Milojko Spajić

Milojko "Mickey" Spajić[1] (Serbian Cyrillic: Милојко Спајић; born 24 September 1987) is a Montenegrin politician and financial engineer who served as the minister of finance and social welfare in the Government of Montenegro and the cabinet of Zdravko Krivokapić from 4 December 2020 to 28 April 2022.[2] He is the president of the centrist Europe Now party.

Milojko Spajić
Милојко Спајић
Spajić in February 2023
Minister of Finance and Social Welfare
In office
4 December 2020 – 28 April 2022
Prime MinisterZdravko Krivokapić
Preceded byDarko Radunović (as Minister of Finance of Montenegro)
Kemal Purišić (as Minister of Labor and Social Welfare)
Succeeded byAleksandar Damjanović
Personal details
Born (1987-09-24) 24 September 1987
Pljevlja, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia
Political partyEurope Now (2022–present)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (until 2022)
Children1
Alma materOsaka University
HEC Paris
OccupationFinancial engineer
NicknameMickey

Early life and education

Spajić was born on 24 September 1987 in Pljevlja, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia. Spajić is related to Bishop Metodije Ostojić.[3] He graduated from Pljevlja Gymnasium as one of the best students and continued his education at the Osaka University in Japan, where he studied ecometrics in Japanese as a scholarship holder of the Government of Japan.[4] As part of a student exchange program, he also studied at the Tsinghua University. He obtained his master's degree, also as a scholarship holder, in France at the HEC Paris business school.[5]

In addition to his native Serbian, he also speaks 5 other languages.[5]

Financial career

Following graduation he worked in the United States on Wall Street, in Paris and Tokyo. Prior to joining politics Spajić also worked for Goldman Sachs, a global banking group dealing with investment banking, securities trading and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients.[6][5] He has also been a partner of the Venture Capital Fund in Singapore.[7]

Political career

Spajić started his political career as a non-partisan politician and during the parliamentary elections in 2020 was a member of Zdravko Krivokapić's expert team. Spajic stated that there were several reasons for his return to Montenegro, but that the main one was the adoption of the disputed Law on Freedom of Religion and that the law shows how many problems have accumulated in the Montenegrin system. He added that until the situation improves, he will not "move" from Montenegro and that no investor will believe in a state where an institution such as the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), which has existed for eight centuries and is trusted by most Montenegrin citizens is getting its property seized by the government.[7] During the religious crisis, he participated in lobbying in the United States for interests of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbs of Montenegro.[8]

Spajic was sworn in as the minister of finance and social welfare on 4 December 2020 and served under Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić.[4] During his term, Spajić and economy minister Jakov Milatović presented and implemented the controversial "Europe now" economic reform program.[9] Following a parliamentary crisis, Prime Minister Krivokapić announced that he had submitted an initiative to the Parliament of Montenegro to remove Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and proposed that Spajić replaces him as the deputy prime minister.[10] Spajić claimed that he donated his whole ministerial salary.[11]

In 2022, Spajić and Milatović founded the Europe Now (PES) political party, with Spajić as president and Milatović as deputy president. PES participated in the 2022 local elections.[12]

Spajić tried to run for President of Montenegro in the 2023 presidential election but his candidacy was rejected by the State Electoral Commission (DIK) as it was discovered that he is a dual citizen of Serbia and Montenegro.[13] Following this discovery he stated he became a citizen of Serbia in 2009 and that the process of renouncing his Serbian citizenship is still ongoing.[14] He later stated that he accepted Serbian citizenship so that he could travel to Japan without a visa.[15] Instead of him, Milatović ran as PES candidate[16] and ended up defeating incumbent president Milo Đukanović in the run-off with 58.88% of the popular vote.[17] Following the presidential election, Spajić said that he is ready to take responsibility and be PES's ballot carrier for the 2023 parliamentary election.[18] On 26 April, it was confirmed that Spajić will head PES's electoral list.[19]

Political positions

Foreign policy

Spajić supports the accession of Montenegro to the European Union but also thinks that Western politicians are "not interested in Montenegro".[20] He claimed that joining NATO was a "good move for Montenegro", but that he would be opposed to deploying Montenegrin soldiers to the Baltic countries.[21] Spajić condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he considers an aggression, and voiced his support for sanctioning Russia, even though he thinks that sanctions will only "strengthen Moscow on its way".[22] Spajić is against the proposals of Montenegro revoking the recognition of Kosovo's independence, stating that he thinks that that is "one of the topics behind us".[23] He advocates closer relations between Montenegro and Serbia.[24]

