Montenegro holds presidential vote in shadow of crime

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Gangland killings and organized crime have loomed over Montenegro's presidential campaign, handing ammunition to the opposition in their attacks on six-time former prime minister Milo Djukanovic, who is the favorite to win Sunday's first-round vote.

Having dominated politics in the tiny Balkan nation for nearly a quarter of a century, Djukanovic, 56, stepped down as prime minister in October 2016, before announcing his comeback bid last month.

A man walks next to an election poster of the presidential candidate of the ruling party Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica, Montenegro, April 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

The pro-western veteran leader wants to take the predominantly Orthodox country, a part of which has strong pro-Russia sympathies, into the European Union following its admission to NATO in 2017 which Moscow strongly opposed.

If he wins the presidency, currently a ceremonial post held by Filip Vujanovic, it is expected to become the real seat of power in the country of 620,000 people.

The issue of organized crime has cast a shadow on the campaign, with some 20 people killed by assassinations in the street or car bombs over the last two years.

The country's police chief Slavko Stojanovic and the head of the capital Podgorica's department, Jovica Recevic, both resigned earlier this month.

Source(s): AFP