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A three-party coalition won a narrow majority by one seat. These highly heterogenous groups are struggling to find common ground. On 8 September 2020 they signed a commitment to Montenegro’s NATO membership and future EU membership, a precondition for support from the US and EU, respectively. They seem determined to bring the corrupt, clientelistic regime of DPS under President Milo Đukanović, his family and his cronies to an end. In order to understand the present situation, it is necessary to take a look back to the development of Montenegro since the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991 and the development of Đukanović from a fanatic supporter of Milosević to his fierce critic and supporter of Montenegro’s independence in 2006, while enriching himself and his friends via links with organized crime. Highly indebted, severely affected by the pandemic which halted tourism as main source of revenue, Montenegro is facing a most difficult economic and social situation with little hope for a fast recovery. The new government thus has to make the impossible possible if it wants to survive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2018, the EU Commission released a communication regarding enlargement ofthe EU in the Western Balkans. This “credible enlargement perspective for an enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans" is supposed to bring the Western Balkan region back on the top of the EU agenda. The implementation is foreseen with the help of six flagshipinitiatives. But what is actually new in this EU proposal? Very little indeed. The EU Commission rightly analyzed the present situation as characterized by back sliding, even with elements of state capture. It proposed to improve the situation through cooperation with the kleptocratic and increasingly authoritarian elites in Western Balkan countries that want to join the EU. Furthermore, ever more funds and experts are being provided. But without civil society representatives and NGOs as a partner no progress will be possible. It will also be necessary that the EU starts to question neoliberal transformation as such. It is questionable whether the Western Balkan countries will ever be capable of transforming into democratic states with a sustainable development if things continue the way they are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2016 the Montenegrin Academy of Science and Arts published the first of 12 volumes comprising the first Encyclopedia of the Montenegrin language. Within a few weeks the publication caused protests, particularly from political representatives of the Muslim/Bosniak and Albanian minorities, but also from the Faculty for the Montenegrin language and literature in Cetinje. 112 intellectuals and public figures published an open letter with the demand to withdraw the book because of questionable definitions and poor quality. The minority representatives rejected some definitions concerning their identity as discriminatory. The relevant team of authors mostly came from the Philological Faculty in Nikšić, which considers Montenegrin to be a variation of the Serbian language. They rejected the criticism as unfounded and based on intentional misunderstandings. Prime Minister Đukanović joined the critics in Parliament at the end of July 2016 and soon after a resolution was adopted by Parliament asking the Academy to withdraw the book and publish a corrected version for which state budget funds should be available. This was, however, rejected by the team leader Prof. Natalia Đjurišić-Bečanović. Meanwhile the President of the Academy had to resign. It is not yet known what will happen with the book. This controversy shows that Montenegro is in many ways a deeply divided country. In particular the situation of the Muslim minorities is far from being satisfying and they regard themselves as being discriminated against despite all official rhetoric about interethnic harmony in Montenegro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]