Crowds of Montenegrins flooded the streets of Podgorica on Saturday evening chanting ‘Milo Thief’, ‘No more crime’ and ‘rebellion’, protesting against what seems like an ‘unchallengeable’ political leader in the tiny Balkan nation.

President Milo Đukanović, a veteran politician who has ruled Montenegro since 1991, has been accused by a former ally over corruption affairs and involvement in financial crime, causing a series of scandals which have shaken the country’s political scene.

Đukanović refutes the allegations and authorities are looking for his former ally Duško Knežević, who has fled the country.

Duško Knežević is the founder and president of the board of directors of Atlas Group Corporation (AGC) which is the largest financial group in Montenegro consisting of dozens of companies with far-ranging business interest, including banks and financial companies in Serbia, Cyprus, Russia and Great Britain.

The head of the troubled Atlas Banka accuses the Đukanović ‘clan’ of ordering his arrest and faking charges of money laundering and financial fraud, claiming that the president and his family are trying to take over his businesses and properties along Montenegro’s Adriatic coast.

The powerful businessman has also alleged that Montenegro’s banking sector is crumbling with three banks at particular risk. Since Knežević fled the country, he has revealed information over a €10mn villa as a gift given to President Milo Djukanovic, which he denies.

Prosecutors have now accused Knežević of heading a criminal group that organized and executed the laundering of €500m Euros through Atlas Banka, illegally receiving €1.9m.

Mr. Knežević, who has a previous history of bankruptcy, has been charged with abuse of office and the special prosecution office of Montenegro has issued an international arrest warrant for him. A Montenegrin court ruled several weeks ago that, once arrested, he must spend one month in detention.

The scandal has now escalated further as a video showing Knežević giving money to a member of Đukanović’s long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) was released. The money was allegedly donated to support Đukanović’s campaign in 2018 which returned him to the presidential seat.

Milo Đukanović has been the President of Montenegro since 20 May 2018. He served as Prime Minister of Montenegro in three governments from 1991 to 1998, as President of Montenegro from 1998 to 2002, and as Prime Minister again from 2003 to 2006, from 2008 to 2010, and from 2012 to 2016.

Mr. Đukanović is also the long-term president of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, originally the Montenegrin branch of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, which has governed Montenegro since the introduction of multi-party politics.

Montenegro is a candidate country for EU membership and is currently engaged under intense negotiations with the European Commission to pave the way for its eventual membership.

The tiny Balkan country of 620,000 citizens became a member of NATO in 2017 following a harshly fought campaign with its pro-Russian opposition parties, which accuse Đukanović of siding with the west to protect his political legacy.  

During the 2017 general elections, British intelligence officials said that Moscow stands behind a planned plot to steal Montenegro’s elections and kill its pro-NATO leader Milo Đukanović, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Montenegro has been historically divided between pursuing pro-Western policies and sticking to an alliance with Orthodox Christian allies Serbia and Russia. Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in 2006.

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According to Podgorica based daily Vijesti, UAE engineers and Abu Dhabi\’s ruling Al Nahyan family representatives will be visiting the coastal city of Bar this week to check on the country’s main sea port which is currently operating with an annual financial loss and significantly below its potential capacities.

The country’s authorities have been desperate to expand its international connections, recently announcing plans for a new Bar-Belgrade highway which will open access to Serbia and other central European markets.

Although Montenegro’s government has not officially confirmed plans for the privatization of the port, drafting of necessary legal acts are under way reportedly while the country’s President Milo Djukanovic was recently in the UAE to lure interest in the port.  

The United Arab Emirates have in recent years been strengthening their presence in the Balkans, notably in Serbia where investments run into billions of dollars.

Mohammed bin Zayed, the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, has identified Serbia as the main destination in the western Balkans for his country’s efforts to diversify its economy before oil runs out, and plans to extend into Montenegro confirm bin Zayed’s plans to grow its investment portfolio in the Balkans.

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Speaking at the start of the high level session, Albanian prime minister Edi Rama said that both countries are interconnected like never before, while this close relationship offers huge untapped potentials to be explored.

