During his visit to Japan, Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milojko Spajić spoke to the leading economic daily Nikkei (owner of the Financial Times) about his government’s achievements and plans, as well as Montenegro’s position on key global issues.
Spajić emphasized Montenegro’s goal to complete EU accession negotiations by 2026 and become the 28th EU member state by 2028. He highlighted the significant progress made in the last year and a half, expressing confidence that the remaining chapters will be completed on time. He noted the vast economic benefits of joining the EU’s single market, which is about a thousand times larger than Montenegro’s domestic market.
He also stressed Montenegro’s unique ethnic composition—with no absolute majority—and its potential role as a bridge to promote good neighborly relations and accelerate the Western Balkans’ integration into the EU.
Spajić expressed support for cooperation between Japan and NATO, describing Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand as “partners sharing common values” in the Indo-Pacific region, and called Japan “Europe’s best friend.”
Highlighting global security and peace, Spajić referenced the Japanese concept of “Ba” — rooted in the philosophy of Nishida Kitaro and management theories of Ikujiro Nonaka — which emphasizes harmony and interaction among people. He noted that unlike Mediterranean cultures, Japan fosters a collaborative environment where everyone contributes while maintaining harmony.
The article also recalls that Spajić spent five years in Japan as a government scholarship student, studying at Osaka University and graduating from Saitama University’s Faculty of Economics in 2012. He holds a master’s degree from HEC Paris and is fluent in Japanese. It mentions his official meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on May 28, conducted in Japanese.
