Pro-West Leader Wins Presidency in Montenegro

Milo Djukanovic, who took his Balkan state into NATO, won Sunday’s presidential election on a pledge to stay on course for European Union membership. Djukanovic, who had almost continuously served as premier or president in the country of 620,000 people for more than a quarter of a century, won 54%, eliminating the need for a runoff. His main challenger, Milan Bojanic, got 33%, according to results from the state election commission, based on 99% of votes counted on Monday. Bojanic conceded defeat, Bloomberg reported. The outcome is “a confirmation of Montenegro’s resolve to stick to the European quality of life and membership in the EU,” Djukanovic told supporters at his Democratic Party of Socialists, which has been in power for decades. He will replace his ally, Filip Vujanovic, who used up the legal limit of two consecutive five-year terms. Djukanovic, 56, rose through the ranks of Yugoslavia’s single-party Communist system to become Montenegro’s prime minister first in 1991.