Milo Đukanović

Đukanović supported Momir Bulatović's agreement on Lord Carrington's terms, which resulted in the 1992 Montenegrin independence referendum, where voters decided to remain in FR Yugoslavia.[4] His brother Aco Đukanović, the owner of Montenegro's first private bank, had the upper hand in privatisations, while his sister, the lawyer Ana Kolarevic, controlled the judiciary for a long time.DPS clientelist networks dominated all segments of social life, making party membership necessary to start a business or obtain a position in the administration.[5] In 2020, the Freedom House classified Montenegro as a hybrid regime rather than a democracy, mentioning the years of increasing state capture, abuse of power, and strongman tactics employed by Đukanović.[6] Đukanović was listed among the twenty richest world leaders according to the British newspaper The Independent in May 2010, which described the source of his estimated £10 million wealth as "mysterious".[11] Đukanović's paternal ancestors, members of the Ozrinići tribe[citation needed] who hailed from the village of Čevo, had settled in the Nikšić area following the Battle of Vučji Do in 1876.Progressing steadily up the party ladder, by 1988 Đukanović became a member of the League's highest decision-making body, the Central Committee of the 13th Congress (CK SKJ).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.[20] As Bulatović's deputy, Đukanović was invited to negotiations with Milošević and Borisav Jović, after which a clause was added to the Carrington proposal such that a republic could decide to stay in Yugoslavia through a referendum.On 6 August 1992, a local warlord named Milika "Čeko" Dačević occupied police headquarters in Pljevlja after a vehicle used by his personal envoy was seized.[25] In November 1995, Đukanović and Svetozar Marović visited the Pentagon at the invitation of the United States, where they allegedly offered the Port of Bar as a logistics venue for international peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[28] In what was his most open criticism to date, he publicly blasted Milošević in an interview with the Belgrade weekly Vreme, calling him "a man of obsolete political ideas".[31] A week after The Washington Times publication, Politika ran the letter on its front page on 18 March, adding the title: "Milo Đukanovic continues endeavoring to break up FR Yugoslavia and Serbia.On 28 July 1994, customs inspector Pavle Zelić informed the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia that approximately 4–5 million DM was found in boxes in AMSJ's office, and that he was not given a chance to count the money.In a more serious affair, in January 1996, Đukanović and Maraš met with MI6 agent Joseph "Joe" Busby in Hotel Yugoslavia in Belgrade, where the idea of Montenegro declaring independence from the state union with Serbia was first mentioned to a foreign representative.After the meetings with Solana, Đukanović signed the Belgrade Agreement on 14 March 2002, in addition to the signatures of Filip Vujanović, Zoran Đinđić, Vojislav Koštunica, and Miroljub Labus.[49] 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,[50] although he would remain leader of the Democratic Party of Socialists.Since 2006, Đukanović has opened five private businesses, the latest called Global Montenegro on 25 February 2008, and bought actions in his brother's bank, altogether amassing property worth millions of euros.In 2020, the Freedom House reported that years of increasing state capture, abuse of power, and strongman tactics employed by Đukanović have tipped his country over the edge – for the first time since 2003, Montenegro is no longer categorized as a democracy and became a hybrid regime.[66][65] They further concluded the election date had not been held in accordance with the Constitution, there had been no independent campaign coverage, and the ruling party had profited unjustifiably through widespread abuse of office and state resources.[66][65] On 1 September 2020, Đukanović accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Belgrade-based media of interfering in the internal politics of Montenegro, as well of alleged trying to revive a "Greater Serbia policy".The Tivat shipyard, which was the pride of the Yugoslav navy, was bought by Canadian billionaire Peter Munk after Montenegro's independence and converted into a marina for rich foreigners.The Podgorica aluminium smelter – the country's only major industry – was sold in 2005 to Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, who also joined forces with British banker Jacob Rothschild and French oligarch Bernard Arnault in a project to build "a new Monaco" on the shores of the Adriatic.Much of the former military land has been sold to investors, including the children of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris, who are building a luxury complex and residences.The Splendid Hotel, the most emblematic of these constructions, hosted the lavish weddings of the children of Montenegro's most powerful "godfather", Branislav Mićunović, in the presence of the country's elites.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.[74] According to court documents, "Montenegro has been a haven for illegal trafficking, where criminals acted with impunity, while the ports of Bar and Kotor were used as logistic bases for motor boats, with protection which was guaranteed by the government."[77] It was reported that Đukanović and his son Blažo have been passing money to offshore accounts since 2012,[76][78] when they established secret asset management agreements behind a network of companies in more than five countries.The Council session addressed the "security challenges caused by the announced enthronement of the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral" and urged "all socio-political actors" to keep peace and respect the Constitution and laws.[107][108][109] Following the enthronement, Đukanović, called it the government's Pyrrhic victory and "a great embarrassment of the Serbian Church and the government of Montenegro";[110] he later elaborated saying that the enthronement came as another one in a series of episodes in the renewed offensive of Serbian nationalism on Montenegro, the Krivokapić administration being "in the service of the Church of Serbia, which is an instrument for implementing the "Greater Serbia project", the official state policy of Belgrade".