Montenegro’s Prime Minister, Milojko Spajic, said on Saturday that recent developments in the country and in the region confirm the seriousness of information owned by local and partner security services, regarding the possibility of hybrid activities.
These comments followed a request from his movement, Europe Now ( The EPS, for parliament to review ties between national television broadcasters and imetM-telė (in majority ownership of the Serbian company HINA Telekom Srbija) as well as the Alta Bank’s Alta Pay Group (related to Serbian businessman Davor Macura), write Foreign mediaHe’s following in on Telegrafie.
In a post on the X platform, Spajic stressed that the actual processes confirm the seriousness and quality of information available to our security services and to those partners for whom I had warned since late August.
He added that he expects institutions, based on fact, to determine who has really protected state interests, and who, relying on informal power centres from other states and using unauthorized mechanisms, has tried to undermine Montenegro’s stability and stop its path towards the European Union.
On August 27th, Spajic announced that the government has serious information on operational security, which showed that the closure of new negotiating chapters with the EU could be accompanied by a co-ordinated hybrid action involving officials from at least two countries in the region.
At the time, he did not mention the states, but stressed that support was expected from certain political actors and from parts of the Montenegrin media scene.
The EPS parliamentary group has presented an initiative for a monitoring hearing with the Parliamentary Commission for Security and Protection, in terms of the possible foreign hybrid impact on Montenegro’s media and political space.
And according to the media, the proposed review would include financial, property and television business relations with national coverage with M-tel companies, Alta Bank, Alta Pay Group and other related subjects, as well as any link that may suggest organised political influence from abroad.
According to the initiative, the goal is to determine whether financial, telecommunications and media channels are used to influence public opinion, editorial policy and democratic processes, as well as whether security risks exist for Montenegro.
The EPS proposes that the commission hold a controlling hearing with representatives of competent security and state institutions, require relevant data on these links, examine the involvement of commissions for education/cultural and economy/finance, and seek an assessment of possible elements of foreign hybrid influence.
The initiative does not present evidence that such an impact has occurred; it urges competent institutions to conduct investigations.
As further known, M-tel has been operating in Montenegro since 2007 and is one of the biggest telecommunications operators in the country, offering mobile and fixed phone services, internet and television.
This company is largely linked to the group Telekom Srbijaı, which is controlled by the Serbian state.
Alta Bank and Alta Pay Group are part of the business system of Serbian entrepreneur Davor Macura.
The National Bank of Serbia revoted the Alta Bank operating license on October 30th after supervisory checks revealed a significant deterioration of the bank’s financial situation and the risk of further deterioration of liquidity, which puts depositors’ interests at risk.
The bank management went to the Agency for Deposit Insurance and legal procedures were initiated against the bank, its shareholders, directors and other responsible persons. /Telegraph/