(ANSA-AFP) - PODGORICA, DEC 4 - Montenegro's parliament on Friday voted in a new government led by a university professor who is backed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, in the first transfer of power in three decades. The cabinet of Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic takes over three months after an election won by a Church-backed coalition. The Church support was key in defeating President Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), which had never before lost a vote. A total of 41 MPs of those present in the 81-seat assembly voted for the new government. Twenty-eight deputies voted against and one abstained. The bulk of Krivokapic's cabinet are young, well-educated experts, not politicians, a compromise intended to bridge ideological divides within the new parliamentary majority. Krivokapic, a 62-year-old political newcomer, promised deputies on Wednesday "significant progress" in Montenegro's talks to join the European Union. The country has been a NATO member since 2017. Krivokapic stressed that his team takes over as the tiny Balkans nation faces a "major crisis" with public finances badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic that he labelled "out of control". (ANSA-AFP).