New government: Montenegro relies on Belgrade’s allies

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The decisive factor in Tuesday’s vote were the votes of the MPs of the openly pro-Serbian and pro-Russian alliance ZBCG (formerly: DF). Although not formally part of Spajic’s new center-right coalition, in return for this support it will receive important positions in the state administration, as well as in state-owned and state-affiliated companies.

As part of the agreement with the alliance, parliament on Monday elected co-speaker Andrija Mandic as head of parliament. Observers point out that, as speaker of parliament, Mandic has access to secret security documents that also concern issues of cooperation within NATO. Mandic also often meets Serbian President Aleksandas Vucic in Belgrade.

Spajic’s Europe Now (PES) party won parliamentary elections in June. But a government led by her is dependent on coalition partners. Mathematically, a government alliance with smaller pro-Serb parties and the parties of ethnic minorities – Bosniaks, Albanians and Croats – would also have been possible. Spajic had originally aimed for this.

But interventions by the government in Belgrade and Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic, who comes from the PES, led to Spajic’s decision to involve the ZBCG alliance. The center party PES itself is not homogeneous; Milatovic represents her pro-Serbian wing.

The new government formally consists of ministers from the PES, two smaller pro-Serb parties and representatives of ethnic Albanians. In his government statement, Spajic emphasized that he wanted to make progress on Montenegro’s accession to the EU and strengthen the judiciary in the fight against corruption and organized crime. The small Balkan country has been negotiating EU accession since 2012, but has slowed necessary reform efforts in recent years.

(SDA)

Source: Blick