Lidija (bored, left) and Milo (with cigarettes under jacket, right) Djukanović The biggest news story at the moment in the Balkans, other than the fallout from the controversial Council of Europe report accusing Kosovo's Hashim Thaçi of being a mafia boss, has been the sudden resignation of Montenegro's president Milo Djukanović. He has been in the reigns of the tiny former Yugoslav republic in one way or another now since the late 1980s, when Djukanović along with the head of the newly-rechristened Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro(DPS - formerly the Communist Party), Momir Bulatović, close allies of Serbia's Slobodan Milošević, led the "anti-bureaucratic revolution" which was Milošević's way of flushing out all the old Yugoslav communist functionaries in Serb-majority parts of Yugoslavia with his pro-nationalist cronies. Djukanović became premier of Montenegro in 1991 at the age of 29, and was to go on to holding the post for another 3 terms, then was president from 1998 to 2002, and went back to premier from 2002 to 2006 and again since 2008 to now.
During Djukanović's rule, he has seen the country go from the loyal and junior partner to Serbia in Milosevic's 'Federal Republic of Yugoslavia', involvement in the war in neighbouring Bosnia, spared being bombed during the 1999 Nato bombings, to eventually a rather rushed independence in 2006. Though Djukanović shared Milosevic's politics and stance, in 1996 he took a turn and directed Montenegro towards the West, who were to support him and Montenegro in a push towards self-determination (Montenegro adopted the Deutschmark as its currency in 1999, despite being in a union with Serbia). In 2006, the country voted in a referendum where 55% of the population voted for independence, which was declared shortly after and quickly recognised worldwide. Since then Montenegro has been rebuilding its former vibrant tourism industry and has now been designated as an official 'EU candidate state', with strong expectations that it will follow the next new member state Croatia in joining the Union.
The Djukanović's sharing a happy moment with the boss and wife. The gals get on.
So that's the 'nice' news - the stuff much bantered in the Western (and government-controlled Montenegrin) media. But the rest of the Balkans see Montenegro and especially the system Djukanović has created in a much different way. First of all, Djukanović is amazingly rich (not a surprise for the Desperate Dictators) and it is very well known how he amassed his wealth - smuggling. Thanks to his high position, the chaos and Western-imposed sanctions on Montenegro (and Serbia), and the mountainous country's location just a quick speedboat trip across the Adriatic from Italy, Djukanović made (and rumoured to still make) a killing getting his cut from the huge amount of cigarettes (that we do know) and possibly (likely but not yet definitively proven) drugs, weapons and people trafficked through his fiefdom. This illegal trade continued even after the West started courting him as a way to get at Milošević. The disgusting thing is that the West fully knew about this (indictments have been prepared in Italy against Djukanović) but in their pursuit of getting at Milošević, they were fully prepared to turn a blind eye to it all. Ironically, with all the cigarettes passing through the country, Montenegro was the first entity in the Balkans to introduce a complete indoor smoking ban. The West seemed so prepared to protect Djukanović, a leader who would always top polls in the Balkans for the 'most corrupt politician award' in the Balkans (now that is saying something), that they even used the carrot on the Montenegrin electorate that independence would mean quicker entry into the EU for the country, which in turn was implied as immediate and immense wealth for everyone. The irony is that while one of the core EU principles is for a Europe without borders and divisions, by supporting Montenegrin independence the EU was actively campaigning for yet another border to be drawn and yet further division of the former Yugoslavia and Europe. Well, it worked.
Inhaling success
The final spark that essentially signalled the end of the short-lived union then known as 'Serbia and Montenegro' was, of all things, their selection process for their entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. Even though there was an elaborate selection system comprising an equal amount of singers from both entities, an unwritten agreement existed whereby one year the representative will be from Serbia, the next from Montenegro. In 2005, a hastily-cobbled boy band consisting of 6 teenage boys of dubious singing talent but all sons of personal friends of Djukanović (i.e. high-ranking DPS officials) appropriately called 'No Name' sang a very Montenegrin style song at Eurovision, and whose public appearances featured a lot of Montenegrin independent posturing, even though they were ostensibly representing Serbia too. The following year it was understood that a Serbian act would then be sent. However, when it came time for the official juries from Serbia and Montenegro to vote at the final selection process, the Montenegrins gave no points to the favourite Serbian acts and instead voted en-masse 'No Name' again. The Serbian audience knew very well that what had happened was not above board, and the ensuing scandal and chaos resulted in Serbia and Montenegro having to forfeit participation. A day after the Eurovision that year, Montenegro voted in referendum on independence. As predicted, the minimum voter turnout required was just met (hmmm... ) and 55% of them voted yes for independence.
