Montenegro votes with EU talks, economy top issues

Montenegro heads to the polls Sunday to choose a government that will lead European Union entry talks for the tiny Balkans country in the grip of a deep economic crisis. The ruling centre-left coalition led by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) called the elections six months before the official end of its mandate after the EU opened accession talks in June. The European Montenegro coalition, led by veteran politician Milo Djukanovic, said it wants to secure a "full mandate for the important negotiations" with Brussels. The latest opinion polls show that the DPS is heading for its third win in as many elections since Montenegro's independence from decades-long partner Serbia in 2006, despite the economic crisis. The surveys put Djukanovic's coalition ahead with 47 percent of the votes against some 40 percent for the opposition. Djukanovic is the only leader in the volatile Balkans whose party has survived and won every election since the start of the bloody 1990s wars. Since independence he has served twice as prime minister and was president from 1998 to 2002. The opposition, united in the Democratic Front coalition led by former foreign minister Miodrag Lekic, has tried to hit the ruling party in its weak spots: an unemployment rate of 20 percent and ongoing claims of corruption in the government. In its annual progress report, the European Commission noted that Montenegro, which has some 625,000 inhabitants, has implemented key economic reforms, but said it should make more efforts to hold up the rule of law and fight organised crime and corruption. Observers said that neither the opposition nor the ruling coalition offered solutions to the worsening economic situation in a country where the average monthly salary is 480 euros ($620). Montenegro's state debt has reached a "worrisome" 58 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), its central bank has said. Its relatively undiversified economy relies heavily on foreign investment which drove an economic boom between 2006 and 2008. But that growth, based mostly on tourism revenue and real estate investment on its Adriatic coast, has stalled. Montenegro's economy grew by 2.7 percent in 2011, with the government forecasting an expansion of just 0.5 percent this year. Of the six former Yugoslav republics only Slovenia is a member of the European Union since 2004. Croatia is set to become the bloc's newest member next year. Montenegro has started accession talks while Macedonia and Serbia are candidate members. Bosnia has not yet applied for membership. The 1,162 polling stations in Montenegro will open at 7 am (0500 GMT) and close at 8 pm (1800 GMT) for the 514,000 voters. In the evening there will be exit polls and independent election monitor CEMI will deliver an estimate based on a representative sample of voters. The first official results will be announced Monday by the central election commission.