PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro's ruling party has nominated its leader, who took the tiny Balkan country into NATO in defiance of Russia, to be its candidate in next month's presidential election.

The Democratic Party of Socialists' leadership announced the decision to put forward Milo Djukanovic after a meeting Monday.

Djukanovic has previously served as Montenegro's prime minister and president in several mandates since the early 1990s.

Djukanovic was premier during a tense October 2016 parliamentary election when authorities said they thwarted an attempted pro-Russian coup to prevent the Adriatic country from joining NATO.

The 56-year-old Djukanovic, who took a back seat in politics after his party won the parliamentary vote, had long been rumored to make another comeback in the April 15 presidential election.

Montenegro joined NATO last June despite strong Kremlin opposition.