\”It is time to address these potential and make the best out of the exchange of ideas and experiences and join our forces, starting not only with the opening of new border crossing points, which marks an important success ahead of this meeting, but also a broader basis to implement the cross-border development plans and continuing to highlight and exploit the great economic and tourist values ​​that carries the whole area we share.\” – Rama said.

Albania and Montenegro have agreed to improve infrastructure links and further facilitate the movement of people and goods. There is already a common border check point at the Murriqan-Sukobin border crossing and it has set an example for other countries in the region.

The two prime ministers also signed a series of inter-governmental agreements on trans-boundary water management, on mutual assistance in emergency situations, on cross-border operations for airspace patrolling, on cultural cooperation as well as agreed on the opening of a border crossing for road and waterway traffic on Lake Shkodra. The agreements are expected to boost the already excellent ties between Albania and Montenegro.

Commenting after the signing of agreements, Montenegrin prime minister Duško Marković said:

\”today we signed a series of important agreements. I am not going to point out each of them, but I would like to say that these agreements include the concrete steps to advance our relations and turn our potentials to the benefit of the citizens of Albania and Montenegro. These are agreements between the line ministries and government bodies which we will analyze and take stock of their results during the next year’s joint session in Podgorica.\”

Albania and Montenegro are both members of NATO and both hope to join the European Union in the near future. The excellent relations between the two neighborly countries are praised by the EU and the USA as a bright example for the entire Western Balkans, which has historically suffered from bitter ethnic feuds and constant conflict.

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The state election commission confirmed provisional results from the vote on Sunday with the leader of ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) winning the race by 54% of the national vote in the small Balkan country.

The country had to choose between six candidates with Mladen Bojanic supported by the pro Russian opposition parties coming second in the poll with 34% of the vote.

The vote is a confirmation of slim support for the ‘eternal’ leader of Montenegro who led the country out of a union with Serbia in 2006 and was key to the country joining NATO last year, despite fierce opposition from pro Serbian and pro Russian political groups.

Pro western Milo Djukanovic, 54, has run Montenegro for almost three decades and seeks to push ahead with a pro EU and pro NATO political agenda. He benefits largely from the support of minority parties, notably the Albanian minority in the country.

Despite opposition accusations of ties with organized crime and corruption, Djukanovic enjoys widespread support in the West, notably because of the stability and pro European agenda he has provided for Montenegro.

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He has variously transformed himself from a communist to a friend of the super-rich, from an ally of ill-fated Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to the man who led his country away from Serbia and into NATO.

One of two Europeans to have dominated his country\’s politics for longer than Russia\’s Vladimir Putin, Djukanovic has been Montenegro\’s prime minister six times and president once, holding power with only brief interruptions since 1991.

Now, using his tried and true recipe of populism and patronage, he appears poised to win a presidential election on April 15 that will end a two-year hiatus at a key moment in the Adriatic nation’s history.

“Djukanovic has been more skilled and less ideological than most other politicians in the region, allowing him to reshape his agenda, policies according to the prevailing influence,” Florian Bieber, a Balkans expert at the University of Graz, said.

Djukanovic became the face of a new generation as part of a group of young communists who appealed to Montenegrins tired of an older generation of politicians who emerged after the 1980 death of longtime Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito.

He parlayed that into becoming the youngest head of government in Europe at the age of 29 in 1991, the year he backed the Yugoslav military action against Croatia, allowing Montenegrin forces to participate in the siege and bombardment of the historic port of Dubrovnik and other devastation in the former Yugoslav republic.

Then, when Djukanovic saw where Milosevic’s policies were headed, he jettisoned Milosevic in 1998 and turned to pro-Western reforms even as the country remained paired with Serbia in statehood.

The drive away from former eastern allies culminated last year in Podgorica\’s crowning diplomatic moment.

Montenegro became NATO\’s 29th member in June, marking a historic turn toward the transatlantic alliance amid protests from the country\’s political opposition and Moscow, which has long opposed any further enlargement of the military alliance.

Montenegrin officials claim that in the run-up to NATO accession, Serbian and Russian nationalists plotted to occupy parliament during the country\’s October 2016 parliamentary elections, assassinate Djukanovic, who then was the prime minister, and install a pro-Russian leadership to halt the bid.

