Montenegro finally gets new government after June polls
Baku, October 31, AZERTAC
Montenegrin lawmakers on Tuesday voted in a new government, backed by a pro-Russian alliance, nearly five months after general elections, according to Barron`s.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic's government was voted in after a marathon overnight debate, supported by 46 of 66 the MPs present in the 81-member parliament.
"Our vision is Montenegro as the Switzerland of the Balkans and the Singapore of Europe", Spajic, 36, told lawmakers ahead of the vote.
His Europe Now party won a slim lead in parliamentary elections in June amid a crowded field of parties, which led to lengthy talks to hammer out a new coalition.
The new coalition includes pro-Russian and pro-Serbian parties, notably the alliance For the Future of Montenegro, whose leader Andrija Mandic was elected parliamentary speaker late Monday.
Mandic's alliance is against the recognition of Serbia's former breakaway province of Kosovo and does not support international sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The June elections came just months after Montenegro's political establishment was rocked when long-time leader Milo Djukanovic suffered a crushing defeat in a presidential run-off in April to newcomer Jakov Milatovic of the Europe Now party.
Since forming in 2022, Europe Now has gained traction with its pro-European platform and pledge to raise wages and launch reforms.
The party has banked its political future on capturing the eagerness of young voters looking for an injection of fresh faces into the country's leadership long dominated by Djukanovic and his DPS.
Since the 2020 parliamentary elections -- which saw DPS' grip on power weaken after taking a beating at the polls -- Montenegro has pivoted from crisis to crisis.
For many in the country of 620,000 people, a third of whom identify as Serbs, the prolonged political dysfunction has left them disillusioned.
Montenegro joined NATO in 2017 and has been negotiating EU membership since 2012.
Political instability and paralysis of the institutions blocked the country's path towards the 27-nation political bloc.
Other news in this section
