(Bloomberg) -- A former finance minister and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. credit analyst took office early Tuesday as Montenegro’s prime minister, promising to move the Adriatic state of 620,000 forward in its bid to join the European Union. 

Milojko Spajic, 36, secured a majority in parliament four months after his upstart political party, Europe Now, scored a victory in a national election. The new premier has pledged to bolster the tourism-dependent economy, battle corruption and reform the scandal-plagued judiciary as part of the nation’s bid to join the EU. 

The new party gained traction with an anti-graft, pro-EU platform that aimed to shake up a political establishment long dominated by Milo Djukanovic and his Democratic Party of Socialists. The party scored a major victory in April as Jakov Milatovic, an Oxford-educated economist, defeated Djukanovic for the presidency.

Spajic ruled out partnering with Djukanovic’s party, whose popularity has waned over divisive policies and allegations of corruption and nepotism. Key posts in the new government will be held by Europe New and several centrist, pro-EU groups and parties representing ethnic minorities, including local Albanians and Muslims, or Bosniaks. 

The coalition also includes an alliance of Euroskeptic parties that favor ties with neighboring Serbia and Russia. In order to secure a majority, Spajic agreed to include them in lower-level posts. Their top representative, Andrija Mandic, became the speaker of the parliament in an assembly vote late Monday.

Mandic’s appointment immediately triggered protests in the capital, Podgorica. Several hundred people rallied against the politician once accused of plotting to overthrow Djukanovic in a Russia-backed coup, angered that he now heads the parliament. Mandic has rejected the allegations, and pledged to support Spajic’s policies. 

Montenegro is among six Balkan aspirants seeking to join the 27-member EU, whose enlargement may not be possible before 2030. 

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