In the second round of the presidential election in Montenegro, the victory was won by the representative of the Europe Now! party Jakov Milatović.
Data from the Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI), based on 100% of the sample, show that the presidential candidate from DPS (Democratic Party of Socialists) Milo Đukanović won 40% of the vote, while the candidate from the Europe Now! Movement, Jakov Milatović, won 60% of the vote.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), turnout was 69.3%. In absolute numbers, Milatović received about 230,000 votes, while Đukanović received almost 160,000 votes.
The candidate of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Milo Đukanović, congratulated Jakov Milatović on his victory in the presidential election.
“Montenegro has made its choice. I respect that choice. I congratulate Jakov Milatović on the trust he received in the election. I wish him to be a successful president, because if he is a successful president, then Montenegro will be successful too,” Đukanović said in his address.
He also thanked all the citizens who placed their trust in him and noted that it is important for Montenegro to make the next choice in the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 11.
Jakov Milatović, who won the second round of the presidential election, thanked all the citizens who exercised their right to vote and thereby “added legitimacy to this democratic process”.
“Tonight Montenegro took a decisive step forward,” Milatović said. “She decisively said goodbye to Đukanović’s outdated regime and took a step forward toward a wealthier, brighter, fairer, eternal and European Montenegro. Good luck to us,” he added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4yLaWH9aFI&t=8s Jakov Milatović. The President of Montenegro's speech after the victory in the second round on April 2, 2023.
Jakov Milatović — the new president of Montenegro
Jakov Milatović (37 years old), was born in Podgorica (Titograd). He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Montenegro. He later earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Oxford. Jakov Milatović speaks English, Italian, and Spanish fluently. He is married and has three children.
Economic career
He began his career at NLB Bank, and then at Deutsche Bank in Germany in the credit risk assessment department. Since 2014, he worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the economic and political analysis department. In 2019, he was appointed chief economist for EU countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia, and worked in the Bank's office in Bucharest.
Political career
Jakov Milatović returned to Montenegro in 2020 at the invitation of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić and took the post of Minister of Economy. After the Krivokapić Government received a vote of no confidence in 2022, Jakov Milatović resigned. In September 2022, together with former Finance Minister Milojko Spajić, he founded the center-right movement Europe Now! (Europe Now), which took part in the 2022 local elections. Milatović led the organization’s electoral list in Podgorica as a mayoral candidate.
In March 2023, Milatović ran as the Europe Now candidate in the 2023 presidential election in Montenegro. He was elected president after his convincing victory over incumbent president Milo Đukanović in the second round on April 2, 2023.
Cover photo: kurir.rs