democratic front), requested that the election headquarters be made up of the party's leadership and that the campaign be fully financed from the budget," claims Milatović, adding that he is convinced that all the questions of "Vijesti" can best be answered by Spajić, "who, by all accounts, , with the mentioned persons and many others from the crypto community, apparently on friendly terms”.
"Vijesti", based on unconfirmed unofficial information, asked PES and Kotrel about the alleged meeting of that British man with Spajić, Milatović, Ivanović and a businessman Miloš Tomić, at which, allegedly, Kotrel called Faraž on the phone, so that the other participants of the meeting could talk to him via speakerphone.
PES did not answer the questions of "Vijesta" in this regard, while Kotrel said through his lawyer that he did not recognize "the description of any such meeting".
“You mention a supposed meeting in 'summer 2022'. In this regard, although Mr. Kotrel has previously met occasionally with Mr. Spajić, Mr. Milatović and other members of Europe Now, he does not recognize your description of any such meeting. More specifically, Mr. Cottrell cannot remember ever calling Mr. Faraž and 'putting the conversation on speakerphone' so that any participant (of the meeting) could speak to Mr. Faraž”.
Lawyer: Kotrel invested hundreds of millions in Montenegro
Attorney Kotrela says that his client wants to clarify that he has been living in Montenegro for several years, and that he is responsible for "hundreds of millions of euros of investment, which resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs."
"In his role as a political consultant, he met and continues to meet with many leaders from the entire political spectrum, both in Montenegro and around the world," "Vijesti" was told.
The lawyer states that Kotrel is worried about the "biased nature" of the question and the reporting of "Vijesta", which, he adds, "seems to add fuel to the fire of collecting political points".
"Which he believes only harms the credibility of Montenegro as a business and investment destination, which in turn will lead to fewer opportunities for Montenegrin citizens", it was said.
Milović claims that he "almost found out" about Kotrel
Yesterday, Andrej Milović did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" about why he went public with the claim that Cottrel financed the campaign of his former party only after he was dismissed from his ministerial post, why he did not report those claims to the authorities immediately after learning about them, and whether he is aware that was an accomplice in the eventual concealment of a criminal act by his silence.
He said at the press conference yesterday that he "almost found out about Cottrell's involvement", adding that "there were some British people involved in the presidential campaign in PES", but that he did not know who they were.
On Wednesday, Milović announced on IX that "monetary 'donations' (for PES) were arranged in Podgorica and around the coast", that "meetings were held on yachts in Luštica and Porto Montenegro, with the presence of certain Arab investors...".
He did not answer "Vijesti" who these people are, by name and surname, including the Arab investors he mentioned.
Spajić: If my meetings are controversial, feel free to contact the security sector
When asked about the meeting with Cottrell held in the summer of 2022, Spajić said at the media conference on Wednesday that he did not want to comment on it.
"If there is anything problematic about any of my meetings... You see that I have met with any member of criminal groups, you see that I have met with any persons of security interest - feel free to act in the same way that I act. Act according to the security sector and the system, and you will get all the answers", he said.
No account for Spajić's campaign?
Bearing in mind that PES and Spajić started their presidential campaign before the possible confirmation of their candidacy, they were obliged to open a special giro account for the purpose of collecting funds to finance the campaign expenses, according to the law.
However, according to the data that PES submitted last year to the non-governmental organization Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), there is no one for Spajić's campaign on the list of accounts of the party since its foundation.
According to the law, in the event that a political entity starts a campaign and opens an account before confirming the electoral list, it is obliged to return the unused funds to the contributors in proportion to the amount paid or to pay them into the state budget - if it refuses to submit the list, withdraws the list, the competent election commission issues a decision on rejecting the list or a decision rejecting the announcement of the list.
"The political entity... is obliged to close a special account for financing the election campaign within 15 days from the day the competent election commission published the summary electoral list and to submit a confirmation of the closure of this account to the Agency within five days from the day of its closure . The political entity... is obliged to prepare a report on the financing of the election campaign as of the closing date of the special account referred to in Article 25 of this law and to submit it to the Agency within 20 days from the day when the competent election commission published the summary election list", it is written in to the law.
According to information from the ASK website, after Spajić was disqualified and Milatović entered the presidential race, PES opened an account on March 1 last year called "Presidential Elections - Jakov Milatović".
In the document with statements of that account, which MANS obtained under the Law on Free Access to Information, the first transaction was also carried out on March 1.
Bonus video:
