The economist Jakov Milatovic qualified for the run-off election on April 2nd with 29 percent of the votes. His new party “Europe Now!” is close to the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is controlled from Belgrade.
For the election on Sunday, another five candidates stood for the vote of around 540,000 eligible voters. The head of the openly pro-Serbian and pro-Russian Democratic Front, Andrija Mandic, came third with 19 percent.
The election took place in a highly polarized political climate. Djukanovic, who led Montenegro to independence in 2006 and into NATO in 2017, determined the fate of his country for more than three decades. His rule came to an end when a heterogeneous coalition of more or less pro-Serbian forces sent the presidential DPS party into opposition in the August 2020 general election.
The run-off election on April 2 will decide whether Djukanovic will survive politically. Born in 1986, Milatovic is said to have a good chance of beating him. “Europe now!” is modern and reform-oriented. Milatovic was Minister of Economy in the short-lived pro-Serbian government (December 2020 to April 2022).
