Montenegro voted on Sunday in a presidential election expected to return incumbent Filip Vujanovic for a third term with the tiny Adriatic republic trying to shed a reputation for crime and corruption to smooth its way into the European Union.
Vujanovic, 58, has held the largely ceremonial post since 2003. The country of 680,000 people became independent in 2006 when it narrowly voted to end an 88-year union with Serbia.
His main challenger is Miodrag Lekic, a former diplomat backed by an opposition bloc that accuses the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), of which Vujanovic is a member, of monopolising power in the interests of a corrupt elite.
The former Yugoslav republic, an emerging tourist hotspot, has for years been dogged by a reputation for corruption and rampant organised crime.
The DPS, led by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, has been in power since the collapse of federal Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. It was re-elected in an election in October, despite an economic slump triggered by falling foreign investment.
Vujanovic, voting in the capital Podgorica, pledged to help "intensify" Montenegro's efforts to join the EU in talks that began in mid-2012. "This is the pre-condition for a better quality of life," he told reporters.
Montenegro is next in line for EU membership behind fellow former Yugoslav republic Croatia, which joins in July. Serbia is a candidate for membership but has yet to begin talks.
Vujanovic led in opinion polls with Lekic struggling to deflect accusations from the DPS that he is weak on the issue of Montenegrin statehood. Lekic, 65, is backed by a number of small parties that campaigned against voiding the union with Serbia.
Lekic complained of "irregularities" that he said had tainted the poll. "Elections are a moment of truth in democratic countries," he told reporters after voting. "I wish this would happen for Montenegro."
An economic downturn and persistent accusations of elitism and corruption saw the DPS fall short of an outright majority in the October parliamentary election, but it formed a government with the help of ethnic minority parties. The DPS denies that Montenegro is any worse than the rest of the Balkan region in terms of graft and organised crime.
Seven years since Montenegro split from Serbia, elections continue to be decided largely on the issue of statehood. The DPS has warned voters that Lekic and the opposition cannot be trusted to strengthen Montenegrin sovereignty.
"Vujanovic is an honest man," said Miljan Nestorovic, a 44-year-old economist. "He was part of the crew that brought back our independence. He's a guarantee of political stability and I trust him." Ivan Bulatovic, 35, a salesman who voted early in Podgorica and backed Lekic, said, "We need change.
"We need someone to challenge these guys who have been in power for the last 25 years. We need someone new who's going to rise up against corruption, to speak out against authorities that brought us only hunger."
Preliminary election results are expected soon after polls close at 8 pm.
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