No Name... no talent 
Photo time! Wife, prez and (stuffed) ballot box So we have a corrupt leader who seems to always win elections, but is supported by the West thus ensuring we never get to see him being associated with vote-rigging or corruption. We have the perfect conditions then for a desperate housewife. So what's the story with his wife Lidija? Well, she is a behind-the-scenes player. Her public image is one of a humble and low-profile woman who would only appear with hubby occasionally at official events, photo-ops in front of ballot boxes and front row at basketball matches featuring the local team, but there is no doubt she has a huge influence over him (Lady Macbeth again). Lidija once organised a glam charity event with the then US ambassador's wife at the swankiest hotel in Montenegro's capital Podgorica (formerly Titograd) and that's it - she never hosted another event again.
Blažo, Lidija and Milo, out for a walk in the rain
However, for a laugh, check out the fancy Montenegrin Anti-Corruption website. It claims, among other things, that in 2009 Milo Djukanović only received a wage of 1227 euros a month (up from 456 euros in 2004), Lidija gets 1419 euros a month (up from 500 euros in 2004) while their son, university student Blažo, officially gets zip. Milo has no car but Lidija sold her Peugeot 306 and has bought an Audi A3 on credit. They claim to have no savings or shares - despite it well known that Milo's brother Aco owns 47% of shares in Montenegro's biggest bank (guess how he got hold of them - thanks bro!) and Milo himself with 2.9%. I might add that this bank was 'bailed out' by the Montenegro bank, which means Milo gave loads of state money to his brother. Officially the Djukanovićs possess only one residential and two commercial properties, from which Blažo, the owner, gets 11,000 euros rent. How humble... but what a blatant lie! In the past year, Djukanović has been able through close family members to amass a fortune of 8 million euros, as reported by the Belgrade daily Blic. Its report claims that Djukanović has strong connections with underworld bosses and that Serbian officials are also quite aware that because of these links, many wanted criminals and crime bosses were able to seek sanctuary in Montenegro. However, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' report titled 'Montenegro - Djukanović Family Business' revealed that Djukanović has 14 million euros in wealth, while his closest family members have done quite well for themselves (just like in Tunisia's case) with his sister Ana worth 3.5 million while his aforementioned brother Aco having a whopping 167 million dollars divided among stakes in 22 different companies plus prime real estate. That's a lot of cigarettes there. This report (in English) gives even further details of the level of corruption in Montenegro, all to the benefit of Milo's family.
Already parallels are being drawn with the sudden flight of Croatia's former premier Ivo Sanader recently after the Croatian parliament voted to strip him of his immunity due to confirmation from WikiLeaks-published US State Department cables that he was involved in a long-rumoured corruption deal with an Austrian bank. Croatia's president Jadranka Košor has been quick to deny any comparisons, though many are wondering what will happen to Djukanović now, especially if, likewise, his immunity is ever to be stripped? Then again, at only 49, Djukanović is still comparatively young and he has once before quit politics only to come back.
A Montenegrin magazine's not-so flattering depiction of the president's brother, Aco Djukanović
Montenegro now has the opportunity to move on from a period of its history that was identikit to most of the other former Yugoslav republics. The tired, exhausted and poor population of Montenegro does not deserve to be ruled by a corrupt family involved in organised crime that permeates into the rest of Europe who cynically exploited Montenegrin nationalism to draw attention away from their ill gains and actions. What is worse is that the West has yet again supported this! Hopefully a decent change will come now that the Djukanovićs are (publicly) moving away from high office. However, the Balkan pessimism says otherwise...
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