Dritan Abazović

Abazović was 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 Abazović becoming the youngest member of the new convocation of the Parliament of Montenegro.[9]

In 2014, following a split in the party, Abazović left 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. Abazović was 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]

The 2020 parliamentary elections in Montenegro achieved the first democratic change of government in the history of the country. Abazović's electoral list won four mandates, which proved to be crucial in unseating the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) led by Milo Đukanović after 30 years.[14][15] Abazović, on behalf of URA, and the leaders of the lists For the Future of Montenegro and Peace is Our Nation, Zdravko Krivokapić and Aleksa Bečić, agreed during a meeting on several principles on which the future government would rest, including the formation of an expert government, a continuation of the European Union accession process, the fight against corruption and overcoming the polarization of Montenegrin society.[16] They invited minority parties of Bosniaks and Albanians, wishing to form a large coalition government, which the minority parties would ultimately decline.[16] After the election, Abazović's interview with Professor Kenneth Morrison was published by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).[17]

Abazović alongside U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, 19 October 2021

On 4 December 2020, the new big tent cabinet 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 Abazović as 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, Abazović was appointed as a member of the advisory board of the Institute for Freedom of Faith and Security in Europe.[19]

On 5 January 2021, Abazović revealed 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 Mićunović was apprehended in Budva. Abazović congratulated the police and National Security Agency for the action.[21] Mićunović was 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 Littoral Joanikije Mićović on 5 September 2021, tensions erupted in the ruling majority. The following day, Deputy Prime Minister Abazović, Interior Minister Sergej 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 Šaranović echoing their remarks.[23] Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić announced an internal investigation into the events, refusing to comment on the potential dismissal of Sekulović and 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, Abazović said that the government was crossing a "red line", warning that the dismissal of Sekulović would lead to him retracting support from the government and working to overthrow it.[25] The cabinet of Prime Minister Krivokapić declined 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, Abazović reiterated his support for the security sector, saying they had "preserved the peace, which was the area of highest risk". Minister Sekulović also 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]

Abazović in a press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, 20 June 2022

On 3 March 2022, President Đukanović asked Abazović to 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 Abazović as Prime Minister.[30] Abazović told 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]

Prof. Dr Anastas Angjeli and Prof. Dr Adrian Civici presenting Abazović the honorary degree at the Mediterranean University of Albania

• 2021 – Honorary Doctorate, Luarasi University [36]
• 2022 – Honorary Doctorate, Swiss UMEF [37]
• 2023 – Honorary Doctorate, Mediterranean University of Albania [38]
• 2023 – Honorary Doctorate, Universum College [39]
• 2023 – Honorary Doctorate, Istanbul Medeniyet University [40]

• Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition presented by the U.S. representative Nicole Malliotakis. (26 September 2022)[41]
• Honorary Citizen of New Orleans issued by LaToya Cantrell, Mayor of the City of New Orleans[42]
• Key to the City of New Orleans
• Honorary Ambassador of Louisiana awarded by Billy Nungesser, Lieutenant Governor[43]
• Special IFIMES award presented by the Honorary President of IFIMES Stjepan Mesić[44]

• Kosmopolitska kultura i globalna pravda (en.Cosmopolitan culture and global justice) (2009)[45]
• A Critique of Global Ethics (2022)[46]

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):