4 minutes agoDjukanovic: Elections Key to Maintaining Montenegro's Independence
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic said the August 30th parliamentary elections would be crucial to preserving Montenegro's independence, in the face of efforts by Serbia and Russia to bring nationalist and anti-Western allies to power, his party announced on Wednesday. Djukanovic said a media war has been under way. [...]
Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic said the August 30th parliamentary elections would be crucial to preserving Montenegro's independence, in the face of efforts by Serbia and Russia to bring nationalist and anti-Western allies to power, his party announced on Wednesday.
Djukanovic said a “media and political combat against him and his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) is under way, to put Montenegro “under the umbrella of Belgrade and Moscow” and to prevent it from membership in the European Union.
Djukanovic said the DPS would not allow the dark “ideology of the Middle Ages” to prevail in the election.
With that, he referred to the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, which has led a series of protests against his government.
Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, has denied allegations that Serbia, Russia's close ally, is interfering in Montenegro's elections through the media and the church.
A law on religious property in Montenegro has caused Serb authorities now and a number of months.
Serbs make up about 30 per cent of Montenegro's population of 620,000.
According to opponents, the law will lead to the seizure of Serbian Orthodox Church property by the Montenegrin state, which is denied by the Montenegrin government.
In the election, Montenegro's ruling DPS party will be challenged by a pro-Serbian group and another opposition alliance accusing Djukanovic and his government of widespread corruption.
Opinion violations show that DPS will win the majority of votes, but not enough to govern on its own. /rel
