pro-Serbian NOVA party

Several thousand opponents of the Montenegrin government staged an anti-NATO rally on Saturday in Podorica, shouting "No to NATO" and "Long Live Russia" and demanding a referendum on Montenegro's membership of the alliance.

Thousands of people gathered in front of the parliament building in Podgorica on Sunday at a mass rally against Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's administration, which they accuse of widespread corruption, undemocratic practices and election fraud.

Miodrag Lekic, leader of the main opposition force in Montenegro, Democratic Front, has announced that he is stepping down.

Lekic had been considered the only political figure with enough authority and popular support to unite the various opposition parties in Montenegro that have little in common except a desire to defeat the country's long-time leader, Milo Djukanovic.