April 16 (SeeNews) - Former Montenergrin prime minister and ex-president Milo Djukanovic won the first round of the country's presidential elections on Sunday, promising to keep the Balkan state on course to EU membership, his party said on Sunday.
"[...] we won 54% of votes and thus overpowered the joint efforts of the other six candidates. This is a confirmation of Montenegro's resolve to continue down the European path, to continue down the road that will lead us to EU membership," Djukanovic said in a statement issued by the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro.
Djukanovic also said his priority would be to guarantee employment and improve the standards of living.
Djukanovic is the leader of DPS, which has been in power since the introduction of multi-party system in 1990. He served as prime minister of Montenegro from 1991 to 1998, as president of the country from 1998 to 2002, and as prime minister again from 2003 to 2006, from 2008 to 2010, and from 2012 to 2016.
The incumbent president of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, was reelected in the first round of the 2013 election on 51.2% of the vote. Vujanovic is ineligible in the April elections as under the Montenegrin Constitution each president can serve up to two terms in office.