Online Event: Montenegro: A new Beginning?

Moderation
Fynn-Morten Heckert, Student Assistant at the Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz, Austria

Claudia Laštro, Doctoral Researcher at the Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz, Austria

Introduction
Florian Bieber,
Jean Monnet Chair in Europeanisation of Southeastern Europe, Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz, Austria, Coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG)

Discussants

Vanja Calovic Markovic, Executive Director of the NGO MANS, Montenegro, Member of the Advisory Board of the Balkan Trust for Democracy

Jelena Džankic, Professor in the Global Governance Programme at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, Co-Director of the Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT)

Jovana Marovic, Executive Director of Politikon Network, Montenegro, Expert in the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG)

Kenneth Morrison, Professor of Modern Southeast European History at De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom


The parliamentary elections in August 2020 marked the first turnover of power in Montenegro since the end of socialism in 1990. Until then, Montenegro had been governed by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the heir to the League of Communists of Montenegro. Three decades of the DPS in power have left an imprint on Montenegrin politics and society. The new government, appointed on 4 December 2020, is composed of three different coalitions: ‘For the Future of Montenegro’, ‘Peace is our Nation’, and ‘Black and White’. This ideologically diverse coalition is united by little more than its joint opposition to the DPS, declaring the dismantling of the DPS-regime its primary goal.


What progress has the new government made in achieving its main objective so far? How realistic is its promise to dismantle the DPS’ hegemonic position? And what other interests does the new government represent?


The panel attempts to answer these and other questions by assessing the first six months of Montenegro’s new government. The discussion will highlight the challenges presented by the long-lasting rule of the DPS in the areas of the rule of law, systemic corruption, and the entanglement of informal networks with the state. The discussants will also focus on the new government’s foreign policy, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and competing nationalisms in Montenegro.


Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ldOqsqT8qG9F5-eicNSMdwBTZ2gM3KjuW 

Montenegro: A new Beginning?


01.06.2021 17:00 – 18:30

Zentrum für Südosteuropastudien

https://suedosteuropa.uni-graz.at/de/veranstaltungen/detail/article/montenegro-a-new-beginning/


Odgovori