Montenegro Elections: A country divided by its history, a nation divided by its beliefs
By Nikita Triandafillidis
“The citizens of Montenegro will go to the polls this Sunday with an overshadowed sense of divergence between the west and the east, amid the corona virus pandemic and a historical division regarding the poor relations with the Montenegrin branch of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The upcoming elections in Montenegro can be summed up by the phrase: You are either with us or against us.”
An uphill battle against a national identity crisis
The citizens of Montenegro vote this Sunday to determine whether or not Milo Djukanovic’s political party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) will continue to run the country for the next four years after managing to lead the country for almost 30 years.
The DPS party is a strong advocate for new foreign investments and an EU integration while their opponents call for a political change amid corruption accusations and political interference on numerous state institutions.
The polarization of the society echoes back to 2006 when Montenegro decided to be independent of Serbia leaving thousands of people dissatisfied with the decision.
In 2016, in the last elections that were held in Montenegro, the nation was divided between choosing closer ties with the west and NATO or with the east and Russia.
In 2017, Montenegro joined NATO. However, in these elections, history will repeat itself and the biggest division will be between the pro-EU government against the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Milo Djukanovic, president of a divided nation, leader of a weakened party but still a Montenegrin strongman.
Milo Djukanovic, 58, is the current strongman of Montenegro that managed to steer the country towards a possible EU integration and a full integration in the NATO alliance. He has been the leader of Montenegro since 1991 but never before has his party, the Democratic Party of Socialists appeared so weak and troubled ahead of parliamentary elections. Djukanovic has vowed about the upcoming elections as the most important in Montenegro’s history.
In a meeting with his party, earlier this August, Djukanovic stressed out that this election will be a choice between the European path that he paved or the establishment of a theocratic state in Montenegro. The President of Montenegro won many political battles before in his prime but this one, in particular, will be extremely difficult. With a national division and a current outbreak of the COVID-19, the DPS party sees its support at a historical low at 35%. Currently, Montenegro has 4,663 Corona virus cases and counts for 92 deaths and 105 new cases as of today.
While analysts suggest that his party will win, Djukanovic will need to politically compromise and seek allies from small parties, something that he doesn’t want since it will weaken his grip on power.
Echoes of the past haunt the 2020 elections
On the 21st of May 2006, an independence referendum was held in Montenegro. A majority of 55,50% of people choose to become independent from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro leaving Serbia to be the sole successor of the Union. The referendum was recognized by all five members of the Security Council and The Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro officially made a formal Declaration of Independence on June 3, 2006.
However, the referendum left thousands of people dissatisfied with the decision. About 44,50% of the people voted against it. Until this day those roughly 185.000 people are still divided about the decision. Many of them belong to the Serbian minority in the country and they are going to pose a problem to the elections since most of them have close ties with the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Fast-forwarding 10 years later, the small country of 628,000 inhabitants was once again divided with the question being at that time, are we going with the West or the East? The DPS party managed to secure most votes in the parliament but not the majority. At that time, Milo Djukanovic called the elections a historic choice for closer ties with NATO.
However, the elections were in the brink of being jeopardized by allegations of websites being hacked and shut down and foreign interference. 20 people were arrested, all of the Serbian nationality, with the accusation of trying to attack state officials and state institutions.
In 2017 Montenegro joined NATO and a new wave of protests flooded the country. Many people were dissatisfied with the decision with the opposition parties mainly the Democratic Front, a pro-Serbia, and pro-Russia party condemning the decision. Those people dissatisfied with the decision four years ago will add up to the problems that Djukanovic has to face this Sunday.
Politics mixed with religion. The case of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Back in December 2019, the parliament of Montenegro adopted a controversial law on religious rights in the country that made the registration of church properties obligatory. Under this new law, any religious group that is unable to provide evidence of ownership will risk losing the property to the state.
Milo Djukanovic’s government wanted to clarify who owns what in the country to break ties with the Montenegrin branch of the orthodox Serbian Church. The vote was immediately met with nationwide protests by opposition leaders and supporters of the Church in what many feared that this law would strip the church of its property, including medieval monasteries that have been around for centuries.
Also, this created more problems for the government by the pro-Serbian opposition party the Democratic Front. Its leader Andrija Mandic, condemned the decision and accused the government of treating Serbians in the country as second class citizens. In an interview with Euronews, Mr. Mandic expressed his opinion about the mistreatment of Serbs.
“There is a real problem, created by the authorities. Right now, we have an attack against our church. The government wants to give the last blow to our existence in these territories where we were living historically.”
The Serbian Church itself also condemned the decision calling it unconstitutional and discriminatory accusing the government of leading Montenegro in a situation where nothing good will happen.
Montenegro is a predominant Orthodox Christian with the Serbian Church being the only recognized Church. A separate Montenegrin Orthodox Church is not recognized by any Orthodox Christian churches giving the Serbian Church a monopoly on religious topics in the country.
These elections on Sunday will determine the path that Montenegro will follow. Milo Djukanovic will try to win a battle against the Orthodox Serbian Church that seems to have more support than ever from its religious followers after the controversial law passed.
The President has accused the Serbian Church of promoting its pro-Serbia and pro-Russia stance since 2006 and that they try to undermine the political situation in the country. While Djukanovic himself tries to break ties with Montenegro’s past history he finds himself puzzled as to how to break ties with people’s past beliefs. His efforts to steer his country towards the EU have been slow and faced with strong opposition.
His efforts to move towards the West have angered Serbia and Russia and have divided a nation and now he has to face off with an opponent that uses theocratic tactics against him. While he is ready to break ties, an umbrella coalition between Serbia and Russia is not ready to break ties with him yet.
