Niksic

A year on, Abazovic has his deal with the Church and can point to a string of high-profile organized crime arrests. But while the work of the Constitutional Court has been unblocked, little progress has been made on reforming the judiciary, a key condition of Montenegro's EU accession process.

Democratic Front MPs at a Montenegrin parliament session in Podgorica. Photo: Parliament of Montenegro

They said on Saturday that pro-Serbian politicians Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic's New Serbian Democracy and Democratic People's Party will go to polls as a coalition, while Nebojsa Medojevic's Movement for Changes will compete on its own.

A hearing at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Photo: EPA-EFE/RONALD WITTEK

The court said Montenegro violated the European Convention on Human Rights, which says that everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal.

Montenegrin army officers guarding quarantine in the town of Niksic. Photo: Government of Montenegro

According to government data, 2,720 persons filed lawsuits against the state for publishing their names on lists of people ordered to self-isolate.

According to the findings of an investigation by BIRN and the Centre for Investigative Journalist Montenegro, CIN-CG, waste from other municipalities was disposed of at Mislov Do for years, in violation of the lease agreement, while municipal waste has been mixed with food, animal and chemical waste.

Democratic Front supporters celebrate their election win in Niksic, Montenegro. Photo: For the Future of Niksic

In the elections in Nikisic, the three blocs comprising the current ruling majority in parliament won 23 of the 41 seats in the assembly. The For the European Niksic coalition, led by the Djukanovic's DPS, won 18.

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

Mass protests of Serbian Orthodox Church clergy and their supporters continued across Montenegro at the weekend as the government and Church negotiate about the fate of the Freedom of Religion law adopted in December. 

Joanikije, bishop of the city of Niksic in Montenegro, is an outspoken critic of Montenegrin leader Milo Djukanovic and of his plans to support the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, a feared rival to the dominant Serbian Orthodox Chuch.

Ascent began in wars of 1990s:

Montenegro's Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld the verdict sentencing ex-soldier to Vlado Zmajevic to 14 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population in Kosovo.

Zmajevic, who was a member of Yugoslav Army forces fighting in Kosovo, was found guilty of the murder of four ethnic Albanian civilians in the village of Zegra near Gjilan/Gnjilane during the war in 1999.