Podgorica - Montenegrins go to the polls Sunday to vote for the next parliament, with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic apparently set to extend his administration into a third decade.

Djukanovic, 47, and his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) called the election 18 months early to secure another four-year term saying they need it to implement reforms for closer ties with the European Union.

Podgorica - Montenegrins will vote in early parliamentary polls on Sunday, but though their country is teetering on the verge of a major economic crisis, the only issue is whether Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic will barely win again, or win an absolute majority.

The country's top exporter, the Podgorica aluminium combine KAP, is about to collapse under the burden of debts running into hundreds of millions of dollars. The 2,700 workers, who have received no payment in months are now planning to launch massive public protests.

Podgorica - Montenegro's biggest exporter, the KAP aluminium plant KAP faces closure, with its foreign bank accounts blocked and an energy company threatening to seize the produced aluminium to pay

Podgorica, Montenegro - Montenegro's political opposition on Monday accused Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of "meddling" in the Balkan country's current election campaign.

Nebojsa Medojevic, head of the Movement for Change, made the statement in reaction to Berlusconi's one-day visit with Montenegran Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica.

In the meeting, the Italian leader had agreed to new Italian investment in the Montenegro's energy and tourism sectors, local media reported.

Podgorica - Montenegrin authorities aim to hold early elections in March, local media reported Tuesday.

The government asked the Parliament to shorten its mandate and thus make way for the president Filip Vujanovic to call for early elections on March 29, daily Vijesti reported.

The government said that Montenegro faces numerous and important decisions in a process of joining the European Union and that this process needs to be implemented fully "by the organs and institutions and especially the government and parliament with full four year mandate".

Podgorica, Montenegro - The Montenegrin government was set to extend a 40 million-euro (50.8 million-dollar) bailout loan to a local bank controlled by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's family, reports said Monday.

The decision to pump in cash and keep the Podgorica-based Prva Bank liquid would be formally made during the week, the daily Vijesti said.

The loan was being prepared under the rules laid out amid the global financial troubles. Authorities would have direct control over the bank's activities and shareholders would have to collateral their capital to the state.