(15 Feb 2014) Police in Montenegro fired tear gas and stun grenades on Saturday to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing protesters who were blaming the government for high unemployment, economic mismanagement and alleged corruption, and demanding its resignation.
The protests were called by an informal Facebook group that asked Montenegrins to voice solidarity with Bosnian anti-government demonstrators who earlier this month stormed into the country's presidency and other government buildings in Sarajevo and torched them over similar demands.
In Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, at least nine riot policemen were injured in the clashes with the demonstrators, many of them wearing masks to conceal their identities.
At least 20 demonstrators were detained during the violence, which erupted when some 300 protesters tried to march toward the downtown government headquarters.
Speaking to reporters, protester Ljubo Varagic called on members of the government to immediately resign.
"Are we going to allow them to rob us on a daily basis? All of us here are demanding that the gentlemen (government) across the road immediately resign."
Montenegro, a tiny Adriatic Sea state of 600-thousand people, and neighbouring Bosnia were part of the former six-republic Yugoslavia that broke up during civil wars in the 1990s.
Montenegro has been run for the past 25 years by Milo Djukanovic, now the prime minister, who has shifted several times from premier to president and back again.
Montenegro's economy, heavily hit by the Yugoslav wars and wartime UN sanctions, is mostly based on tourism.
It is in the process of transition as the country seeks European Union membership.
Djukanovic, his family and ministers have often been accused of corruption.
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