Montenegro stages presidential run-off vote

Pro-Western incumbent Milo Djukanovic hopes to hold on to power in Montenegro (Risto Bozovic/AP)

Montenegrins are casting ballots in a run-off presidential election that is a battle between a long-serving pro-Western incumbent and a newcomer promising change in the small Nato member state in Europe that has been locked in political turmoil.

Observers say President Milo Djukanovic, who is credited with leading Montenegro to independence and into Nato, could be facing defeat from the economist Jakov Milatovic, the candidate backed by governing parties advocating closer ties with Serbia.