The young pro-European economist Jakov Milatovic won the second round of Montenegro’s presidential elections by a large majority, this Sunday (2), beating former president Milo Yukanovic at the polls, according to estimates by an electoral organization.
According to projections by the NGO CeMI, Milatovic, 36, won about 60% of the votes, against 40% for his rival, who had been in charge of the country for three decades.
“I congratulate the new president Jakov Milatovic,” Ana Nenezic, director of CeMI, told reporters.
In the streets of Podgorica and other towns in this small Balkan country, supporters of the “Europe Now” movement candidate celebrated the victory with fireworks and honking horns.
In the first round, held on March 19, Yukanovic won 35% of the vote and Milatovic came in second with 29%.
The outcome of the presidential election will determine the balance of power ahead of legislative elections in June, after months of political stalemate following the government’s fall in August.
The DPS has found itself at a low point since suffering a historic defeat in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Yukanovic, 61, was pushed into power in 1991 by Yugoslavia’s former Montenegro strongman Slobodan Milosevic when he was just 29.
But his tenure has been plagued by allegations of corruption and links to organized crime, according to his critics.
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