Milo Đukanović (
Cyrillic: Мило Ђукановић, pronounced ; born 15 February, 1962) is a
Montenegrin politician. He was
Prime Minister of
Montenegro for three consecutive terms from 1991 to 1998 (1991–1993, 1993–1996, and 1996–1998); he was then
President of Montenegro from 1998 to 2002 and Prime Minister again from 2003 to 2006. Although he chose to step down in late 2006, he returned to office as Prime Minister in February 2008. His coalition won the
2009 early election with an absolute majority, securing him a sixth term in office. He stepped down as the Prime Minister in December 2010. Đukanović is also the long-term President of the
Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, originally the Montenegrin branch of the Yugoslavian Communist Party, governing Montenegro ever since the introduction of
multiparty politics. He is controversial for his role in the 1990s and for his continuously high level of influence in Montenegrin political life.
When Đukanović first emerged on the political scene, he was a close ally of Slobodan Milošević. In 1996, however, he turned against Milošević, abandoning the traditional joint Serbian and Montenegrin vision in favour of an independent Montenegro He oversaw the conversion of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and Montenegro's increasing separation from Serbia under his leadership, culminating in the victory at the 2006 independence referendum in May.
Early life
Born in
Nikšić to an upper-middle class family (his father, Radovan, a judge, and his mother, Stana, a nurse) from the Cevo clan, Đukanović grew up with two siblings: older brother
Aco and older sister Ana. He completed primary and secondary school in his home town of
Nikšić, before enrolling at
Veljko Vlahović University's Faculty of Economics in
Titograd (Podgorica) where he graduated in 1986 with a diploma in tourism studies. As a youngster, Đukanović, standing well over 190 cm in height, was a keen and avid basketball player.
Political career
Early days in politics
In 1979 while still in high school, Đukanović joined the
Yugoslav Communist League (SKJ), the only political party allowed by law in the Yugoslav one-party political system. His father Radovan was already an influential member within the party's
Montenegrin branch, which initially opened many doors for young Milo.
By 1986 he was a presidency member of Socialist Youth Alliance's (SSO) Montenegrin branch as well as the presidency member of its federal-level parent organization. As a member of the party's various youth bodies he quickly stood out from the pack, earning a nickname Britva ('Straight razor') for his direct, fiery and forceful rhetoric.
Progressing steadily up the party ladder, by 1988 Đukanović became a member of the League's highest decision-making body, the Central Committee (CK SKJ). It turned out to be the committee's last sitting and he became its youngest member ever.
By mid-1989 following the so-called anti-bureaucratic revolution, young Milo became the Secretary at the Presidency of the Montenegrin branch of the Yugoslav Communist League, a post he held until the branch's eventual transformation into the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS CG).
Ascent to power in Montenegro
Actively tagging along with somewhat more seasoned
Communist League members like
Momir Bulatović and
Svetozar Marović, Đukanović was still only 26 years old when the trio effectively gained power through full institutional control in Montenegro on January 10, 1989. They forced out the old Montenegrin communist guard by riding the wave of the anti-bureaucratic revolution, an administrative putsch within the Communists League orchestrated by
Slobodan Milošević and the state security apparatus.
Effectively, Đukanović, Bulatović, and Marović became Milošević's extended hands in Montenegro, controlling the political and security apparatus he was in the finishing stages of molding to his personal preferences.
Within days in January 1989, the trio ousted Miljan Radović (chairman of the Montenegrin Communist League) and Božina Ivanović (president of Presidency of SR Montenegro), replacing them with politically obedient confidants Veselin Vukotić and Branko Kostić, respectively. President of Executive Council of Montenegro Vuko Vukadinović initially survived the coup d'etat, but within months he was on his way out as well to be replaced with Radoje Kontić.
Đukanović and the others galvanized public opinion within the republic by organizing workers and bussing them to the capital Titograd to protest in front of the Assembly. Although many have since made allegations about the shady role security apparatus played in this forced transfer of power (Slavko Perović among many others ), it is undeniable that the trio also capitalized on the "young, handsome, and smart" image (mladi, lijepi i pametni), which resonated with certain people after state-run media developed it through various astroturfing methods. Đukanović's youthful looks and potent eloquence proved particularly useful in creation and proliferation of this image.
Within a year, the single-party system was abolished, and the first free elections were being prepared.
Montenegrin PM in three consecutive terms, 1991–1998
After the
1990 Montenegrin parliamentary election in early December resulted in a remarkable victory for the Montenegrin League of Communists (83 parliament seats out of the total 125), Milo was, on February 15, 1991, somewhat surprisingly, appointed by President
Momir Bulatović (with the blessings of then Serbian president
Slobodan Milošević) as Prime Minister of the first democratically elected government. Having just turned 29 years of age, Đukanović was the youngest prime minister in Europe in what was the first salaried position in his life.
