Montenegro

The 36-year-old ousted incumbent Milo Djukanovic, who was in power for three decades.

“This is a victory of reconciliation, a triumph for all of us,” Milatovic told supporters in the capital Podgorica late Sunday. It may also resolve a political deadlock in the tourism-dependent economy, which suffered one of Europe’s worst economic contractions during the Covid-19 pandemic. It cited the Podgorica-based Center for Monitoring and Research, which conducted a parallel count from a nationwide sample of polling stations. “A multi-ethnic, civic and European Montenegro remains my love and what I’ll be dedicated to until the end of my life,” he told reporters late Sunday. With similar messages to voters in 2020 parliamentary elections, his party lost that ballot to a motley alliance ranging from conservative and pro-Serbian to pro-Western and liberal groups. A relative newcomer who co-founded a political party only last year, Milatovic promised renewed economic reforms and pledged to root out corruption to bring the NATO member state of 620,000 people closer to European Union membership.

PODGORICA, 3 April 2023 – The second round of Montenegro's presidential election was competitive and as in the first round candidates were able to campaign ...

“There was a genuine political debate in Montenegro ahead of yesterday’s runoff, and both candidates had the opportunity to reach out to voters,” said Tamás Meszerics, head of the ODIHR election observation mission. While both candidates had equal access to the public media, it was noted that both local public broadcasters as well as private media were biased in their coverage. We hope that both this presidential election and the coming parliamentary ones will make this possible.” Election day itself was generally calm and the voting process well managed. At the same time, the election administration addressed some legal deficiencies and added important safeguards that increased the integrity of the process as a whole. This included the election administration, voter registration, the campaign and campaign finance, and the media, all of which led to considerable legal uncertainty.

'Tonight is the night we have been waiting for over 30 years,' Jakov Milatović says in victory speech.

Đukanović was an ally of Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević, before he [broke](https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/donald-trumped-marins-last-dance-mid-week-tipple/#balkans) with Milošević in 1997 over [disagreements](https://www.rferl.org/a/1087543.html) about the country’s international isolation. I wish you a happy victory,” Milatović told supporters of his center-right Europe Now movement on Sunday evening, according to [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/montenegro-holds-run-off-presidential-election-2023-04-02/). Milatović was jubilant. Đukanović has conceded defeat. [local](https://cemi.org.me/en/post/based-on-613-percent-of-the-processed-sample-djukanovic-won-399-percent-of-votes-and-milatovic-601-1046) [pollsters](https://www.cdtmn.org/2023/04/02/sve-o-predsjednickim-izborima-2023/).

Montenegro's pro-EU former economy minister Jakov Milatovic claimed victory in Sunday's presidential run-off, ousting Milo Djukanovic, who has been.

For his part, Djukanovic had the support of the Bosniak Party. Milatovic served as economy minister in the government elected after the 2020 parliamentary elections but later split from the ruling coalition. Montenegro took a step forward and said goodbye to the regime of Milo Djukanovic, and a step forward towards a European, more beautiful and fairer Montenegro,” Milatovic commented on Sunday evening, as reported by public broadcaster RTCG.