Week in Review: High Stakes, Dangerous Games

Game of Thrones

A protestor waves an EU and a Bulgarian flag during an anti-government protest in front of the Council of Ministers in Sofia, Bulgaria, 29 July 2020. EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

Bulgarian voters are heading to the polls on April 4 to elect a new Parliament and government. After a turbulent political year in which the current, GERB-led government has been plagued by scandals, the race seems unpredictable.

Adding to the unpredictability of the electoral contest is the appearance of a number of new parties and movements which as showing relatively solid popular support in opinion polls, but have not been tested at the ballot box. The elections thus seem set to bring a shake-up to Bulgaria, but with the opposition so fragmented it is far from certain that the ruling parties will be dislodged from power.

Read more: Bulgaria's Fragmented Opposition Hopes to Ride Wave of Discontent (March 8, 2021)

Reshuffling the Cards?

Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic during the Parliament Session in Podgorica. Photo: Parliament of Montenegro

One hundred days into the new Montenegrin Government's term, its honeymoon period is over, if, indeed, it ever began. The Krivokapic Government is facing a Parliamentary crisis, as the Democratic Front, DF, the biggest grouping within the ruling majority, threatens to withhold support for legislation unless some of its demands are fulfilled, including the removal of controversial Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic, seen as a servant of the formerly ruling DPS, as well as a repeat of the process for recruiting the new director of police.

What happens next is likely to be shaped by the local elections in the town of Niksic this coming...