Montenegro Opposition Pledges to Maintain Country’s EU Path

The three main opposition blocs that won a slim parliamentary majority said their proposed ‘government of experts’ will implement all the necessary reforms so Montenegro can join the European Union as soon as possible.

Montenegrian opposition supporters celebrate the election results in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo:EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

The leaders of three main opposition blocs that won a slender victory at the weekend’s elections in Montenegro announced on Monday evening that they will not change the country’s course towards European Union membership.

After their meeting, Zdravko Krivokapic, the leader of For the Future of Montenegro alliance, Black on White coalition leader Dritan Abazovic and Peace is Our Nation coalition leader Aleksa Becic said that new ruling majority will implement all its international commitments responsibly.

“The new government will implement all the necessary reforms in order for Montenegro to join the European Union as soon as possible. A democratic government will be constituted by personnel who are experts in specific fields, regardless of their political, religious, national or any other characteristics,” the three leaders said in a joint statement.

According to the State Electoral Commission, the opposition parties won a slender majority of 41 of the 81 seats in parliament in Sunday’s general elections.

The main pro-Serb opposition For the Future of Montenegro coalition won 35.5 per cent of the votes and 27 seats. With the support of another Peace is Our Nation, which won 12.5 per cent of the votes and ten seats, it almost secured a majority. The third opposition bloc, Black on White, won 5.5 per cent of the votes and four seats.

Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists, which has been in power for decades, won 35.12 per cent of the votes and 30 of the 81 seats in parliament.

Djukanovic’s party has 40 seats with the support of its small traditional allies – but still not enough for a majority. His former partners from a bloc of ethnic Croat parties did not get enough votes to pass the electoral threshold.

The director of the Centre for Civic Education NGO, Daliborka Uljarevic, said that “reservations about an expert government” and that the three bloc’s leaders had to show they were in charge “You can offer certain departments to experts, but you have to know that political leaders must run the government,” Uljarevic told TV Vijesti.

Despite their joint effort to beat Djukanovic’s party, the three opposition blocs share few common values. Some are pro-EU and pro-NATO, others are anti-NATO and loyal to the Kremlin.

For the Future of Montenegro is dominated by Krivokapic’s pro-Serbian Democratic Front, which strongly opposed Montenegro joining NATO and favours closer ties with Russia, while the liberal Black on White movement is pro-EU.

Opposition supporters continued to celebrate in some Montenegrin towns on Monday, chanting slogans against Djukanovic and carrying Montenegrin and Serbian flags.

Local media reported some clashes between opposition and ruling party supporters in the capital Podgorica and the towns of Pljevlja and Niksic. Police intervened in Podgorica to stop the fighting.

Media also reported ethnic provocations against Bosniaks in the town of Pljevlja and against Albanians in town of Tuzi, while the Democratic Party of Socialists called on authorities to stop such incidents and maintain the peace.

On Tuesday, For the Future of Montenegro alliance Zdravko Krivokapic called on his supporters to stay at home and stop celebrating on the streets. He called on the authorities to investigate incidents and prosecute any attackers.

“If we continue with divisions, we may have additional problems. The opposition does not need such problems, it is the ruling coalition that needs tensions to preserve its power. We should not react to these provocations,” Krivokapic told TV Vijesti. “No one should be in danger in Montenegro. Especially national minorities,” he added.