Later in 1991, the Montenegrin Communist League finished its transformation into the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS). Đukanović's office was secured after the 1992 parliamentary election in December (called early due to the disintegration of SFR Yugoslavia and formation of new state entity FR Yugoslavia), in which DPS won an absolute majority (46 seats out of total 85). Throughout this 1991–1997 period, Đukanović governed loyally to Slobodan Milošević.
Đukanović's government sent troops to fight seceding Croatia as he opposed the fallout of Yugoslavia caused by Slovenian independence and rebellions in other areas. Đukanović's cabinet actively participated in the Siege of Dubrovnik from fall 1991 until spring 1992, which resulted in the city suffering heavy structural damage. The surrounding area of Konavli also suffered due to looting raids. During this period Đukanović was one of the most vociferous hawks in the Montenegrin government. Some of his notable statements from this period include a proclamation about "starting to hate chess because of the šahovnica (the chequerboard Croatian coat-of-arms)" and an aggressive declaration delivered in a public speech during assault on Dubrovnik that "We have already thinned the AVNOJ borders of Montenegro and Herzegovina, that is eastern Bosnia and Montenegro. Enough have the Serbian people been a slave to brotherhood and unity, AVNOJist, Tito's Yugoslavia, and even Aleksandar Karađorđević's dreams of fixing Yugoslavia". Djukanovic also campaigned for the modification of the internal borders of the ex-Yugoslav republics saying: "it's time to once and for all establish the firmest border possible with Croatia, but it will be a border a lot more just and realistic than the existing one that was drawn-up by Bolshevik map makers".
After recognizing the eventual loss of Croatia and Bosnia as well the general dissolution of SFRY, Montenegro had a referendum during April 1992 at which almost all voters decided to stay in Yugoslavia. Subsequently the Republic of Montenegro created a Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with the Republic of Serbia. Milo campaigned heavily for the preservation of a rump Yugoslavia with Serbia.
By spring 1992, the Bosnian War started and while Montenegro wasn't directly involved it still played a role. Montenegro-wide roundup of Muslim refugees from Bosnia and their subsequent handover to forces of Bosnian Serbs happened while Đukanović was Prime Minister. The most infamous was the handover of 200 Moslem refugees in 1992 directly to the Trebinje corpus in neighbouring Herzegovina. For 23 days the Montenegrin police and Yugoslav special forces hunted down Muslims until each and every one of them was arrested. Eighty three later were executed by the Bosnian Serb troops.
From 1991 until 1997 he aligned himself with Slobodan Milošević's policies. On the domestic political front in 1992, Đukanović became involved in a fierce political clash with the pro-Croatian Montenegrin artist and activist, Jevrem Brković, which resulted in Brković's exile to Croatia (until 1998). On this occasion Đukanović stated: Every smart Montenegrin and every honest man in this land mentions the name of the traitor Jevrem Brković with hatred, who in pure vanity betrayed his people and knowingly spreads anti-Yugoslav speeches across Zagreb, while the Ustašas, again like in 1941, bleed the defenseless Serbian civilians (referring to the World War II ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Croatia).
The Yugoslav troops involved in the Siege of Dubrovnik, included a large contingent of Montenegrin reservists and it was for their behaviour that Đukanović extended his apologies. Later in 2000, he apologized to Croatian citizens saying "On my own behalf and on behalf of all the citizens of Montenegro I want to apologize to all citizens of Croatia, particularly in Konavli and Dubrovnik for all the pain and material damage inflicted by any member of the Montenegrin people," President Đukanović told his Croatian counterpart.
Though a Marxist in his youth, Đukanović was reported to be "the kind of politician who has a picture of Margaret Thatcher above his desk". He was looked on favorably by foreign investors. In the 1990s he swiftly forced all socially owned (worker owned) companies into state ownership where they were sold to private foreign interests. (Blishen. Central European. May 1996.Vol.6,Iss.5)
In 1996, Milo began to fall out with Milošević. Milo opposed the Dayton Accords which he criticized as being anti-Serb, publicly blasting Milošević in an interview for the Belgrade weekly Vreme. At that time Milošević was facing harsh criticism in Serbia with student protests in the Winter of 1996/1997. This was in stark contrast to the stance of Momir Bulatović who in addition to being the President of Montenegro also then headed the pro-Milošević Democratic Party of Socialists. At the 1996 parliamentary election DPS won the absolute majority yet again, however, the rift within the party between Đukanović and Bulatović remained.
