Miodrag Lekić (

Montenegrin Cyrillic The Montenegrin alphabet is the collective name given to "" ( Montenegrin Latin alphabet; in Cyrillic) and "" ( Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet; in Latin), the writing systems used to write the Montenegrin language. It was adopted on 9 June 2009 ...

: Миодраг Лекић; born 21 November 1947) is a Montenegrin political scientist, diplomat and politician. He is the founder and current president of the

liberal conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

Democratic Alliance (DEMOS).

Biography

Early academic and political career

Lekić was born on the 21st of November 1947 In Bar, PR Montenegro, Yugoslavia. Lekić has his surname derived from Leka an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

male name and surname in the Balkans. Lekić studied political science with focus on international relations at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

, graduating in 1971. He worked as a professor at "Niko Rolović" gymnasium and was a director of cultural and informative center in his hometown of Bar. He received a French government scholarship to further his studies at the

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

from 1976 to 1977.Miodrag Lekić's biography at the LUISS Guido Carli
. In 1986 he became a member of the government of

SR Montenegro The Socialist Republic of Montenegro ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora, Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора), commonly referred to as Socialist Montenegro or simply Montenegro, was ...

, and in 1987 he was a member of the

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

delegation for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

cooperation.Miodrag Lekić, biografija
/ref>

Diplomatic career

From 1990 to 1992, Lekić served as ambassador of the

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

, and

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. From August 1992 to May 1995, he was the minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Montenegro. Subsequently, he became Yugoslav ambassador to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

for two terms (1995-1999 and 2001-2003). Between 1999 and 2001 he worked for the United Nations's

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

(FAO). During his second term he received a wide media attention for his strong criticism of NATO intervention in Yugoslavia during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

, most notably in

Porta a Porta ''Porta a Porta'' () is an Italian late night television talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Te ...

talk show. In 2003, Lekić fell out with the new Montenegrin president

Milo Đukanović Milo Đukanović (, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician who served as the President of Montenegro from 2018 to 2023, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2002. He also served as the Prime Minister of Montenegro (1991–19 ...

, leader of the ruling DPS, and left the Yugoslav diplomatic service.

Academic career in Italy

Lekić became a lecturer at the LUISS Guido Carli in Rome. He taught comparative politics from 2003 to 2004, international negotiation technique from 2004 to 2012 and diplomacy from 2012 to 2013. At the same time, he lectured international relations and negotiation technique at the faculty of humanities,

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

from 2005 to 2007.

Return to Montenegrin politics

In 2011, he founded the Center for International Policy and European Integration (CEMP) in

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

. In 2012, he became the leader of the opposition alliance Democratic Front formed by the

Movement for Changes Movement for Changes (, PZP) is a right-wing populist and far-right political party in Montenegro. Its current leader is Nebojša Medojević, the party's founder. History The party was founded by a group of economists and academics in Septembe ...

(PzP) and the

New Serb Democracy New Serb Democracy (NSD), officially abbreviated as NOVA, is a Serbian nationalist right-wing political party in Montenegro, formed on 24 January 2009 as a merger between Serb People's Party and the People's Socialist Party of Montenegro. Since ...

(NOVA). He led the alliance's list in the parliamentary election of October 2012. Lekić ran in the 2013 presidential election, supported by entire Montenegrin opposition both his Democratic Front, the Socialist People's Party (SNP) and

Positive Montenegro Positive Montenegro () was a centrist, social-liberal political party in Montenegro. The party was founded in May 2012 by former environmental activist Darko Pajović. History In the 2012 parliamentary elections, PCG became an opposition parlia ...

(PCG). According to the electoral committee's report, he was narrowly defeated by incumbent

Filip Vujanović Filip Vujanović (, ; born 1 September 1954) is a Montenegrins, Montenegrin politician who served as the 3rd president of the Republic of Montenegro (1992–2006), Republic of Montenegro under Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006, and the 1st ...

. However, many independent observers insisted that Vujanović's victory came about as the result of an electoral fraud, which resulted in a number of demonstrations of Lekić's supporters.Incumbent declared winner in Montenegro election
''Associated Press'', 8 April 2013 Following internal disagreements within the coalition, Lekić split from Democratic Front and formed the new centre-right political party, Democratic Alliance (DEMOS) on 18 May 2015, announcing its two main goals: making Montenegro into a legal and decriminalised country and unifying the opposition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lekic, Miodrag 1947 births Living people Montenegrin people of Albanian descent People from Bar, Montenegro University of Belgrade alumni Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Mozambique Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Italy Government ministers of Yugoslavia Government ministers of Montenegro Members of the Parliament of Montenegro Montenegrin diplomats Academic staff of the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Montenegrin academics