Montenegro will go to the polls on Sunday as citizens vote in a national election seen by some as a referendum on the country’s western integration.
Montenegro will go to the polls on Sunday as citizens vote in a national election seen by some as a referendum on the country’s western integration.
Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic of the country’s ruling Democratic Party of Socialists has presented the election as a choice between joining NATO or becoming what he referred to as a Russian colony under the opposition.
Final rally for #Montenegro's Democratic Front before Sunday's election. Many #Serbia flags, a few #Russia'n; no EU. pic.twitter.com/zV50yeLCHQ
— Dan McLaughlin (@DanMcL99) October 14, 2016
He has previously accused Russia of pouring money into Montegro’s election in an attempt to derail plans to take the country closer to the European Union.
However, he is said by the opposition to have allowed a culture of cronyism and organised crime to flourish during his quarter century long reign.
Final rally for #Montenegro's Democratic Front before Sunday's election. Many #Serbia flags, a few #Russia'n; no EU. pic.twitter.com/zV50yeLCHQ
— Dan McLaughlin (@DanMcL99) October 14, 2016
NATO invited the small Balkan country to join last year, however many remain suspicious of the organisation following its bombing of Montenegro in 1991.
Although there are few reliable polls, the desertion of Djukanovic by long-term allies suggest the results will be close.