PODGORICA (MONTENEGRO) – Montenegro’s President Milo Djukanovic has alleged that Serbia was pushing “media and political aggression” ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary vote.
Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) has been in charge of Adriatic state for three decades and took it into NATO. The party also won about 35% of the vote, paving way for the possibility of a new coalition government spearheaded by an alliance of pro-Serbian parties.
Djukanovic, however, admitted that his party’s election result was poorer than expected and it could have a connection with “people’s dissatisfaction with some policies” and low living standards.
He also criticised Serbia and its leader Aleksandar Vucic in Montenegro, a third of the 620,000-strong population is ethnically Serbian, for its role.
Djukanovic told Newsmax Adria TV, “President Vucic and … Serbia … want to interfere in the internal matters of other countries and … they want to revitalise the Greater Serbian nationalism.”
Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic brushed off his charge, saying the country was not “in any way threatened by Serbia”.
“Djukanovic … (wants) to gain political points by false stories about Montenegro’s vulnerability, instead of focusing on the needs and problems of its citizens,” she said.
An alliance of Serb nationalist parties titled For the Future of Montenegro in Sunday’s parliamentary election won 32.55% of the vote. A centrist grouping with opposing views to Djukanovic’s DPS, Peace is Our Nation, got 12.53%.
The parties have been in talks with regard to forming a new coalition government and have three months to do so.
Opposition leaders and democracy and human rights watchdogs have been alleging that Djukanovic and his party of interfering in Montenegro’s affairs. The DPS denies the charges.