Description

The protests that began in Podgorica this year have been the largest and most sustained challenge to Milo Djukanovic’s 25-year rule. This talk examines the causes of the protest in the context of other post-colour revolutions, such as Ukraine’s EuroMaidan, Skopje, and Chisinau Protests. While the riot police broke up the attempt by the protesters to seize the Parliament amid the accusations of police brutality, the protests have continued. This talk will examine the driving force behind these protests by looking at factors such as entrenched corruption and abuse of office, the role of external actors, and identity, among others. It will argue that similarly to other post-colour revolutions, the Montenegro protests are a response to the regime’s foreign policy decisions, complete monopoly on institutional politics, and high level corruption. The success of the protests will depend on two factors: 1) ability of protesters to expend their support basis and form a broad coalition and 2) Djukanovic’s ability to keep the regime’s tactics of distributing resources among a narrow circle of supporters going.

Nikola Milicic is the PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, University of Toronto. His dissertation examines the politics of taxation and state-building in former Soviet and Yugoslav countries. His other research interests are the political economy of authoritarian regimes, corruption, and green economy in the region.