Anti-government protests spread across the Balkans

Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic speaks and gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, Thursday, April 4, 2019. The pro-Western president of Montenegro, who has defied Russia to steer his small country into NATO, has warned that the integration of Western Balkans into the EU is crucial for the bloc to protect itself from growing Russian and Chinese political and economic influence in the region. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

PODGORICA, Montenegro – It all started with a video posted on social media: a secret recording from 2016 that appears to show a well-known local tycoon hand over an envelope containing bundles of cash to a party associate of Montenegro's long-standing leader.

The prominent businessman, a former close friend and confidant of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, released the video late last year in retaliation for charges filed against him for fraud and money laundering.

The so-called envelope affair has triggered weeks of anti-Djukanovic protests, demanding the resignation of one of Europe's longest-lasting leaders after his almost 30 years in power.

The almost simultaneous eruption of strong anti-government movements in neighboring Serbia and Albania has prompted talk of a "Balkan Spring" in reference to a wave of protests across the Arab world in 2010.