Tag Archives: Study in Montenegro

Montenegro, state in Southeastern Europe, rough, partly forested mountainous country with a narrow coastal strip on the Adriatic Sea. To the north of Lake Skadar lies a fertile plain in which, among other things, Grains and fruits are grown. According to COUNTRYAAH, Montenegro is a nation in Southern Europe, the capital city of which is Podgorica. The latest population of Montenegro is 628,077. MYSTERYAROUND: Lists and descriptions of main religions and beliefs in Montenegro, including religion demographics and statistics on Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.

History: Montenegro has been under Turkish sovereignty since the 16th century. It became a hereditary principality around the middle of the 19th century, and a kingdom in 1910. After 1918 it belonged to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, after World War II Yugoslavia and since the beginning of 2003 to the confederation Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006 the confederation was dissolved and Montenegro declared itself independent. In 2007 the parliament passed a new constitution. In the same year the European Union (EU abbreviation) concluded a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Montenegro. Such an agreement is considered a preliminary stage for later negotiations on EU membership. At the end of April 2017, the parliament of Montenegro voted to join the North Atlantic Defense Alliance NATO. At the end of June 2017, Montenegro was officially admitted to NATO.

Filip Vujanović (* 1954) was elected President of Montenegro in May 2003 (re-election in 2008 and 2013). Milo Djukanović (* 1962) won the presidential election in mid-April 2018.
At the end of September and October 2015, v. a. In Podgorica there were repeated demonstrations critical of the government, some of which were accompanied by violence. The protesters accused Prime Minister Djukanović of corruption and election manipulation. The opposition called for new elections. On December 1, 2015, the foreign ministers of the NATO countries issued an official invitation to Montenegro for accession negotiations. In January 2016, the co-ruling Social Democratic Party of Montenegro (SDP), which split in 2015, withdrew Djukanović support. With the help of votes from the opposition, the latter survived a vote of no confidence in parliament on January 27, 2016. On February 24, 2016, Montenegro and other Balkan countries took part in a conference on the refugee crisis in Vienna. In the same month, NATO accession negotiations began, which ended on May 19, 2016 with the signing of the accession protocol by the foreign ministers of the NATO countries. This enabled the ratification process for accession to be initiated in the parliaments of the NATO countries. Russia had protested sharply against membership of the alliance.

Under the leadership of Djukanović, the DPS remained by far the strongest parliamentary force in the elections on October 16, 2016, with 41.4% of the vote and 36 members of parliament. In second place was the pro-Russian Democratic Front alliance with 20.3% of the votes and 18 seats (2012: 23.2%, 20 seats). On the evening of the election, 20 Serbs were arrested for planning a coup. Government critics rated the coup allegations as a staging. Since Djukanović no longer claimed the office of head of government, the Deputy DPS chairman and previous deputy head of government D. Marković became the new prime minister on November 28, 2016 . He had previously formed a pro-Western coalition with parties from the national minorities, led by the DPS. On June 7, 2017, Montenegro became the 29th member of NATO. The attitude of the population towards NATO membership remained divided, however. Presidential elections were held on April 15, 2018. M. Djukanović was able to prevail against six other candidates in the first ballot with 53.9% of the vote.

In the parliamentary elections on August 30, 2020, Milo Djukanović’s ruling party DPS lost the parliamentary majority for the first time since 1990. The pro-Western party was once again the relatively strongest force with 35.06% of the vote. But even with its potential allies, the DPS only has 40 seats in the new parliament. The reason for this close result lies, among other things, in the conflict with the Serbian Orthodox Church. At the end of 2019, a law on the legal status of churches and religious communities was passed, which polarized the country. Many of the Montenegrin Serbs (about 29% of the population) have joined the protests of the Serbian Orthodox Church since winter 2019. In the run-up to the election, it called for support from the opposition.

The three opposition alliances prevailed with a total of 50.5% of the votes. The pro-Serb Democratic Front (DF), the Democrats and the URA together won 41 of the 81 seats. The turnout was 76.56% and, despite the corona pandemic, was significantly higher than in the last election (73.2%). Since December 4, 2020, Montenegro has been led by a government of experts under Zdravko Krivokapić (* 1958).