Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [Excerpted first several paragraphs - sg] http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=371 Montenegro: Resolving the Independence Deadlock [EMAIL PROTECTED] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Podgorica/Brussels, 1 August 2001 Ten months after the fall of Slobodan Miloševiæ, considerable progress has been made in establishing democratic governance in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and reintegrating the country into the international community. Yet the future of the federation itself remains in doubt. The FRY is a hollow edifice whose institutions hardly function except as an address for the international community. Montenegro’s authorities no longer recognise the legitimacy of the federal government. All sides agree that the status quo is unsustainable and that Montenegro and Serbia must find a new basis for their relationship. Montenegro’s authorities remain committed to independence. However, the hopes of the republic’s ruling parties that the election on 22 April 2001 would bring a comfortable victory, to be followed swiftly by a referendum and independence, were not realised. The narrow victory for the pro-independence parties only confirmed the depth of division over the republic’s status. Plans for an independence referendum were postponed until early 2002. With some difficulty, the pro-independence ruling parties formed a minority government backed by the radically pro-independence Liberal Alliance, which demands rapid progress towards a referendum. However, the lack of a broad consensus on the status issue or on the rules and conditions for a referendum makes it difficult to press ahead with independence plans under current circumstances. While there is little risk of serious conflict in Montenegro, prolonged political uncertainty could further polarise and radicalise the different sides. There is also a danger that the continued domination of the political agenda by the status issue could result in a loss of momentum in government reform efforts. These risks can, and should, be avoided. Various initiatives are underway to break the deadlock. Serbian government officials have stated that Montenegrins should decide on their future as soon as possible, so that Serbia’s own development will not be held hostage to the indecision of its federal partner. Belgrade’s impatience has been heightened by difficulties with its Montenegrin coalition partner at the federal level, the pro-Yugoslav Socialist People’s Party (SNP), particularly over cooperation with the international criminal tribunal in The Hague, which the SNP opposes. The view is increasingly gaining ground in Serbia that a federation which is boycotted by the ruling Montenegrin parties and whose survival hinges on an alliance with Miloševiæ’s recent allies, the SNP, is not worth preserving. The new FRY government is drafting a constitution for a revitalised, thinner federation. Because they still do not recognise federal institutions, the Montenegrin authorities reject this initiative. Instead, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanoviæ hopes that Belgrade’s impatience will accelerate direct negotiations with the Serbian government on a new, loose union of independent states. ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
