Zdravko Krivokapić (Serbo-Croat Cyrillic: Здравко Кривокапић; born 2 September 1958) is a Montenegrin professor and former politician who served as Prime Minister of Montenegro from 2020 to 2022.

[3][4] Krivokapić was born to Serbian Orthodox parents Drago and Ikonija, in 1958 in Nikšić, which at the time was a part of the SR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia.

He was elected the first president of the SPC-backed "We won't give up Montenegro" (Ne damo Crnu Goru) NGO founded by Montenegrin professors and intellectuals in support of the SPC.

[15] Krivokapić said that the person who influenced him the most to enter politics was a Montenegrin businessman Miodrag "Daka" Davidović, de facto leader of the Popular Movement, who survived an assassination attempt in December 2019 in Belgrade.

[23] Krivokapić and the leaders of the coalitions Peace is Our Nation and Black on White, Aleksa Bečić and Dritan Abazović, agreed during meeting on several principles on which the future government will rest, including the formation of an expert government, continuing to work on the European Union accession process, fight against corruption, overcoming society polarization and economic crisis, as well as amending and revising discriminatory laws and bylaws, including the controversial Freedom of Religion Law.

[26][27] Condemning ethnic hatred and unrest, for which he accuses the DPS-led government, Krivokapić said that no one in Montenegro should be endangered, especially national minorities, which he called "our relatives and neighbors".

[30] He also protested with the Serbian Orthodox Church priests in front of the Husein-paša's Mosque, with the message that they are ready to defend the places of worship of all religious communities.

[31] Krivokapić stated that it is not his priority to have an official position in the new government, but that, as Prime Minister, he would like to visit Germany first, which he perceives as the most influential country in the EU.

[34] He said that Serbia and Montenegro are the two closest countries, geographically, culturally and historically, and their relations must be normalized, and that that is the wish of the vast majority of Montenegrin citizens but that the de-recognition of Kosovo is not going to be a priority for the new government.

[39] In an interview to Die Welt, Krivokapić said that when he was in West Germany in 1988, he saw Helmut Kohl being followed by only one bodyguard car and that he was chatting with gathered people and that this was his first meeting with democracy; explaining that this is exactly the kind of head of government he wants to be like: "someone who can be talked to and criticized".

[41] Serbian pro-government tabloids have unanimously criticized the coalition agreement between three new parliamentary majority lists, for agreeing not to discuss changing national symbols of Montenegro, the de-recognition of Kosovo, or the country's withdrawal from the NATO, during the new government term, calling Krivokapić "Amfilohije's Prime Minister" [42] Responding to this criticism, he said in an interview to the Sarajevo-based Face TV that he is aware that Aleksandar Vučić and Milo Đukanović are in a much closer connection than him and someone closest to him and that the pro-government tabloids in Serbia are attacking him because Montenegrin president Đukanović and Serbian president Vučić are still in good relations, which Vučić has denied, urging Krivokapić to either publish evidence of his business relations with Đukanović or admit he lied.

[50] On 24 October, Krivokapic denied the populist Democratic Front allegations, that any party in the winning coalition is excluded from the government formation process, but that insisting on individuals from those parties was not in the interest of citizens or the country, continuing to insist on forming an expert government, without compromised figures of new majority in it, the media later reported that they were the leaders of the Democratic Front alliance, Andrija Mandić, Milan Knežević and Nebojša Medojević.

[51][52] Speaking to the media on 29 October about the composition of Montenegro's future government, Krivokapić openly stated that it would have a "lower level of reputation" if it included political leaders of the Democratic Front.

[55] After a series of accusations by the leaders of the Democratic Front, Krivokapić scheduled a meeting with all parties in the new parliamentary majority for 30 October, in order to overcome misunderstandings and dilemmas regarding the formation of a new government.

[56] On 1 November Zdravko Krivokapić was, along with Serbian Patriarch Irinej, Bishop of Budimlja and Nikšić Joanikije Mićović and Serbian poet and academic, Matija Bećković, one of those who gave a speech in front of the gathered and mourning believers at the funeral of his spiritual father and close friend, longtime Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije Radović, in the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Podgorica.

In his speech, Krivokapić also recalled the evening when he met with Amfilohije on the night after the 30 August elections, which ended the believers struggle for withdraw the discriminatory law, which targeted the church.

Both sides (the DPS and DF) were united in criticizing the alleged impact of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral (of the Serbian Orthodox Church) on the formation of Krivokapic's cabinet.

Prime Minister Krivokapić vowed to dismantle a state apparatus built by the DPS, and root out corruption and organised crime, as well as insisting on the establishment of ethical norms and transparency of executive and judicial authorities in the country, calling for unity, reconciliation, and solidarity.

On the first day of his visit to Brussels, he met with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, EU Special Representative for the Western Balkans Miroslav Lajcak, and the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg.

On the second day of his visit, PM Krivokapić met with the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, and the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo.

[71][72] On 28 January 2021, Krivokapić walked through Cetinje, talked with citizens, with some Montenegrin nationalist activists yelling and insulting him and other government members calling them "Chetniks", "human garbage" and "traitors of Montenegro".

Krivokapić appears in one short part of the recording, seen under the canvas, on which, among other, was a picture of Radovan Karadžić, President of Republika Srpska, who was later convicted of war crimes and genocide in Bosnia by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2016.

[81][82] Few days after the revelation of footage, Krivokapić told the media that he accidentally found himself at the disputed gathering in or around 1996, and that he was not an active participant of it, or advocate of nationalist politics of the 1990s, also stating that as a pacifist he condemns all kinds of terrorism and ideological extremism.

[85] During October 2020, another pro-DPS media published a recording of Krivokapić, that caused new controversy, in which Krivokapić is seen kissing a flag of Serbian Orthodox Church (red-blue-white tricolor with the Serbian cross), recorded during the August 2020 protests against the controversial law on religious communities, causing outrage in the Montenegrin nationalist circles and pro-DPS media, which presented it to the public as "kissing the flag of Serbia".

[86] Krivokapić's very close relationship with the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, as well as with its primate Amfilohije Radović, has often led to speculation, controversy and name-calling from Montenegrin nationalist and pro-DPS circles and the media.

Krivokapić has been accused by some media and political parties, which trying to challenge his list victory at parliamentary election, of being under the influence of the church, even of being a "puppet" of anti-Montenegrin policy, and that his selection as prime minister would jeopardize national security, independence and the secular order of the state.

[87] After the fall of the Democratic Party of Socialists populist regime from the position of power after 30 years, in the aftermath of the 2020 parliamentary election, Montenegrin nationalists (the Patriotic Association of Montenegro, among others) organized mass rallies in Cetinje and in the capital Podgorica, in support of the outgoing DPS regime, the participants and organizers of the rally accused Krivokapić and Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro of allegedly working against Montenegrin national interests, calling them a "threat to country independence and statehood."

Gatherings participants's nationalist rhetoric and hate speech has been condemned by numerous media outlets, Montenegrin public figures, artists, university professors, academic and student associations, human rights activists and NGOs.

As they said, "it is worrying that the prime minister-designate, as an active participant in these events, does not recognize the moment that with his examples and public appeal, he influences the citizens' awareness of the dangers of such behavior".

[95] "It is the right of every believer to profess his religion in the manner prescribed by the religious community to which he belongs," Krivokapić said, also urging citizens to respect the government regulations that apply due to the coronavirus pandemic.