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Two senior Montenegrin officials have resigned after allegations surfaced that a former presidential adviser threatened to release sexually explicit material involving a senior government lawyer, triggering a criminal investigation and a political backlash.
Mirjana Pajkovic, a former senior official at the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, resigned Friday after private video recordings circulated publicly. Her resignation followed that of Dejan Vuksic, who stepped down in December as an adviser to President Jakov Milatovic.
Pajkovic has accused Vuksic, a former head of Montenegro’s National Security Agency (ANB), of repeatedly threatening her with the release of private, sexually explicit recordings in an attempt to pressure and intimidate her. Vuksic has denied the allegations and filed a counter-complaint.
In a criminal complaint filed with police, Pajkovic alleged that Vuksic abused his position as ANB director to obtain information about her movements and private communications and later used compromising material to threaten her.
“Dejan Vuksic had access to illegally obtained compromising material while he was ANB director, which he admitted publicly, and he used that material to threaten me in order to obtain behavior he wanted,” Pajkovic said in the complaint, excerpts of which were reported by local media.
She said Vuksic warned her that he could destroy her career and prevent her from holding public office, and described the pressure as “extreme psychological intimidation.”
Vuksic resigned from his advisory role to the president in late December after an audio recording of alleged threats became public.
Pajkovic said she was unaware of the recordings before the alleged threats and feared retaliation due to Vuksic’s former position and influence.
In her resignation statement, she encouraged other women to speak out against intimidation and coercion, particularly when faced with threats aimed at destroying their professional and personal lives.
Vuksic has rejected what he called “inaccurate, incomplete and tendentious allegations,” denying that he threatened Pajkovic or distributed the recordings.
“I first saw the disputed content when it began circulating illegally on social networks,” Vuksic said in a written statement last week.
He has filed his own criminal complaint, alleging that in March 2025 he received threatening messages from an unknown sender demanding that he withdraw his candidacy for a seat on Montenegro’s Constitutional Court. He suggested Pajkovic may have been involved in an attempt to exert unlawful influence over the judicial appointment process.
Montenegro recently strengthened its legislation against image-based sexual abuse. Under current law, the unauthorized use or distribution of private recordings or sexually explicit material can carry prison sentences of up to five years.
Authorities have not disclosed how the recordings were leaked, and investigations into both complaints remain ongoing. Neither the president’s office nor the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights has issued a detailed public response.
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