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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 07/04
Montenegro: Settling for Independence?
March 28, 2001
Abstract
International relief at the fall of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic has been marred by dismay at the prospect of a breakaway from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) by Montenegro. As long as Milosevic was in power, the international community supported Montenegro's moves to distance itself from Belgrade. With Milosevic gone, it was widely expected that Belgrade and Podgorica could patched up their relationship, and find a satisfactory accommodation within the framework of the FRY. Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic's decision to opt instead for independence has caused international consternation.
The FRY has long since ceased to function in any meaningful sense. Over the past three years, Montenegro and Serbia have, for all intents and purposes, come to operate as separate states. This was in large part due to actions by Belgrade that ended meaningful Montenegrin participation in joint, federal institutions. In response, Montenegro took over the functions which notionally belonged in the federal domain. The governing parties in Montenegro have not participated in the federal parliament since 1998, and they boycotted the September 2000 federal elections that brought defeat to Milosevic. The principal pro-Yugoslav party, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), does participate at the federal level, and is a member of the coalition that governs FRY. Montenegro's governing parties do not recognise the legitimacy of the federal authorities for Montenegro, insisting that they represent only Serbia.
