At the precise time of the paper's launch, the political situation in Montenegro was fairly tense as former longtime DPS (ruling political party) allies Milo Đukanović and Momir Bulatović were in the middle of a campaign for the 1997 presidential elections. Montenegro, at the time a part of FR Yugoslavia (federal country that also consisted of Serbia) was choosing between a pro-Milošević leader in Bulatović, and Đukanović who at that time started to cautiously distance himself from his former mentor Milošević although he still favoured the idea of a unified country with Serbia. "Vijesti" openly supported Đukanović who eventually won the highly controversial elections and thus became the president of Montenegro.