Abazovićis the first ethnic Albanian and first Muslim to have served as Prime Minister of Montenegro.
Early life,education and early career
Abazovićwas born on 25 December 1985 in Ulcinj,Montenegro.[‡1] Abazovićis an ethnic Albanian.[2] Having finished elementary and secondary school in Ulcinj,he graduated at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo,becoming a valedictorian and winner of the "Golden Badge" and "Golden Charter" of the University of Sarajevo.[3] He obtained a master's degree in international relations from the University of Montenegro Faculty of Political Sciences in 2008.[4] In 2019,he finished his PhD in the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo,having defended his doctoral dissertation titled "Global Politics—Ethical Aspects of Globalization".[5]
He has worked as a high school teacher in Ulcinj,teaching the sociology of culture,communication and the history of religion.[3]
From 2005 to 2007,he was an assistant at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo. In 2009,he completed the course for the Study of Peace at the University of Oslo. At the same university,he completed a seminar for professional development.[3] In 2011,he resided in the United States while participating in the State Department program in Washington,D.C. From 2010 to 2012,he was the executive director of the local broadcasting company Teuta,as well as the NGO Mogul,both centered in Ulcinj.[3]
In 2010,he published his first book titled Cosmopolitan Culture and Global Justice.[6]
Abazovićwas one of the founders of the social liberal political party Positive Montenegro in 2012.[8] At the 2012 Montenegrin parliamentary election,the party won 7 out of 81 seats,leading to Abazovićbecoming the youngest member of the new convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro.[9]
In 2014,following a split in the party,Abazovićleft Positive Montenegro,serving as an independent MP before joining the newly founded United Reform Action (URA) in 2015.[10] He is currently the president of URA and served as one of its parliamentary representatives from 2015 to 2020.[4]
In June 2020,delegates from thirty-eight European countries voted at the XXXI Congress to admit Civic Movement URA to the European Green Party,making Civic Movement URA the first opposition party in independent Montenegro to join a family of European parties.[11]
On 11 July 2020,the Civic Movement URA decided to run independently,presenting its centre-left election platform under the name In Black and White. The list was led by independent candidates,including well known journalist and activist Milka Tadić,several university professors,journalists,civil society and NGO activists. Abazovićwas the ballot carrier of the list,as the leader of URA.[12] The URA electoral list also included one representative of the Bosniak minority interests SPP party,as well as several minor local initiatives.[13]
Abazovićalongside U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman,19 October 2021
On 4 December 2020,the new big tentcabinet of Montenegro was elected by 41 out of 81 members of the Parliament of Montenegro,and independent politician Zdravko Krivokapić became the new Prime Minister of Montenegro,with Abazovićas Deputy Prime Minister in charge of security sector coordination and national security,formally ending three decades of DPS rule in the country. The new cabinet vowed to dismantle the state apparatus built by the DPS,and root out corruption and organized crime.[18] In January 2022,Abazovićwas appointed as a member of the advisory board of the Institute for Freedom of Faith and Security in Europe.[19]
On 5 January 2021,Abazovićrevealed that the company "Global Montenegro",owned in part by President Milo Đukanović,was in a 12.45 million euro debt to the state and that there were no more "untouchable" officials.[20] The following day,construction and casino magnate with alleged ties to organized crime Brano Mićunovićwas apprehended in Budva. Abazovićcongratulated the police and National Security Agency for the action.[21] Mićunovićwas released on 8 January to be allowed to prepare his defense.[22]
Following the violent clashes that erupted in Cetinje during the enthronement of the new Metropolitan of Montenegro and the LittoralJoanikije Mićović on 5 September 2021,tensions erupted in the ruling majority. The following day,Deputy Prime Minister Abazović,Interior MinisterSergej Sekulović and police chief Zoran Brđanin were accused of being against the event being held in Cetinje by several media outlets,with Democratic Front (DF) leader Andrija Mandić and Democratic Montenegro MP Danilo Šaranovićechoing their remarks.[23] Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapićannounced an internal investigation into the events,refusing to comment on the potential dismissal of Sekulovićand Brđanin. On 7 September,DF leader Nebojša Medojević called on the two to resign,claiming they were part of a conspiracy designed to return the DPS to power by violent means.[24] The following day,Abazovićsaid that the government was crossing a "red line",warning that the dismissal of Sekulovićwould lead to him retracting support from the government and working to overthrow it.[25] The cabinet of Prime Minister Krivokapićdeclined to issue a statement on the matter until the internal investigation was finished.[26] On 1 November,following a closed meeting of the Security and Defense Committee,Abazovićreiterated his support for the security sector,saying they had "preserved the peace,which was the area of highest risk". Minister Sekulovićalso defended his actions during the first meeting of the committee on 27 September.[27] These events signaled the "beginning of the end" of Krivokapić's government,eventually leading to it being toppled in a no-confidence vote several months later.[28]
Premiership (2022–2023)
Abazovićin a press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin,20 June 2022
On 3 March 2022,President Đukanović asked Abazovićto form a new government following a no-confidence vote in early February against Krivokapić.[29] On 28 April,Montenegro's parliament approved a new government composed of a broad coalition of both pro-European and pro-Serb parties,with Abazovićas prime minister.[30] Abazovićtold lawmakers the new government's main focus will be the reforms required by the EU so that Montenegro can ask to speed up its accession process in the light of the new situation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He added that government priorities will be the fight against corruption,more sustainable investments and development,protection of the environment and better care for children and youth.[30]
On 20 August 2022,the Parliament of Montenegro passed a motion of no confidence against Abazović's government,which ended his premiership.[31] He remained in power as a caretaker prime minister pending the formation of a new government.[32]
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