Vote results made official: Montenegro is sovereign

BERLIN -- Europe offered congratulations to the world's newest independent state yesterday, after residents of tiny Montenegro voted to split from Serbia. The vote represented the death knell for the last fragment of the 88-year-old Serb-dominated federation of Yugoslavia, which started to fracture along ethnic lines in the early 1990s.

According to results announced in Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, 55.4 percent of voters in the mountainous Balkan realm had chosen ``Yes" in a referendum on whether to break from Serbia to form an independent state. Voter turnout was more than 85 percent.

European Union officials, while awaiting final confirmation of results from the referendum on Sunday, praised the peaceful nature of the balloting and urged Montenegro's people to build a country modeled on ``European values and standards," in the words of a statement issued in Brussels.

The European Union had opposed Montenegro's breakaway movement out of fear that it would bring even more trouble to the continent's most tumultuous corner.

But the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana of Spain, said yesterday: ``I want to congratulate the people of Montenegro for the successful referendum. . . . We will fully respect the result."

In Montenegro, a jubilant Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic hailed the outcome and urged Montenegrins to unite after a divisive, often bitter campaign to reclaim the country's long-lost sovereignty.

``We've got our state," he told cheering throngs outside the main government building in Podgorica, according to broadcast reports.

The architect of Montenegro's peaceful quest for independence predicted that his country -- the name means ``Black Mountain" -- will eventually be accepted into the 25-nation European Union, whose currency it has adopted, and will gain a United Nations seat by the end of the year.

Celebrants fired shots into the air and cried ``Long live Montenegro," as horns blared and bells clanged throughout the capital.

Djukanovic, who had staked his political future on independence, urged the opposing factions to embrace and forge a unified nation.

``The independence of the country has been renewed," he said, referring to the 1878-1918 kingdom of Montenegro. ``This should be made into a comfortable home for anyone who lives in Montenegro."

Television images showed crowds waving the red-and-gold double-headed eagle flag that was the symbol of Montenegro's royalty when the country was last independent. They also hoisted gilt-framed portraits of Djukanovic while chanting ``Milo! Milo! Milo!"

Montenegro was forced into unhappy union with Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia after the end of World War I (the nation was not named Yugoslavia until 1929), partly on the grounds that independent Balkan states were too volatile to European stability.

Yugoslavia was a communist state led by the charismatic Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War.

Montenegro's divorce from Serbia underscores uncertainty about the future of Kosovo, a Serbian province under the control of international forces since NATO intervened to defend the ethnic Albanian population from Serb militias.

Kosovo remains technically part of Serbia but is administered by the UN, and the ethnic Albanians who represent 90 percent of the population are pressing for an independent state. Analysts fear that Serbs in the province would be endangered if ethnic Albanians took full charge.

Unlike other former Yugoslav republics, Montenegro is culturally almost a twin of Serbia, sharing the same language, the same faith -- Orthodox Christianity -- and deep blood ties. Almost every Montenegrin has a Serb cousin.

But over the centuries, Montenegro also evolved a separate identity, and freedom has been a cherished dream since the land was forced to join Yugoslavia.

Details of the split from Serbia have yet to be hammered out, but Belgrade has said it will not oppose Montenegro's secession, and the European Union had said it would recognize the referendum as binding so long as 55 percent of voters had voted ``Yes."

The threshold appears to have been just barely met. Serbian leaders in Belgrade voiced suspicion of ballot cheating, but reluctantly conceded that Montenegro had bolted the fold. Headlines in Belgrade newspapers declared: ``Breakaway!" and ``It's Over!"

In fact, the remnant federation of Serbia and Montenegro has existed in little more than name in recent years. Montenegro has its own border controls, customs regulations, and paramilitary police force, and the two entities do not even share the same currency -- Serbia clings to the dinar, while Montenegro has adopted the euro in anticipation of eventually joining the 25-nation Union.

Montenegro is the last of the Yugoslav republics to break from Belgrade's Serbian grasp. In the past decade, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia fought wars of secession. Slovenia's lasted only 10 days and claimed few casualties. The Croats and Bosnians, however, fought brutal wars against the Serbs overlords at a cost of 200,000 lives. Macedonia peacefully left the federation in 1991.

Referring to Montenegro's referendum, Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski said: ``Yesterday we witnessed the end of Project Yugoslavia, which was formed at the time with good intentions."

A mountain fastness rising from the Adriatic Sea, Montenegro has a land area of 5,297 square miles -- roughly the size of Connecticut -- but with a population of only 650,000.

Serbia, which has a population of 7.5 million, has argued that Montenegro is too small to become a true country.

But by splitting away from Serbia, Montenegro is also ridding itself of many economic and political problems associated with its bigger neighbor.

These include the economic hangover from the Kosovo war and criticism over Belgrade's failure to arrest alleged war criminals from the conflicts with Bosnia and Croatia.

The vote in Montenegro was watched closely by other potential breakaway regions in Europe. Spain's Catalonia and Basque regions, for example, both sent delegations .

``This is not a precedent for anyone," said the European Union's Solana. ``It's just the situation in the Balkans."

He stressed that there is no timetable for a European Union decision on when, or even if, Montenegro will be admitted to the 25-nation bloc.

Serbia has been thwarted in its efforts to win admission because European officials maintain Belgrade has not done enough to track down alleged war criminals and deliver them to international courts.

Djukanovic predicted that Montenegro will eventually win admission to the European Union.

``I am convinced Montenegro [will] be the next country from this region to join the European Union, after Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia, which are further along in the process," Djukanovic said.

Material from wire services was used in this report.