Montenegro slams EU's referendum threshold
21.02.2006 - 18:09 CETMontenegro says the EU threshold of 55 percent for its
independence referendum is undemocratic and could provoke instability, Balkans
news agency DTT-NET.COM writes.
"The formula proposed by the EU harms
the basic democratic principle that each vote should have the same democratic
value," Montenegran prime minister Milo Djukanovic said at the Crans Montana
economic forum in Przn, Montenegro, on Monday (20 February).
"The
decision belongs to the majority and not the minority. The EU's formula contains
a virus which is dangerous to the stability of society when it comes to the
implementation of the results," he added.
Montenegro is set to hold the
vote on whether to leave the Serbia-Montenegro alliance in April or May, with
pro-independence campaigners led by Mr Djukanovic saying that a majority of 25
to 40 percent should be enough for the results to stand.
Serbian-led
opposition parties favour a figure of 50 percent or above, with recent opinion
polls showing that 41 percent support independence while 32 percent are
against.
The Montenegrin law on referendums states that the decision is
to be taken by a majority of citizens eligible to vote, but doesn't fix any
exact figure.
Kosovo first round inconclusive
Serbia
is facing the prospect of losing two territories this year, with UN-led talks
currently under way in Vienna on the future status of Kosovo.
The talks
have so far focussed on creating Serb-run municipalities in the majority
ethnic-Albanian province, under UN protection since 1999, when Serb forces led
by Slobodan Milosevic carried out attacks on Albanian communities.
Serb
negotiators have argued the quasi-autonomous units are needed to safeguard the
civil liberties of ethnic Serbs, but Kosovan Albanians attacked the plan as
being based on a "territorial principle, division of communities and
non-functional local institutions."
The talks, currently in their first
round, are not expected to produce quick results, but the international
community, led by the UK, France, Germany, Italy Russia and the US, is pushing
for agreement on Kosovo's status by the end of the year.
