Page 19 - SE Outlook Regions 2024

being elected prime minister, Spajic had a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen visited the country to meet its leadership as part of her Western Balkans tour.
Speaking to von der Leyen early on October 31, Spajic said the new government will work to close the most important EU accession chapters and speed up the necessary reforms. Montenegro is the most advanced of the Western Balkans states towards EU accession, but progress has recently been stalled by political instability in the country. Von der Leyen met also Montenegro’s president and deputy leader of PES, Jakov Milatovic, and said the country could join the EU before 2030 if it fulfils all conditions.
Spajic has also pledged that his government will roll out the Europe Now 2 programme of reforms that would also significantly raise people’s incomes. The government intends to finance hikes of pensions and public sector wages with budget revenue and to borrow money only to repay loans due in 2024. The Europe Now 2 programme should start as soon as in January 2024.
Europe Now 2 is a continuation of the Europe Now programme of reforms and increases of pensions and public sector wages created by Spajic and Milatovic while they were serving as ministers of finance and economy respectively in the former government of Zdravko Krivokapic.
The first programme was well accepted due to the significant rise of incomes and gave the name of Spajic and Milatovic’s Europe Now (PES) party that won local, presidential and general elections in less than one year.
In early December, Spajic warned that the country risks being included in MONEYVAL’s grey list. However, that was avoided, after the parliament adopted a law on prevention of money laundering.
However, although the first months of the coalition's work were smooth, there are concerns that it could collapse due to the presence of nationalistic pro-Russian formation – the For the Future of Montenegro (ZBCG) coalition. To avoid a blockade of EU-oriented reforms, Spajic demanded the coalition’s leaders sign a document pledging they would support these reforms.
This is specifically a concern for the right-wing, nationalist ZBCG, which Spajic initially hoped to keep out of the government but in the end was forced to include.
At the end of December, Montenegro also took steps to join an agreement on free movement of people living in any of the six Western Balkan countries, as well as an agreement on recognition of professional qualification documents issued by any of the six countries.
19 SE Outlook 2024 www.intellinews.com