Montenegrins voted yesterday in the tiny Balkan state’s first presidential election since it split from Serbia two years ago.
The ballot is a test for Montenegro’s reformed socialists, who have ruled virtually unchallenged for the past 20 years. It will also determine whether the nation of 620,000 people cements its independence or slides back to Serbia’s influence.
President Filip Vujanovic of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists is regarded as the likely winner of the four-man race.
Nebojsa Medojevic of the liberal Movement for Changes, and pro-Serbian challengers Andrija Mandic and Srdjan Milic were expected to split the rest of the votes in a deeply divided country, pre-election surveys showed.
“It’s time for change,” said Milos Jovanovic, a 30-year-old engineer, as he cast his ballot in downtown Podgorica.
“This vote will further confirm Montenegro’s independence,” said Zorica Dudakovic, a housewife.
Ethnic Serbs, about 30 percent of Montenegro’s population, are unhappy about the country’s split from Serbia in a May 2006 referendum. They are seeking closer political and economic ties with Belgrade, which have been chilly since the breakup.
“Those presidential candidates who were against Montenegro’s independence two years ago have no moral right to lead the country in the future,” Vujanovic said in an interview. “We won independence, now we have to start our fight for Montenegro in the European Union.”
The 53-year-old lawyer said he is confident of winning more than 50 percent of the votes, which would avert a runoff in two weeks. His ruling party fears that the pro-Serbian and liberal groups could unite behind one candidate in the possible second round, challenging Vujanovic’s chances of winning re-election.
“Whatever anyone says, Montenegro remains a Serbian state,” pro-Serbian challenger Andrija Mandic said.
He said that his victory would mean that the pro-independence support has changed.
The vote took place against the backdrop of Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in February, with pro-Serbian challengers vowing never to recognize Kosovo’s independence if they get elected. Vujanovic and Medojevic said they would not rush in recognizing Kosovo’s statehood in order not to further alienate Serbia.
Montenegro was an independent kingdom before World War I, then part of Yugoslavia until that nation disintegrated in violence in 1991. Montenegro remained joined with Serbia until it seceded peacefully.
Since the split, its economy has boomed.
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