Personal life

Spajić has a daughter with his former partner.[25][26] He is a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church.[8][27][28]

References
  1. Nova.rs (2023-04-11). "Stiže Mickey: Ko je Milojko Spajić, glavni kandidat za premijera Crne Gore". NOVA portal (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  2. "Montenegro Elects First Government Without Djukanovic Party". Balkan Insight. 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  3. "Ko je vladika Metodije: Episkop dioklijski, Amfilohijev vikarni episkop, ujak Milojka Spajića". www.dan.co.me. 2021-05-29. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  4. "Ovo su biografije kandidata za nove ministre".
  5. Admin (2020-10-11). "Da će nakon više od dvije decenije ministar biti Pljevljak koji je završio osnovnu i srednju školu u svom gradu?- Najnovije vijesti iz Pljevalja | – Najnovije vijesti iz Pljevalja" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  6. "Od Floride do Oksforda: Ovo su eksperti Vlade Crne Gore". NOVA portal. 2020-11-05. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  7. Novine, Pljevaljske. "Milojko Spajić: Vladavina prava da bude jaka kao kamen". Pljevaljske novine (in Serbian). Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  8. Team, D. F. C. (2020-07-01). "The overseas lobbying for the Serbian interests in MNE". DFC. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  9. "Spajić, Milatović: Čvrsto stojimo iza programa Evropa sad! onako kako ga je Vlada predložila". Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  10. "Krivokapić podnio inicijativu za smjenu Abazovića, za novog potpredsjednika predlaže Spajića". vijesti.me (in Serbian). Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  11. "Spajić: Svaku platu sam donirao, tako će biti i ubuduće". Portal Analitika. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  12. ""Evropa sad" izlazi na lokalne izbore, misija Pokreta: Prosječna plata 1.000 eura, minimalna penzija 450 eura, bez nezaposlenih..." Pobjeda. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  13. "Odbijena predsjednička kandidatura Milojka Spajića". balkans.aljazeera.net (in Bosnian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  14. "Spajić: Srpsko državljanstvo sam dobio 2009. godine". Pobjeda. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  15. "Spajić: Dok sam bio u Japanu, majka me pitala treba li mi državljanstvo Srbije". CDM. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  16. Milićević, Nenad (23 February 2023). ""Evropa sad" umesto Spajića kandiduje Jakova Milatovića za predsednika Crne Gore". N1 (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  17. www.antenam.net. "DIK utvrdio rezultate: Milatoviću 58,88 odsto glasova, Đukanoviću 41,12 odsto". Antena M (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  18. portal, D. A. N. (2023-04-07). "ДАН - Spajić: Spreman sam da budem nosilac liste, potrebno je formirati stabilnu većinu". www.dan.co.me. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  19. "Pokret Evropa sad ide samostalno na izbore, Spajić nosilac liste". vijesti.me (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  20. "Spajić: Zapadne političare mi ne interesujemo – siromašna zemlja na periferiji Evrope". CDM. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  21. ИН4С (2022-05-17). "Милојко Спајић оснивач црногорског света!". ИН4С (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  22. "Spajić: Katastrofalna agresija Rusije, glasaću za sankcije". vijesti.me (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  23. "Spajić: Kosovo je za mene nezavisna država!". www.barskiportal.com (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  24. "PRVI INTERVJU ZA SRPSKE MEDIJE: "Nesuđeni" kandidat za predsednika Crne Gore Milojko Spajić za Kurir o Milu, odnosima sa Srbijom". kurir.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  25. "Medojević objavio dokument: Spajić ima stan u Beogradu na vodi". Kodex.me. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  26. "Zašto je Spajić odigrao za Mila". vijesti.me (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  27. Durović, Aneta (2021-03-08). "Premijer Crne Gore na odru klerikalnog desničara kršio Vladine mjere". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  28. Standard (2021-03-06). "Spajić o sahrani Atanasija: Ponašali smo se u skladu sa mjerama". Standard (in Bosnian). Retrieved 2023-04-10.
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