Pro-European party Europe Now leads Montenegro Parliamentary Elections

The Montenegrin Europe Now movement has won the majority of votes in Montenegro snap parliamentary elections. This political force, headed by former Finance Minister Milojko Spajić, received 25.5% of the vote. This high percentage gave Europe Now 23 seats in the parliament.

This was reported by the Center for Monitoring and Research CEMI

However, the pro-European Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the most influential party in Montenegro between 1990 and 2020, ranked second with 23.8% of the vote thus having 22 seats.

The conservative alliance For the Future of Montenegro, which includes the Democratic Front, known for its pro-Russian and pro-Serbian rhetoric, won 14.7% or 13 seats.

The Democratic Party and the URA movement - led by Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, whose government was recently voted out of office – came in fourth with 12.3% or 11 seats.

In total, 15 parties and alliances competed for 81 seats in Montenegro's unicameral parliament on June 11. Citizens of Montenegro hope that the elections will bring a new stage of stability after several years of political chaos in the country and the change of two governments.

The turnout was quite low, barely crossing the 50% mark at 7:00 p.m. an hour before the polls closed. For example, during the previous elections in 2020, the turnout was more than 76%.

The snap parliamentary elections are being held after former DPS leader Milo Đukanović lost the election and resigned after nearly 30 years of ruling the country. Furthermore, the work of the two previous governments was also unstable, as they were subject to votes of no confidence.

Montenegro is still undergoing the process of adopting the European development vector. Some citizens still identify themselves as Serbs and do not encourage Montenegro's European integration ambitions.

It is expected that the new government will be able to carry out a number of powerful economic reforms and pursue European integration. Montenegro has already been a member of the North Atlantic Alliance since 2017, but in order to join the European family, the country will still have to effectively fight corruption, nepotism and organized crime.