President of Montenegro 1998–2002
Đukanović won a narrow majority support within the
DPS party, a political leverage he then quickly used to cleanse it of all pro-Bulatović elements while simultaneously taking over state-controlled media and security apparatus with the help of his DPS ally Vukašin Maraš.
In July 1997, Đukanović announced his decision to contest Bulatović for the position of president of Montenegro. In the first round of elections on October 5, 1997, with 145,348 votes Đukanović lagged by roughly 2,000 votes behind Bulatović's 147,615 (Bulatović at the time continued to be a staunch ally of Slobodan Milošević).
. The slogan exclaims: Get involved! Vote for Milo!]]
Three of the other candidates, who received 11,000 votes in total, gave support to Bulatović for the second round run-off scheduled for October 19, 1997. However, in the controversial second round vote, seen by many as the Đukanović's camp most significant electoral victory since the beginning of their rule, Đukanović won the second round by a margin of five thousand, after surprisingly assembling 29,000 more votes than in the first round (Đukanović got 174,745 votes while Bulatović got 169,257). Bulatović's faction disputed the regularity of this second round and refused to recognize the results, alleging that Đukanović forged the results. Bulatović eventually organized protests in Podgorica in January 1998 that featured violent scenes. However, the results stood, and Đukanović was sworn in as president of Montenegro on January 15, 1998.
This victory cemented Đukanović's hold on power in Montenegro. Bulatović, his one-time mentor, was completely squeezed out and now all institutions of power (DPS party, government, parliament and President's office) were firmly in the hands of Đukanović and his handpicked circle of associates.
Already distant from Milošević and his regime, Đukanović took this policy further, although assuring everyone that he saw the future of Montenegro in the same country with Serbia. He very much tried to project an impression that whatever problems Montenegro had with its participation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had only to do with the authoritarian Milošević regime and not with Serbian democratic forces or the people of Serbia. He said on 27 February 1999: Montenegro is not Slovenia, it is a component part of Yugoslavia and that it wants to stay.
In 1998, the West also began to turn its back on Milošević. Naturally, Đukanović became an automatic local ally in this policy shift. That was especially obvious after the end of NATO bombing when Yugoslavia was plunged into deep international isolation. Milošević and other members of his clique were considered pariahs by every western government, so Đukanović became one of the few elected politicians within Yugoslavia they would openly communicate with. They were willing to overlook Đukanović's communist past, initial pro-war stance, and mounting evidence of criminal involvement, allowing him to regularly meet with Clinton administration officials such as Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger as well as British PM Tony Blair, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana all throughout this period.
Some credited Đukanović for the fact that Montenegro was spared from the brunt of the bombing that devastated the infrastructure of Serbia, suffering no greater destruction. The opposition used this in their favor and alleged that the bombing targets were solely pro-Serbian forces in Montenegro, like party headquarters.
However, this special relationship decreased after October 2000 when Milošević was finally ousted and a coalition led by Zoran Đinđić and Vojislav Koštunica took power in Belgrade.
Soon after the change in Serbia, Đukanović shifted his own politics again and now, for the very first time, started openly pushing for Montenegrin independence, but lost the strong support of the West.
Prime Minister, 2002–2006
On November 25, 2002, Đukanović resigned as President, several months before the end of his term, in order to become Prime Minister again. He took office as prime minister several weeks later. Filip Vujanović, the prime minister during his presidency, succeeded him as president.
From the downfall of Milošević until the recognition of Montenegro’s independence in June 2006, Đukanović struggled with Serbia over the issue of Montenegrin independence. His pro-independence policy resulted in a compromise some see as having been imposed by the European Union and its newly named foreign policy chief Javier Solana, with the creation of the new State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (replacing the two-republic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), but this also caused fallout with elements of his supporters who wanted him to push for full independence. As a result, he became the most high-profile supporter of the Montenegrin independence referendum in 2006. He is widely regarded as the single most responsible person for renewal of Montenegro's statehood.
In June 2006, the Parliament appointed Đukanović as the Montenegrin Minister of Defense, a decision that led to a chorus of criticism from different NGOs. In addition to his PM, and now Minister of Defense duties, Đukanović also acted as the president of National Council for Sustainable Growth, member of the Council for European Integration, and the president of Agency for Promotion of Foreign Investment's managing board.
October 2006: Resigning as PM
On 3 October 2006, it was announced that Đukanović was stepping down as Prime Minister, despite the victory of his
Coalition for a European Montenegro in the
September 2006 parliamentary election, although he would remain leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists. On 4 October, he endorsed
Željko Šturanović as his successor. The choice of Šturanović was considered a compromise between Đukanović and
Svetozar Marović, as Đukanović's first candidate was
Igor Lukšić, the Minister of Finance.
