Former director of the Directorate for Intelligence and Security Affairs of the Ministry of Defense and newly appointed adviser to the Prime Minister for security and defense Todor Goranović in the summer of 2022, he was returned to Podgorica from the NATO headquarters in Brussels, and half a year later he also left the Army of Montenegro.
Goranović said in a statement to "Vijesta" that his duty in Belgium ended on July 11, 2022, but due to "personal, family reasons".
"It is true that by the decision of the Council for Defense and Security, my duty in Belgium at the NATO headquarters ended on July 11, 7, and I was appointed to the same duty by the Council's decision on May 2022, 20. In the decision, the need of the service was stated as the reason," replied Goranović.
He went to Brussels from the position of director of the Intelligence and Security Directorate (OBD).
Several interlocutors from the Army of Montenegro and the security sector claim that Goranović's return from the NATO headquarters was allegedly conditioned by a "security problem".
"He was returned from Brussels, but the NATO headquarters did not send a written explanation as to why such a decision was made," says the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
Sources of the newspaper also claim that the alleged reason for the return was a "security problem", but that there is no written document about it, but that it was announced in oral communication.
One of the interlocutors of "Vijesti" claims that Goranović gave information to a foreign intelligence service. Spajić's adviser strongly denied such allegations, stressing that it is "scandalous in many aspects".
"First, if these allegations were true, my actions would have to be the subject of criminal proceedings under the jurisdiction of the Special State Prosecutor's Office. This would further mean that the two authorities in charge of counterintelligence either knowingly ignored to inform the SDT about this case, or were grossly incompetent and failed to detect my alleged espionage activity for the benefit of a foreign intelligence service. Both one and the other hypothetical scenario are extremely disturbing from the point of view of national security protection. Our society has its own challenges in terms of the transformation and professionalization of the security services, but still ANB and OBD are more than professional and competent enough to handle such a case adequately, in favor of protecting national security," he said.
Goranović denied that in his professional career he was refused permission to access classified information, and that he left the service in the Army of Montenegro in January 2023 at his personal request.
He stated that in accordance with Article 145 paragraph 1 item 13 of the Law on the Republic of Croatia, he received an "honorable discharge" from professional military service.
"NATO does not carry out any security checks or issue certificates of fulfillment of conditions, but checks are done by national services, and permissions for access to national and NATO data are issued by the national authority of a specific country, in our case it is the Directorate for the Protection of Secret Data. I have never been denied a clearance in my professional career. These are factually verifiable data in the ANB, OBD and DzTP registers. As far as NATO itself is concerned, I would like to point out that I worked for three years and 3 months at the NATO Intelligence Fusion Center in Great Britain, for which duty I received a meritorious service plaque. In the mentioned period, I (among others) briefed the most important political and military authorities in NATO, such as the commander of NATO forces in Europe (SACEUR), as well as the deputy head of the NATO Military Committee (DCMC)", said Goranović.
Goranović also emphasized that someone for whom there are security obstacles "cannot perform any duty in the national security system."
At yesterday's session, the government appointed Goranović as the prime minister's security and defense adviser Milojko Spajić, and "Vijesti" asked the cabinet of the head of the government whether the unusually express return of Goranović from the headquarters of NATO in the summer of 2022 could be a hindrance to the performance of his duties as an advisor in the cabinet of the head of the executive branch.
Lieutenant Colonel Goranović was appointed Acting Director of the OBD on May 12, 2021, after the dismissal of the previous head of the Directorate Aleksandar Šaranovića.
Goranović's predecessor was in the position of OBD director for only 35 days, after returning from military security retirement, and at that time there was speculation in the media that the reason for his dismissal was allegedly because he did not allow the transit transport of ammunition from Serbia through the territory of Montenegro.
Half a year later, Acting Goranović was entrusted with a full mandate as the head of the General Director of OBD, and at the suggestion of the then Minister of Defense Oliver Injac.
The VCG officer was then unanimously given the green light by the Parliamentary Committee for Security and Defense.
Off-duty officer biography
Out-of-service lieutenant colonel Todor Goranović graduated from the Military Academy in Belgrade, and then completed his master's studies in the field of intelligence and security at the University of Leicester.
He started his military service after graduating from the academy in 2009, working as a financial business analyst at the Ministry of Defense.
From 2013 to 2018, he was an advisor for analytical affairs in the Intelligence and Security Directorate of the MoD, and in the same period he was also a liaison officer with NATO intelligence structures.
He spent the next three years at the NATO Intelligence Fusion Center in Great Britain.
From 2021 to the summer of 2022, he was at the head of the OBD.
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