Upstart Pro-EU Party is Front-Runner In Montenegro’s Snap Ballot

Misha Savic
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Montenegrins vote Sunday in parliamentary elections that may help stabilize the tiny Adriatic state after its two most recent governments collapsed, in a contest that pits a new generation of pro-European leaders against veteran politicians.

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Leading the polls is the Europe Now party, headed by former Finance Minister Milojko Spajic. The 35-year-old, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. credit analyst, co-founded the group only last year with another ex-banker, Oxford-educated Jakov Milatovic. The latter became Montenegro’s president just weeks ago, having defeated the Balkan country’s long-dominant leader Milo Djukanovic with pledges to root out endemic graft and accelerate Montenegro’s bid to join the European Union.

Europe Now is backed by 29% of voters, followed by Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists with 24% popular support, according to a survey conducted last month by Podgorica-based Center for Democracy and Human Rights, or CEDEM. Another 13 smaller groups, including conservatives, pro-Russian nationalists, liberals and representatives of ethnic minorities are also vying to join the 81-seat parliament in the nation of 620,000 people.

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A historic power shift in the smallest Yugoslav republic started in 2020 when Djukanovic’s DPS party lost power for the first time since 1991, amid allegations of corruption and links to organized crime. However, the motley coalition that took over soon crumbled and two governments collapsed last year, leaving Montenegro run by a caretaker administration since August.

With almost three-quarters of the electorate supporting Montenegro’s bid to join the 27-nation EU, the mainstream parties are promising voters to achieve that goal and also to prop up a tourism-reliant economy that suffered one of Europe’s worst downturns during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Europe Now leader Spajic, who served as the finance minister in 2021, may next become prime minister, campaigning on promises to boost wages and pensions while cutting the standard work-week to 35 hours from 40 hours.

Similar pledges have already helped 36 year-old Milatovic, who previously worked for Deutsche Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, win the presidential race in April, trouncing Djukanovic by a wide margin.

After the defeat, Djukanovic stepped down as the chief of the DPS party but remains a formidable force given his legacy of having restored Montenegro’s independence in 2006 with a split from former partner Serbia. He also secured the country’s accession to NATO in 2017, overcoming resistance from Russia, once the biggest investor in Montenegro.

On the wane are right-wing groups who opposed accession to NATO and prefer ties with the Kremlin. Their alliance, dubbed the Democratic Front, crumbled earlier this year, though at least two parties that were part of the coalition may garner a combined 13% of the votes, according to the CEDEM survey.

Other key parties in the ballot include the United Reform Action of caretaker Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, and the Democrats led by former parliament Speaker Aleksa Becic, which are both pro-EU and anti-graft. They’ve campaigned on cracking down on Montenegro’s powerful drug cartels, an effort that’s led to high-profile arrests of judges and senior police officials accused of colluding with cocaine smugglers.

Initial results of Montenegro’s vote are likely to start rolling in late Sunday evening.

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