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SLG
Born Again..........and still Scottish!
Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 5515
Location: Dłn Eideann
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 Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:24 am Post subject: Montenegro plans independence bid |
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| Quote: | Montenegro plans independence bid
Montenegro's parliament is to hold a special session later this month to pave the way for a referendum that could bring independence.
The BBC's Matt Prodger examines the shaky union of Serbia and Montenegro and the gulf that has opened up between them.
There can be few places more beautiful than Lake Skadar on a sunny winter's day.
From the lakeside in Montenegro you can look across an expanse of blue water to the snow-capped mountains of Albania.
It is scenery like this which is rapidly making Montenegro a hit among tourists and Western bargain-hunters snapping up second homes.
Milo Dobric, a Montenegrin born and bred, is banking on a prosperous future.
He runs pleasure boat cruises on the lake, and has plans to build a resort to cater for British birdwatchers.
"Tourism is definitely the future," he says. "During the summer we have many tourists here. This summer we are expecting much more."
But before the tourists arrive this summer, Milo and his countrymen expect to make a big decision.
For more than 80 years, this tiny republic of little more than 600,000 people has been in some sort of union with its much bigger neighbour, Serbia.
Now Montenegrins are preparing to vote in an independence referendum that could see the two countries split.
The driving force behind it is the country's long-serving prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, who wants to hold a referendum as early as April.
"The state union between Serbia and Montenegro is dysfunctional," he told me. "In particular it doesn't serve Montenegro's interests, and so it's time for the citizens to assume responsibility for themselves."
But it is shaping up to be an acrimonious divorce, and the reason that it is concerning Western diplomats is that in this part of the world the worst-case scenarios of Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo have demonstrated that such divorces can be very acrimonious indeed.
One small Serb party in the Montenegrin parliament has even warned that violence is a possibility.
"If the referendum is done by the book, there will be no problem," says Andrija Mandic of the Serb People's Party. "But if the government of Montenegro tries to bully us into a decision - as it has in the past - then there's a very high potential for violence.
"Over the last five or six years, this government has discriminated more and more against Serbs. And if Montenegro becomes independent, I can assure you there will be a strong movement to reunite the countries, and to restore the rights of Serbs here."
Relations between the Serbian and Montenegrin governments have also soured.
One Serbian government minister has threatened to strip the citizenship of a quarter of a million Montenegrins living in Serbia. Some Serbs living in Montenegro - nearly a third of the population - have talked of boycotting the referendum in an attempt to declare it invalid.
"Past experience has shown that Serbia has a tendency to interfere in the affairs of its neighbours," said the Montenegrin prime minister.
"I'm afraid that Serbia has not learnt those lessons from the past."
There are tensions within Montenegro between the pro-independence government and the pro-union opposition, who are unable to agree on the terms of the referendum: in short, just how many people need to vote to make it count.
But while the referendum dominates the media here, beneath the sleepy charm of Montenegro's coastal towns, the people talk of more pressing issues than the country's relationship with Serbia.
As one man put it to me: "This is a small country, with poor people, and a big mafia."
Nebojsa Medojevic, from the Group for Change, is a Montenegrin political activist who believes the government is using the issue of independence as a distraction from those very problems.
"We have a lot of problems with organised crime,'' he says. "Unsolved murders, corruption, and accusations from Italy and other EU countries about government links with the mafia. And because of all that, the role of the EU in supervising Montenegro beyond all of this is crucial."
He accuses local politicians of "playing the old Yugoslav game" - stoking up ethnic tensions between Montenegrins and Serbs within the country.
At Lake Skadar, another bout of Balkan violence is the last thing Milo Dobric needs for his boat business. Instead, he is hoping that Montenegro will loosen the ties and drift peacefully away from its big neighbour Serbia.
"My opinion is that they should be separated," he says. "Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Macedonia have already separated. So should Montenegro. Why not?"
It is a course that the rest of his people have yet to decide on, but local opinion polls suggest that more Montenegrins are in favour of independence than against it. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4690294.stm
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True Scotsman
I Love 'Our Scotland'
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 319
Location: SCOTLAND
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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We shall see what happen when the time comes weather Montenegro votes for independence or not & weather it will be done peacefully or not we shall see too. But hopefully it will be peaceful when it comes to the referendum.
