Montenegro opposition claims win in elections

Bloomberg

Montenegro’s ruling party won the most votes in the elections but results suggested it may have to cede power to opposition parties vowing to unite against Europe’s most enduring leader, President Milo Djukanovic.
The tight contest made it unclear who will lead the next government in a country that’s embroiled in the battle for influence in the Balkans between the European Union and NATO on one side and Russia and its allies on the other.
Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists, known as the DPS, won 35.1%, according to almost complete results published on Monday.
An umbrella group of pro-Russian and pro-Serbian parties called For the Future of Montenegro won 32.5%, followed by 12.5% for the opposition alliance Peace is Our Nation and 5.6% for the Black on White.
Despite backing conflicting platforms ranging from the pro-Russian to euroskeptic
nationalism to supporting
European Union accession,
the biggest opposition forces vowed to team up to oust the DPS with their slim combined majority.
They campaigned on tackling endemic graft and ditching divisive policies under which Djukanovic has wielded power over the country of 620,000 as either president or premier almost continually since 1991.
“The regime has fallen,” said Zdravko Krivokapic, leader of The Future of Montenegro.