News - Country profile: Montenegro
| ethnic datingemerged as a sovereign state after just over the required 55% of the population opted for independence in a May 2006 referendum.
The vote heralded the end of the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro which had existed since 2003 and which was itself the rump of the former Yugoslavia.
The EU-brokered deal forming it was intended to stabilise the region by settling Montenegrin demands for independence from Serbia and preventing further changes to Balkan borders. The same deal also contained the seeds of the union’s dissolution. It stipulated that after three years the two republics could hold referendums on whether to keep or scrap it. Montenegro opted for the latter.
Montenegro last experienced independence nearly 90 years earlier. It was absorbed into the newly-formed Yugoslavia at the end of World War I. There were fears that the 2006 independence vote could lead to unrest in the areas of Montenegro where ethnic Serbs, who make up roughly a third of the population, form the majority and strongly oppose separation from Serbia. There was backing for independence from most ethnic Montenegrins and ethnic Albanians living in Montenegro. The pro-independence camp led by Prime Minister Djukanovic argued that the association with Serbia was holding the republic back, not least with its bid for EU membership. Montenegro will now seek negotiations on a stability and association agreement with the EU.
As the successor state to the union, Serbia inherited its seat at the UN and other dating ethnic site blind date service online dating Montenegro, which means “Black Mountain”, borders Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Serbia’s breakaway province of Kosovo and Albania. About half of it is covered in thick forest. The tiny republic encompasses an Adriatic coastline, lowlands and high mountain ranges. The Tara River canyon is the deepest and longest in Europe. OVERVIEW FACTS LEADERS MEDIA |
- Full name: Republic of Montenegro
- Population: 620,000 (2003 census)
- Administrative capital: Podgorica
- Area: 13,812 sq km (5,333 sq miles)
- Main religions: Christianity, Islam
- Languages: Serbian, Albanian
- Life expectancy: 71 years (men), 76 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: euro
- Main export: Aluminium
- Internet domain:.me and .cg.yu
- International dialling code: (+381)
LEADERS |
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President: Filip Vujanovic
Filip Vujanovic, a pro-independence candidate and an ally of the prime minister, has been president since May 2003.
Prime minister: Zeljko Sturanovic
Zeljko Sturanovic, a former justice minister, took office in November 2006 after parliament approved a new government.
Zeljko Sturanovic has EU membership in his sights
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He succeeded his close ally and spearhead of Montenegrin independence, Milo Djukanovic, who stepped down in October, just a month after winning the first post-independence general elections. He said he was leaving office because he was “tired of responsibility”.
Mr Sturanovic has promised to work for EU and Nato membership.
In January 2007 he was diagnosed with lung cancer, but his doctors said he could continue working while receiving treatment.
Milo Djukanovic was the only Balkan leader to have remained in office - as prime minister or president - since the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
At the time of his first premiership he was an ally of then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and favoured the preservation of a federal Yugoslavia. Under his premiership Montenegrin forces within the Yugoslav army played an important role in the siege of Croatia’s historic city of Dubrovnik. A rift with Mr Milosevic developed from the mid 1990s on.
He went on to win favour with the EU when he declared that Montenegro was not a party to the conflict over Kosovo when President Milosevic’s actions there led to Nato air strikes.
His pursuit of independence rang EU alarm bells over potential dangers for Balkan stability. Under EU pressure, he reluctantly agreed to the formation of the new, looser Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 - but only after it was agreed that the crucial referendum on its future could be held three years later.
MEDIA |
OVERVIEW FACTS LEADERS MEDIA |
Press freedom is guaranteed and media laws passed in 2002 provide for the transformation of state-funded RTCG into a public broadcaster. But some media watchdogs have pointed to ongoing political influence over editorial policies.
In 2004 the killing of Dusko Jovanovic, the editor of the opposition daily Dan, sparked an outcry. Demonstrators accused the authorities of complicity.
Overseas donors and organisations have encouraged the growth of independent media outlets. But commercial operators compete for a small pool of advertising revenue. The market - with dozens of private radio and TV stations - is said to be saturated.
The Montenegrin media enjoyed greater freedom than their Serbian counterparts in the last years of Milosevic rule. Many private outlets managed to break the former state monopoly.
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