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FREEDOM FOR SCOTLAND!!!!!!!! |
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RBK
I Love 'Our Scotland'
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 260
Location: Ulster
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Some similarities with Ulster there. But maybe more like the Cyprus situation. |
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Aventinian
'Our Scotland' Fossil
Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 4278
Location: Broadcasting From An Anonymous Location Within the United Kingdom.
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| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:48 am Post subject: |
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I wonder if it'll ever actually happen. Montenegro appears to do this every so often. Probably a bargaining chip with Belgrade.
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'Socialists cry "Power to the people", and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really meanpower over people, power to the State.' |
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azzuri
'Our Scotland' Fossil
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 3777
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| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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This just goes to prove my theory.
Regionalisation is becoming commonplace in this Globalised world. People are looking more and more at their own local interests - I fully expect in a decade to have another 10 nation states.
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"Every single person on this planet is unique. Just like everyone else..." - Random Guy in Edinburgh Pub
Possibly the funniest site in the world, 'The Daily Mash' - http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/ |
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SLG
Born Again..........and still Scottish!
Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 5515
Location: Dłn Eideann
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| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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| As far as I see it, Montenegro has only stayed within Serbia & Montenegro since the break up of Yugoslavia to keep the peace while having almost full autonomy over their own affairs. It has seemed to me that it was only a matter of time before they would want full independence, and a slightly renewed Serbia would try and block it. |
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SLG
Born Again..........and still Scottish!
Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 5515
Location: Dłn Eideann
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | EU threshold on Montenegro referendum qualified as undemocratic and dangerous
(Crans Montana, DTT-NET.COM)
21/02/2006
Montenegro's Prime Minister hit back on EU proposals on the
independence referendum, saying that the threshold of at least 55
percent is undemocratic and it can provoke instability in the republic
related to the implementation of the results. The proposal was also
criticised by members of European Parliament.
"The formula proposed by EU harms basic democratic principle that
each vote should have the same democratic value" Milo Djukanovic told
reporters in Switzerland on Monday, attending the Crans Montana World
Economic Forum.
"The decision belongs to the majority and not minority. EU's
formula contains a virus which is dangerous to the stability of the
society when it comes to the implementation of the results," the PM
said.
A Catalan member of European Parliament also said the EU's proposal for
Montenegro referendum as "unsatisfactory" and "unacceptable".
"We should ask ourselves whether it is wise and appropriate in this
context that forty six per cent of voters should be able to impose
their point of view on the other fifty four per cent, and whether this
constitutes genuine legitimacy when the independence or not of a new
state in Europe is at stake," Bernat Joan said in a statement.
The Catalan Republican MEP added that : "the future of Montenegro must
be decided democratically by the majority of Montenegrins, in the same
way that the Catalans must be able to decide our own future ".
Bernat Joan outlined the positive potential on an independent
Montenegro, commenting: "the EU has taken an unacceptable stance which
runs contrary to the right of self-determination ".
EU said last week that it will endorse Montenegro's pro-independence
referendum if 55 percent or more of participants vote in favour of the
move.
Pro-independence campaigners led by Montenegrin prime ministers Milo
Djukanovic say that a majority of 25 to 40 percent of registered voters
should be sufficient for the results to stand.
But Serbian-led opposition parties favour a figure of 50 percent of registered voters or
above, with recent opinion polls showing that 41 percent of people
support independence and 32 percent are against.
The Montenegrin law on referendums merely states that the decision is
to be taken by a majority of citizens eligible to vote, but doesn't fix
any exact figure. |
http://www.dtt-net.com/en/index.p...=69a508a2b68d497479249859cbbe9222 |
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azzuri
'Our Scotland' Fossil
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 3777
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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amazing to think they are even considering this yet higher %s of support for independence here dont even get a mention in terms of a referendum.
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"Every single person on this planet is unique. Just like everyone else..." - Random Guy in Edinburgh Pub
Possibly the funniest site in the world, 'The Daily Mash' - http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/ |
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SLG
Born Again..........and still Scottish!
Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 5515
Location: Dłn Eideann
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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Scotland has always had a good case for a referendum on Independence. We have just not pushed the case hard enough. That's why I support the Independence 1st movement to do just that without requiring us to wait for a pro-Independence majority in the parliament.
In Montenegro, the government are wanting to hold the referendum and that makes it much easier to achieve. |
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