head of state
Challenger Milatovic becomes the new president of Montenegro
Jakov Milatovic is the clear winner in the presidential elections in Montenegro. The economist advocates, among other things, a rapprochement with Serbia. photo
© Risto Bozovic/AP/dpa
End of an era in the small Balkan country on the Adriatic: For more than three decades, Milo Djukanovic determined politics – for better or for worse. What path will his successors take?
The candidate of the new party “Europe Now!”, Jakov Milatovic, clearly won the presidential election in Montenegro. According to election researchers, the political newcomer, who is supported by the pro-Serbian camp, won 59 to 60 percent of the voters in Sunday’s runoff. The pro-Western incumbent Milo Djukanovic had to be content with 40 to 41 percent of the vote.
The result was “no surprise,” said the head of the opinion research institute Damar, Vuk Cadenovic, on Monday morning. Milatovic is able to mobilize Djukanovic’s opponents in a wide range. However, given the headwinds and his long presence in politics, Djukanovic has “done not badly”, he added.
The president who was voted out congratulated his successor on the night of the election. “The result is what it is, and sometimes you lose elections,” he told supporters in Podgorica late on Sunday evening. Preserving a civil, multi-ethnic Montenegro remains his vocation.
Milatovic was greeted by supporters at the headquarters of “Europe Now!” celebrate, who shouted in choruses: “Milo (Djukanovic), it’s over!” The winner of the election said: “This victory will change Montenegro.” Crime and corruption will no longer exist in the country’s politics. The road to Europe remains the priority.
With the change of president in Montenegro, an era that lasted more than three decades is coming to an end, in which Djukanovic largely determined the politics of the small Balkan country on the Adriatic Sea. The 61-year-old led the former Yugoslav republic to independence in 2006 and to NATO in 2017. At the same time, his rule was repeatedly overshadowed by corruption, nepotism and close ties to organized crime.