“Despite his busy schedule, the prime minister wanted to meet President Radev during his official visit to Montenegro,” a Montenegrin government spokesperson told POLITICO.
But Spajic’s previous meeting “went three minutes longer than planned,” the spokeswoman said. The Bulgarian delegation, on the other hand, “waited four minutes and then left the government building,” he said.
The spokesperson added that the meeting was scheduled to be held at Villa Gorica, a venue where the government often holds meetings with foreign leaders, but that facility was already being used by the president.
“It is completely natural for a head of state to reject a meeting for which the hosts are not prepared,” Radev’s spokesman told Bulgarian newspaper Dnevnik. Radev’s camp did not respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
During his two-day visit, Radev expressed Bulgaria’s support for Montenegro’s accession to the European Union.
“Bulgaria highly values the excellent relationship with Montenegro, our constructive partnership, common goals and shared values within the NATO framework, and I believe that in the near future, this will also happen within the EU framework,” he said. Press conference with Milatovic
According to local media, this is not the first time Spajic has failed to appear at a meeting with a foreign dignitary. Last March he snubbed Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic, who waited for an audience for half an hour before leaving, Montenegrin newspaper Dan reported.
Spajic, 36, a former Goldman Sachs banker, was elected in October last year and is Europe’s youngest prime minister.
