Thousands Rally in Support of Montenegro Leader Milo Djukanovic

Thousands of supporters of Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic held a unity rally in Podgorica’s main square on Sunday, following election results that could see the president’s ruling Democratic Party of Socialists ousted from power.

Montenegro’s opposition parties have already declared victory and announced a coalition that would oust the DPS, which has ruled Montenegro since the 1990s.

The long-ruling DPS won most votes in last Sunday’s ballot, around 35 percent, according to preliminary official results.

However, a coalition of three opposition groups has said they have garnered enough support to form the next government.

The main pro-Serb and pro-Russia alliance, ‘For the future of Montenegro’, won with nearly 33 percent, according to the state election authorities.

It is unclear when the final distribution of seats in the 81-member parliament will be announced.

But it is clear the governing majority could be very slim and hinge on one or two mandates.

The party and its leader, President Djukanovic, has been a key Western ally in pushing the volatile Balkans toward Euro-Atlantic integration.

Djukanovic defied Russia in 2017 to lead his country into NATO after gaining independence from much-larger Serbia in 2006.

There have been fears that an opposition-led government would mean a change in Montenegro’s pro-Western policy and a turn away from NATO toward traditional allies Serbia and Russia.

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