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Milo Djukanovic is the oldest European leader and has ruled Montenegro for 30 years, as Prime Minister or President. It now appears that he and his PDS party will lose power after this weekend’s elections.
The PDS, a reformed post-communist party, has about 35 percent of the vote, which is probably not enough to form a government.
That people are throwing a party that has ruled for so long, and that has often been held responsible for large-scale corruption, should be a sign of health for democracy.
It hasn’t felt so good in recent years. As recently as 2016, a coup attempt was prevented in the last hour, according to the Montenegrin judiciary organized by Russian GRU agents. And earlier this year, the renowned Freedom House downgraded Montenegro from “democracy” to “hybrid regime.”
President Djukanovic began his career as an ally of Slobodan Milosevic, the authoritarian Serbian president who was accused of crimes against humanity after the wars after Yugoslavia, but who died before he could be convicted.
But Djukanovic broke with Milosevic early on and has long emerged as a rector. Montenegro became a member of NATO in 2017 and is also applying for membership in the EU.
The opposition – which now claims to have won the elections – is made up mainly of anti-Western parties. They are opposed to NATO and EU membership and want to approach Serbia and Russia instead.
In this way, the Montenegrin election is interpreted as part of the struggle for influence in the Balkans, where the EU and NATO oppose Russia.
How it ends is difficult to say. The future of the pro-Russia Serbian nationalist bloc, Montenegro, like the PDS, does not have enough mandate to form a single government, but must seek alliances with, for example, MNN, a party that wants to increase integration with the West.
The only thing that is The unequal couple he has in common is his dislike of the mighty Djukanovic. Maybe it’s big enough to push them into a hug.