“He realized the importance of external legitimacy. To be seen as a reliable interlocutor by foreign partners, in particular the EU and the U.S., and that this strategic partnership offers domestic legitimacy. By pursuing a policy of good relations with neighbors, he has been able to receive credit abroad and be seen as a source of stability,” Bieber told RFE/RL.

While the Kremlin has denied claims that \”Russian state bodies\” were involved in the alleged plot, 14 suspects in the case are currently on trial in Podgorica.

Djukanovic’s attention hasn’t been solely focused abroad.

He has conducted politics skillfully at home, dividing the opposition, in particular on issues that will fragment Serbian nationalist and reformist opposition.

In tiny Montenegro, with a population of around 640,000, the boundary between knowing everybody and patronage is particularly blurred, arguably making entrenched party control more easy to sustain than in larger countries.

“Djukanovic has been able to present himself as the only guarantor of stability in Montenegro, the one who gained independence for Montenegro, the one who led the country into the NATO and who is supported by the international community no matter the illiberalism in the country,” said Vera Stojarova, assistant professor at the department of political science at Masaryk University and editor of Party Politics In The Western Balkans.

“He is just basically able to sell himself better than the opposition, which offers better ties with Russia, is against NATO, and is Euroskeptic; liberal parties are fragmented and you also have minority parties — so no chance for the opposition to unite and offer a credible alternative,” she added.

While he’s remained broadly popular, Djukanovic has also built up a cadre of enemies and naysayers who say he’s never had a consistent ideology other than staying in power.

While multiparty democracy was introduced in Montenegro more than a quarter of a century ago, Djukanovic has faced repeated accusations of irregularities such as voter intimidation and vote buying.

He also came under investigation and was indicted by prosecutors in the Italian city of Bari in 2008. The probe was later dropped given Djukanovic\’s diplomatic immunity.

Charges of nepotism and shady links to tycoons continue to dog him. Some reports allege he and his family are the country\’s biggest tycoons.

According to the International Consortium of Investigative Reporters (ICIJ), Djukanovic has amassed assets worth millions of dollars, while his family members are said to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

How they accumulated their wealth, the ICIJ says, is unclear.

\”For 27 years, the people have been cheated with a story that they have a plan to live better. Of course this better life is felt only by his close family and close friends,\” Djukanovic’s main rival in the presidential vote, Mladen Bojanic, said.

Rumors notwithstanding, Djukanovic still appears to be able to hit all the right notes as he once again blazes the campaign trail.

A dominating figure both physically — he’s about 190 centimeters tall — and with his oversized personality, Djukanovic embodies the hot-blooded passion that many in the Balkans demand from their leaders.

\”Djukanovic succeeds for many reasons,” says Sasa Petrovic, a 39-year-old farmer.

“He’s had this type of support for so many years because he has charisma. His leadership style is appreciated and it works for now. If he’s been able to hold power for so long, it must mean that he has the ability to lead.\”

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service

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Juncker continued his Balkan tour in Kosovo on Wednesday, the first visit by an EU Commission chief. He was accompanied by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

The EU says the border deal is a precondition for Kosovo\’s citizens to travel freely within its visa-free travel zone known as Schengen.

Opposition parties say Kosovo loses territory with the 2015 agreement, though that has been denied by the previous government and international experts.

Montenegro, which has approved the deal, recognizes Kosovo\’s 2008 independence from Serbia, which Belgrade rejects.

Juncker also said that \”ties between Kosovo and Serbia are fundamental\” in their path toward Europe.

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The project is being promoted by the Turin Center for Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention to reduce the death toll from these types of tumors in Albania, Montenegro alongside Morocco, as reported by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

Every year in the 15 countries on the shores of the eastern and southern Mediterranean, 19,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 212,000 with breast cancer. Of these, 7,800 die of cervical cancer and 62,200 of breast cancer.

The four-year project has a 4.16-million-euro budget and its primary aim will be to strengthen monitoring of women at risk of cancer, helping countries to improve protocols to prevent and fight the disease.