Đukanović formally ceased to be the Prime Minister on 10 November 2006, as the new Government was elected by Parliament of Montenegro. He cited his reasons for stepping down as "being tired of politics", and wishing to try himself out as a businessman.
Đukanović served as a member of Parliament from October 2006 to February 2008. He announced that he might be willing to run in the April 2008 presidential election but eventually decided against it, allowing Vujanović to easily win a second term.
Đukanović headed the proclamation of the new Constitution of Montenegro on 22 October 2007. He has received support from almost all DPS municipal boards and committees.
Since 2006, Đukanović has opened five private businesses (the latest called Global Montenegro on February 25, 2008) and bought actions in his brother's bank, altogether amassing property of millions of euros. His other four companies are: Universitas, Capital Invest, Primary Invest, and Select Investments.
February 2008: Coming back as PM, 2008-2010
On February 20, 2008, President Vujanović nominated Đukanović as Prime Minister after Šturanović resigned due to illness. He was accordingly elected as Prime Minister on February 29, 2008.
Montenegro submitted its application for EU membership in December 2008. On 22 July 2009, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn handed over the Commission's Questionnaire to Prime Minister Đukanović in Podgorica and on 9 December 2009 Prime Minister Đukanović delivered to Commissioner Rehn Montenegro's replies to the Commission's Questionnaire in Brussels. Later that year Montenegro achieved visa liberalisation with the EU. On 1 May 2010 - Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) entered into force. On 17 December 2010, Montenegro became an official EU candidate.
In the meantime, on October 9, 2008 Government of Montenegro recognized Kosovo's independence, becoming the 4th former Yugoslav republic to recognize Kosovo.
As for Montenegro's NATO accession bid, the Allies decided to grant its request to join the Membership Action Plan (MAP) in December 2009.
December 2010: Resigning as PM again
After giving indications he would step down once the
European Union granted official candidate status to Montenegro's membership application, which it did on 17 December 2010, Đukanović resigned as prime minister on 21 December 2010. His party's leadership proposed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister
Igor Lukšić to lead the new government.
Just like when he stepped down last time, Đukanović again retained the DPS party chairmanship. Furthermore, he has not ruled out possible future campaigns for public office, including a 2013 run for President of Montenegro or a run for another tenure as prime minister.
Criminal investigation in Italy
Although Milo Đukanović has been suspected of personal and political ties to wide spread tobacco smuggling in Montenegro throughout the 1990s, Italian authorities dropped all charges against him in April 2009.
In July 2003, the prosecutor's office in Naples linked Đukanović with an organised crime racket worth billions of euros. After that he wanted to come clean about his alleged involvement in tobacco smuggling, so the press conference was called in the capital, Podgorica, to deny the allegations as a "loathsome political trick", aimed at criminalising him and his country.
Dispute over diplomatic immunity
On April 16, 2003, the Judge for Preliminary Inquiries in
Naples rejected the Anti-Mafia Bureau's request for a warrant for Đukanović's arrest, claiming him to be
immune from arrest as prime minister of
Montenegro. The bureau had been investigating him for a while and had further requested his arrest as a precautionary measure.
The case was appealed to the Naples Court of Review, which ruled in Đukanović's favor. Besides claiming his immunity, he was described as not socially dangerous as well as ignorant that he was committing crimes.
The case was then once again appealed, to the Court of Cassation (Corte di Cassazione). On December 28, 2004, this court ruled in favor of the Anti-Mafia Bureau. It argued that as Montenegro was not a sovereign state, Đukanović had no diplomatic immunity.
After the independence referendum, Đukanović's lawyer, Enrico Tuccillo, said that "The referendum has confirmed the premise of the Prime Minister, Milo Đukanović, about the sovereignty of Montenegro: therefore no doubt can now remain about the immunity, granted to heads of state and of government, which Đukanović enjoyed and enjoys."
Italian authorities drop all charges
On March 27, 2008 Đukanović made a low profile visit to the prosecutor's office in Bari. He was questioned for 6.5 hours and answered to about 80 prosecutor's questions regarding the accusations against him. On this occasion, Đukanović’s lawyer said that he had written evidence proving that, at the time when his client submitted the request to give a statement to the Italian prosecution authorities in Bari, he did not occupy any public office whatsoever and, therefore, had no intention of hiding behind immunity in the first place.
In April 2009, the prosecution authorities finally dropped the case against Đukanović.
References
External links
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Category:1962 births
Category:Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro politicians
Category:League of Communists of Montenegro politicians
Category:Living people
Category:Montenegrin atheists
Category:People from Nikšić
Category:Presidents of Montenegro
