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Majority votes for independence in Montenegro referendum

55.4 per cent say "yes" to secession, 44. 6 per cent vote "no"

PODGORICA (Serbia-Montenegro): The tiny Balkan state of Montenegro on Monday staked its claim for nationhood after voting in a historic, closely-fought referendum in favour of full independence.

A narrow majority voted to secede from Serbia, Referendum Commission officials announced, consigning the last fragments of the former Yugoslavia to history.

Premier jubilant

The majority of 55.4 per cent announced by the commission's head Frantisek Lipka, with 44.6 percent voting against, was only narrowly over the 55 per cent threshold for the result to be valid.

Nevertheless, once confirmed and ratified, it would seal independence for this aspiring nation of just 650,000 people wedged between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea and bordered by Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia.

A jubilant Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic had already declared victory for the independence camp in the early hours of Monday.

Revellers set off fireworks and fired guns and drivers sounded their horns in celebration after unofficial results had showed the pro-independence camp narrowly ahead. ``Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you that tonight, by the decision of the people of Montenegro, an independent Montenegro has been renewed,'' Mr. Djukanovic told supporters.

``This is the most important day in the history of Montenegro.'' However, pro-Serbian parties in Montenegro refused to concede defeat while Serbian leaders in Belgrade refused to comment.

``The result is not final until the Referendum Commission publishes it, until everyone accepts the results,'' said Predrag Bulatovic, the pro-Serbian faction leader in Montenegro.

Move to join E.U.

Voters were asked: ``Do you want Montenegro to be an independent state with full international and legal legitimacy?''

Mr. Djukanovic has always said his motive for creating a separate state was a desire not to be dominated by Serbia, which has a population of more than 10 times the size of Montenegro's 650,000.

The 44-year-old architect of the independence bid had also argued that the republic would be able to speed up its bid to join the European Union by acting on its own and without Serbia.

The bloody wars of the 1990s had already led to Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia leaving the Yugoslav federation.

Under rules agreed with the European Union, more than 55 per cent of at least half of Montenegro's 485,000 eligible voters had to back independence to create the world's newest mini-state. — AP

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