Milo Djukanovic

Montenegro's Special Prosecution for Organize Crime on Monday questioned one of the leaders of the pro-Russian opposition, asking him to supply "additional explanations" about an alleged coup plot that unravelled in the country on election day.

Mohammed Dahlan, the powerful arch-rival to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, will again face a court in Palestine over allegations of embezzling $18 million of public money from his homeland.

Balkan ties

The axed former director of Montenegro's public broadcaster, RTCG, Rade Vojvodic, on Thursday announced a lawsuit against the board that fired him amid claims in the pro-government media of an opposition plot to unseat him.

Montenegro's new Prime Minister, Dusko Markovic, has got off to a radical start - demanding spending cuts and telling sleepy public servants they might as well go home.

Few critics believe his government will deliver anything very new, however.

Under an agreement with former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's party to secure a majority in parliament to form a new government, the country's ethnic Albanian coalition has succeeded in securing a number of political concessions it has been demanding over the past ten years and which the authorities have continuously avoided implementing.

BELGRADE - Montenegrin lawmakers have approved a new pro-NATO government led by Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, a former head of intelligence and a close ally of longtime leader Milo Djukanovic.

The vote on November 28 came as Markovic pledged that his government would complete, by the end of 2017, the years-long process of Montenegro's integration into NATO.

Concerns have been raised by Montenegro's civil sector, the opposition and security experts about the deteriorating security situation in the country after several towns were hit by bomb blasts over the past few months.

Targets included the cars or flats of senior police officers and bars and restaurants owned by businessmen reportedly close to former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic. 

Montenegro's parliament convenes on Monday to approve a new cabinet of ministers although opposition MPs are boycotting the legislature and refusing to recognise the results of last month's general election, alleging vote-rigging.

Montenegrin journalist Marko Milacic has filed a complaint against the management of the public broadcaster, RTCG, and its director, after they scrapped the competition for a new chief of the state TV, claiming the decision was illegal and politically motivated.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday that he would meet leaders of the pro-Serbian opposition in Montenegro, even though some of them have been accused of being involved in a plot to overthrow his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Djukanovic.