Montenegro, experts: Foreign interventions delay formation of new government

The apparent delays in forming the new government in Montenegro, released by the June 11th parliamentary elections, are causing numerous reactions in the country.

Renowned Montenegrin analyst Velija Muric told America's “Zer” that outside interventions are affecting the rapid formation of the government.

Muric accuses official Belgrade of trying to bring pro-Serbian and pro-Russian parties into the new Montenegrin government.

“We currently have a powerful influence on official Belgrade that is hindering the formation of the new government. This pressure has created an irreconcilable situation in Montenegrin politics. While Belgrade insists that the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian party, the former Democratic Front, be included in the government, Prime Minister Milojko Spajic has dismissed the possibility of entering them”, Muric said, the Voice of America.

Muric also said that the “attacks from Belgrade would be even more powerful in the continuation of talks on the government, as was the first case several days when followers of pro-Serbian and pro-Russian parties protested in several cities in Montenegro, the Serbian Orthodox Church urged”.

On 11 June in Montenegro, parliamentary elections were held, which were assessed as free and without any irregularities highlighted by local and international observers.

The Europe Movement Now formed last year won the largest number of votes -- 24 seats in parliament, followed by the coalition led by former Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists, whose party held power for 30 years in Montenegro.

Montenegro was seen as a country leading the European Union membership process in the region and has opened all chapters in membership negotiations.

However, as a consequence of the political and institutional crisis, there has been no intergovernmental conference since December 2021, due to insufficient progress in reforms needed for the membership process.