Miodrag Lekić (; 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 lib ...

Democratic Alliance (DEMOS).

Biography

Early academic and political career

Lekić studied political science with focus on international relations at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in 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 merged with the Kragujevac- ...

, 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 Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

. He received a French government scholarship to further his studies at the

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

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 referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

delegation for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

cooperation.Miodrag Lekić, biografija
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Diplomatic career

From 1990 to 1992, Lekić served as ambassador of the

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, and

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a populatio ...

. From August 1992 to May 1995, he was the minister of foreign affairs of the

Republic of Montenegro A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a " government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 1 ...

. Subsequently, he became Yugoslav ambassador to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

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)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(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 was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the w ...

, most notably in

Porta a Porta ''Porta a Porta'' (literally ''Door-to-door'') is an Italian late night television talk show hosted by the Italian journalist Bruno Vespa and is broadcast on Rai Uno Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated ...

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

Milo Đukanović Milo Đukanović ( cnr, Мило Ђукановић, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician serving as the President of Montenegro since 2018, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2003. He also served as the Prime Minister ...

, 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 ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

from 2005 to 2007.

Return to Montenegrin politics

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

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...

. 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, sovereignist and conservative political party in Montenegro. Its current leader is Nebojša Medojević, the party's founder. History Party was founded by a group of economists and academics ...

(PzP) and the

New Serb Democracy New Serb Democracy (, NSD; officially abbreviated 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 2 ...

(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 ( cnr, italic=no, Pozitivna Crna Gora; Позитивна Црна Гора) was a centrist, social-liberal political party in Montenegro. The party was founded in May 2012 by former environmental activist Darko Pajović. ...

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

Filip Vujanović Filip Vujanović ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Филип Вујановић, ; born 1 September 1954) is a Montenegrin politician who served as the President of Montenegro from 2003 to 2018. Early life and career Born and raised in Belgrade, Vuja ...

. 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 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