Montenegro to hold early elections on October 14
(PODGORICA) - Montenegro's President Filip Vujanovic on Tuesday called for elections to be held on October 14, a vote aimed at giving the new government a fresh mandate as it embarks on EU membership talks.
Parliament voted last week for early elections to be held, as ruling parties stressed the importance of having a full four-year mandate while entering into accession negotiations with Brussels.
Ahead of the vote, the ruling coalition of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Socialist People's Party (SNP) had already agreed to join forces. They have ruled Montenegro together since the late 1990s.
The DPS is backed by 44 percent of voters and the SNP with 17 percent, latest opinion polls show. Other parties enjoy the support of less than 10 percent of voters.
The tiny Balkans country with a population of just 650,000 began EU accession talks in June.
Of the six former Yugoslav republic states-- Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia -- only Slovenia has managed to join the EU. Croatia is set to become the bloc's 28th member in July 2013.
The remaining three countries are in different phases of their path to join the bloc.
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