In the presidential elections in Montenegro, pro-Western incumbent Milo Djukanovic won the most votes, but has to go to a second round. According to forecasts from Sunday evening, Djukanovic came out at 37.20 percent, missing the 50 percent that would have been needed for an election in the first round. In the second round of the elections on April 2, his opponent will be the pro-European economist Jakov Milatovic.
According to the first forecasts, he received 26.60 percent of the vote. He was ahead of pro-Serbian politician Andrija Mandic, who favored closer ties between the NATO state and neighboring Serbia and Russia, receiving 19.8 percent. Turnout was nearly 63 percent.
Montenegro wants to join the EU
Montenegro, with its approximately 620,000 inhabitants, is largely dependent on tourism revenues. The country is one of six Western Balkan countries seeking to join the EU and its currency is the euro.
Divided population
The population is divided: while members of one population group see themselves as Montenegrins, others see themselves as Serbs and reject the independence declared in 2006 by the successor state of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro. In 2017, Montenegro joined NATO after an attempted coup a year earlier. The government blamed Russian agents and Serbian nationalists. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Montenegro joined the EU sanctions against Moscow. The Kremlin has therefore put the country on the list of unfriendly states.
Djukanovic has held the highest political offices in Montenegro for decades. His opponents accuse him and his center-left party DPS of corruption and links to organized crime. The president and the DPS reject this.
Montenegro has been in a political crisis for some time now. There were repeated voices of no confidence and arguments between the president and MPs. Djukanovic only dissolved parliament on Thursday and called early parliamentary elections for June 11.
Source: Krone
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