'Der Standard': Jakov Milatovic supports the 'Open Balkans', was supported by Serbian nationalists

Milo Djukanovic lost the presidential election on Sunday to the 36-year-old Europe Now candidate Jakov Milatovic. In the runoff, Milatovic received over 60% of the votes, Djukanovic about 40%. The turnout was 70.7%. About 542,000 citizens had the right to vote. Montenegro has about 620,000 inhabitants.

"Montenegro has made a decision and I respect that decision. I wish that Milatovic becomes a successful president and that Montenegro continues to be a successful country ," Djukanovic said after his defeat.

Djukanovic has been in power almost continuously since 1991, either as head of government or as head of state, and his Democratic Socialist Party (DPS) has lost elections since 2020. The party's political decline continued in local elections last October , when DPS lost control of 10 of 14 municipalities, including the capital Podgorica.

Milatovic was already the face of the growing opposition in Podgorica. He was supported by two other candidates from the first ballot on March 19, Andrija Mandic, leader of the pro-Serb Democratic Front, and Aleksa Becic of the Democratic Party of Montenegro. Montenegrin society is currently divided into three large groups, the pro-Serb and pro-Russian bloc, the centralist-bourgeois bloc, to which Milatović belongs, and the supporters of DPS of Djukanović.

Support for the Serbian Orthodox Church

"This is a victory for all of Montenegro, for those who were discriminated against, whose children were dying of hunger, who did not have justice, who were poor. This is a joint victory of a beautiful Montenegro , better, fairer and more equal", said Milatovic. The politician is married to Milena Milatovic and they have three children - daughters Sara and Ana and son David. He speaks English, Italian and Spanish.

It was not he himself who raised eyebrows in western circles during the election campaign, but his supporters. Among them were far-right Serbian nationalists like Vojislav Seselj and other Chetniks, and the politically active Serbian Orthodox Church, which is further from secularism than any other religious organization in the Balkans.

Serbian world

Krimi i organizuar në Mal të Zi gjithashtu nuk i shmanget dhunës ekstreme. Klanet mafioze të drogës pranë Kotorrit mësohet se qëllojnë anëtarët e njëri-tjetrit. Në fund të fundit, ka shumë para në lojë dhe shumë njerëz në Mal të Zi kanë përfituar nga tregtia e kokainës vitet e fundit.

Është e paqartë se si do të pozicionohet Milatoviq gjeopolitikisht. Sepse votuesit e tij përfshijnë si forca properëndimore ashtu edhe njerëz që mbështesin Kremlinin dhe regjimin e presidentit serb Aleksandar Vuçiç. Disa analistë kanë frikë se Milatović do të forcojë gjithashtu idenë politike të një "bote serbe" siç ndiqet nga nacionalistët në Serbi. Ngjashëm me "botën ruse" të Putinit, kjo "botë serbe" synon të zgjerojë zonën e ndikimit të Serbisë mbi shtetet fqinje të Bosnjë-Hercegovinës, Malit të Zi, Kosovës dhe Maqedonisë së Veriut.

Ballkani i Hapur

Por, Milatoviç është padyshim pro projektit të Ballkanit të Hapur, të cilin presidenti serb Aleksandar Vuçiç e nisi me mikun e tij, kryeministrin shqiptar Edi Rama, dhe me mbështetjen e djalit të George Soros, Alexander Soros. Si pjesë e Open Balkan, do të thjeshtohen formalitetet doganore në kufi dhe do të njihen diplomat e ndërsjella. Por nëse vërtet kaloni kufirin - për shembull midis Serbisë dhe Maqedonisë së Veriut - mund të përjetoni se duhet të prisni në radhën e makinave mbi të cilat varet tabela "Open Balkan".

Open Balkan is also seen as a rival project to the German Berlin Process, which is about introducing EU standards at borders. Experts criticize that Open Balkan "standards" subvert EU standards and that Vucic and Rama's "Open Balkan" project is being sold as their achievement, but is actually a PR coup with little substance, while the improvements actually are going through EU initiatives and made possible with EU funds.

Taken by disassociation from Der Standard