The project will also serve to improve healthcare services in the three countries, reducing delays in cancer diagnosis and, as a result, the social costs of treatment. The project also calls for providing information to women about healthier lifestyles, the introduction of HPV testing and vaccinations for it.

Over 45,000 disadvantaged women between the ages of 25 and 65 will be tested for cervical and breast cancer and will be informed of risks and the importance of prevention. The project will also include ad hoc training for over 300 professionals of the healthcare sector in the three countries to learn how to conduct screenings in the best possible way.

The project calls for cooperation between healthcare institutes to improve procedures to for cancer prevention and to draw up strategies specific for the different populations, to improve the health of women in the lower and middle classes through the Mediterranean. The Italian health ministry and Paris\’s National Cancer Institute contributed funding to the project.

Copyright 2017 Tirana Echo. Source: ANSAmed

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Namely, Montenegro has decided to ban 149 nationals of Russia and Ukraine from entry, because of, as stated, the role of Russia in the Ukraine crisis and the annexation of Crimea.

The list is formed on the basis of a decision of the European Council, the Montenegrin government has confirmed for the Podgorica media, Beta agency is reporting on Thursday.

Montenegro is thus limiting \”entry and disposal of property and assets of persons who are responsible for actively supporting policies that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,\” Podgorica daily Pobjeda said this morning.

Among those now \”undesirable\” in Montenegro are Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, head of intelligence services Nikolai Patrushev, President of the Republic of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, tycoon and owner of Tsargrad TV Konstantin Malofeev, and deputy secretary general of the ruling United Russia party Sergei Zheleznyak.

In 2014, Montenegro joined EU\’s sanctions against Russia imposed because of the crisis in Ukraine – which is why, as Moscow explained a few days ago, a lawmaker from Montenegro\’s ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Miodrag Vukovic, was on Sunday denied entry to Russia.

Montenegro sent a protest note to Moscow because of this, while Podgorica media reported earlier, citing diplomatic sources, that Russia had blacklisted about 50 Montenegrin officials, including Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, President of the Assembly Ivan Brajovic, and leader of the ruling DPS Milo Djukanovic.

Markovic announced on Wednesday that Moscow confirmed that the list exists, but that it would \”remain a secret\” – namely, the Russians would not reveal ahead of time who is on it.

Source: B92

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The 55-year-old Montenegrin politician spent more than two and a half decades at the helm of the country, serving as President from 1998 to 2002 and as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1998, from 2003 to 2006, from 2008 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2016.

Djukanovic\’s close links to organized crime are \”an open secret\” in Montenegro, Serbia and the Balkans in general, as well as Brussels and Washington, the analyst observed. Serbian media outlets have published multiple stories detailing that during the war chaos in Yugoslavia in the 1990s Djukanovic was involved in smuggling cigarettes to Europe.

Pshenichnikov maintained that Djukanovic was an ideal person for NATO since he was \”obedient and controllable\” due to the sheer amount of damaging material the US-led military alliance had on him. The bloc, he added, used the Montenegrin politician to force the country to divorce Serbia and later \”drag the republic into NATO.\”

The latter was accomplished through a vote in parliament instead of a referendum, the only possible way since the majority of Montenegrins are opposed to NATO membership.
\”Even pollsters controlled by Montenegrin authorities released data showing that 50 percent of the population is against Montenegro joining NATO. According to surveys released by patriotic organizations in Serbia, this figure in fact exceeds 60 percent,\” Pshenichnikov said. \”The outcome of a referendum, if it were held, has always been clear to everyone. This is why Djukanovic and his Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro were fiercely opposed to a referendum.\”

Following the April 28 vote in the parliament, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing \”deep regret that the current leadership of [Montenegro] and its Western backers didn\’t heed the voice of conscience and reason.\” The move, it added, came in \”violation of all democratic norms and principles.\”

Source: sputniknews.com

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Like so many of the performers this year, Slavko participated in several of the Eurovision pre-parties and has made friends over the past few weeks.

\”I performed in London, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Madrid. I am so looking forward to seeing the different representatives again, we had a connection, we’ve kept in touch.\”

Source: Eurovision.tv

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