BALKAN

MONTENEGRO CONGRATULATES THE STUDENTS ON THEIR VICTORY: Government and opposition representatives speak out, along with Parliament Speaker Mandić!

by Serbian Times26. October 2026.26. October 2026.

Montenegro’s highest state officials congratulated the Student List on its victory in Serbia’s snap parliamentary elections. Leaders of opposition parties and mayors of several municipalities did the same, hoping that the change of government would open a “new chapter” in relations between the two countries.

Unlike President Jakov Milatović and Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, who offered their congratulations last night, shortly after Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leader Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat, Parliament Speaker and New Serbian Democracy (NSD) leader Andrija Mandić issued his congratulatory message this morning, focusing on the peaceful conduct of the elections and the acceptance of the results.

He said it was important that all participants in the election had “risen to the occasion” and preserved peace and stability. He also thanked the “outgoing authorities for everything good they did for their people beyond Serbia’s borders.”

“It is our duty to build the best possible relations, founded on strong historical, spiritual, linguistic and national ties… On our shared European path, we expect even closer relations and are ready to help Serbia become the next member of the European Union after Montenegro,” Mandić concluded. He is politically close to SNS leader Aleksandar Vučić.

President Jakov Milatović and Prime Minister Milojko Spajić see the Student List’s victory in Serbia’s parliamentary elections as an opportunity to open a “new chapter” in relations between the two countries, “based on friendship, sincere dialogue and a commitment to a shared European future, without unnecessarily escalating tensions.”

“Citizens of both countries deserve relations measured by concrete results of cooperation, rather than the depth of diplomatic misunderstandings,” Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said.

Opposition parties also congratulated the Student List on its victory. Ivan Vuković, a senior official of the largest opposition party, said the students’ campaign would go down in history and expressed hope that the victory would “send into history the misguided policies and individuals who have been stealing Serbia’s European future for decades.”

The elections in Serbia attracted considerable media interest in Montenegro. Some national television channels broadcast the election night live, while celebrations accompanied by fireworks took place in Podgorica.

The Student List also won the vote in Montenegro. It received 893 votes, or 66.3 percent, across three polling stations, according to data from the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT), which monitored the elections.

On Sunday, police detained three people in Berane on suspicion that they were SNS activists who had attempted to influence the outcome of voting in the north of the country through pressure. The area is largely home to Serbs who fled Kosovo during the 1990s.

According to unofficial information reported by the newspaper Vijesti, citing several police sources, the alleged pressure on voters involved three people from Montenegro and one Serbian citizen.

The newspaper reports that one of the three individuals, Miloš Janjušević, was formerly the sole owner of Adria Management Services (AMS), the indirect owner of Adria Television, a Montenegrin television station with national broadcasting coverage.

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