Podgorica

A NATO spokesperson on Monday described Sunday's parliamentary elections in Montenegro as democratic.

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.

Britain is blocking Montenegro from opening two more EU accession chapters, apparently because it doubts the country is ready to make concessions on the free movement of labour, BIRN has learned from a well-informed source in Montenegro.

The two new chapters relate to freedom of movement, in Chapter 2, and the right of establishment and freedom to provide services, in Chapter 3.

Two boys in the town of Tuzi near Montenegro's capital Podgorica seriously injured a 71-year-old man when they attacked him with a knife.

This is what regional media reported on Monday.

Women's rights organizations protested in Podgorica on Wednesday against the Western Balkans "She is Here" convention, claiming it was linked to the former Serbian politican Vladimir Beba Popovic - who they accuse of running campaigns against civil society activists in Montenegro.

For patients in Montenegro, a routine medical examination is becoming difficult to schedule because public hospitals are faced with severe financial crisis and a lack of important drugs, basic medical supplies and equipment.

Members of the religious sect Aum Shinrikyo who were in Montenegro where they "performed rituals" will be deported on Monday, local media are reporting.

Podgorica-based daily Dnevne Novine writes that this concerns 55 Russian and five Japanese citizens who have been ordered to leave the country by March 28 because they failed to register their stay with Montenegro's authorities.

European Parliamentarians have submitted 155 amendments to a draft resolution on Montenegro, which will be discussed in February, most of which urge Podgorica to tackle political corruption, vote-buying accusations and the state Telekom privatization affair.

Several thousand people, led by pro-Russian opposition parties in Montenegro, gathered in the capital Podgorica on Wednesday to celebrate the Serbian Orthodox New Year while protesting against the country's membership of NATO.

The Serb opposition group in Montenegro, the Democratic Front, announced a new anti-NATO protest for Wednesday against the country's impending membership of the Western military allaince.