Milo Đukanović

BELGRADE - Montenegro will join NATO within several months, head of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said after parliamentary elections held on Sunday.

He also vowed to accelerate negotiations on the country's joining the European Union.

The ruling Democratic Socialist Party (DPS) is tipped to win the general vote held in the country on Sunday, exit polls quoted by local media show.

If confirmed, the result would award Prime Minister Milo Đukanović anoter term in office, amidst his effort to pursue accession into NATO and to progress in negotiations with the EU.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's party, the DPS, has won the most votes - 41.1 pct - in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday.

The DPS will have 35 seats in the Montenegrin parliament. The opposition parties, meanwhile, will have 40 representatives.

Tensions went up by a notch during elections in Montenegro Sunday when police said they had arrested 20 Serbian nationals, accusing them of intent to destabilize the country by terrorism.

"These persons are suspected... of acts to create a criminal enterprise and terrorism," DPA quotes national police director Slavko Stojanović says in a statement.

Montenegrins are heading to the polls on Sunday in a key test of potential EU and NATO membership.

More than half a million voters, in a country of just 0.6 m, are eligible to vote, showing their assessment for the tenure of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović.

BELGRADE - NATO membership will be a central issue in Montenegro's general election on Sunday, with the vote marking the latest episode in a power struggle between Russia and the West in the Balkans, EurActiv.com reports.

NEW YORK - Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday met with the heads of government of Romania, Austria, Moldova and Luxembourg on the fringes of a UNGA session in New York.

Vucic and his Romanian counterpart Dacian Ciolos agreed to hold their next meeting in Belgrade or Bucharest soon.

The government in Podgorica has rejected criticism from international rights and media watchdogs which accused the authorities of violating investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic's rights by holding him in pre-trial detention for 11 months.

Montenegrin PM Milo Djukanovic said in an exclusive interview for B92 that by recognizing Kosovo no one in Montenegro had any bad intentions towards Serbia.

TV B92 will on Thursday, September 15, at 21:00 CET air an exclusive interview with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.

In his first interview for Serbia-based media in the past ten years, Djukanovic discusses a range of issues.