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Montenegro History
For a small country, Montenegro has an immensely complex history. But bearing in mind that it sits in the middle of the Balkans, has been on or near the front lines of a series of more or less despotic empires including the Roman, the Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian, the Napoleonic, the Nazi and the Soviet, and that its people are said to take seriously only God and war, this may not be much of a surprise.
Illyrians, Romans and Slavs
Signs of Balkan civilization date back to the 7th millennium BC. Agriculture, pottery and copper smelting supported the establishment of small towns and by the end of the 4th millennium BC there was active trade with Eastern Europe. By 600 BC the Illyrians were settled in what is now Montenegro, utilizing iron technology for both swords and ploughshares and dealing extensively with the Greek city states.
By 400 BC Celts were moving in from the north, closely followed by the Romans. In AD9 the Illyrians were subdued though the territory remained Illyrian. The Romans built roads, aqueducts, forts and all the usual trappings of their empire. When the Emperor Theodosius died in AD395, the Roman Empire split into two, roughly from the site of the present Budva and up the Sava and Danube rivers. Rome lost control of the eastern half, which became the Byzantine Empire. The western half remained Roman. The Goths and the Huns displaced the Romans over the next 200 years, but the overall military masters of the region were the Avars and Bulgars under the nominal rule of Constantinople. During the 6th century AD Slavs Poland and the Baltic, attracted partly by the Mediterranean climate, moved into the province of Provalis. They found Roman settlements already established at what are now Kotor, Budva, Ulcinj, Bar and Duklija, and were gradually converted to Christianity by the existing populace. One can still trace many hundreds of Baltic and Polish place names, rivers and mountains which correspond to those in the Balkans.
In AD625 the Emperor Heraclius formed an alliance with two of the stronger Slaavic tribes already in the region, the Croats and the Serbs, who took control of the Dalmatian coast. Because Dalmatia was rugged and lacking in minerals, the interior became something of a haven for refugee tribes living mostly as extended family group (zadruge) governed by a fairly democratically selected patriarch (zupan). Sometimes several of these zadruge would unite under a senior zupan who might even adopt the title of king. The fist Serb mini-state duly emerged in about 850 under a senior zupan called Vlastimir, who resisted Bulgar expansion and acknowledged Byzantine suzerainty. This encouraged the Byzantine emperor, Michael, to undertake the religious conversion of the Serbs, sending Cyril the Evangelist to translate the scriptures into the local dialect and improvise a new script, now known respectively as Old Church Slavonic and Cyrillic.
The kingdom of Duklija
Following Vlastimirs death there was a period of general disorganization, but in 1017 his nephew, King Vojislav, set up the vassal state of Duklija (or Doclea) named after the Illyrian tribe who once lived there. In 1042 he beat the Bizantines at the battle of Bar and won independence. By 1077 his son Mihailo governed a kingdom which included most of Montenegro, Albania and Herzegovina and he was acknowledged by Pope Gregory VII as Sclavorum Regi King of the Slavs. The kingdom of Duklija gradually weakened until in 1169 a senior zupan called Stefan Nemanja established a vassal state in the region of Raska. His son Stefan Provencani (first crowned) became the first real Serb king in 1217. The dynasty steadily expanded until the ninth king, Stefan Dusan (1331-55), ruled over an area including Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, much of Bosnia and Serbia as Epirus and Thessaly. A key to this expansion was the families success in promoting religious and cultural cohesion under the Orthodox Church and in codifying the law.
The arrival of the Ottomans
The Ottoman Empire established a foothold on mainland Europe in 1354 and began to expand northwards. Slav leaders were disunited and competitive, constantly making and breaking alliances with the Turks and with each other. The Turks regarded all Muslims as belonging to a single community of the faithful and so anyone could join the ruling group by converting to Islam. The Ottomans took Serbia at the battle of Kosovo in 1389, occupied Bosnia in 1463 and Herzegovina in 1483. The Crnojevic dynasty, who by now ruled most of present-day Montenegro, moved the capital from Zabljak on Skadar Lake to the hill town of Cetinje in 1482 to resist the invaders more easily. The territory began for the first time to be known as Crna Gora and, though its boundaries had contracted, it established traditions of independent sovereignty and culture. For tactical reasons King Stefan concluded an alliance with Venice in 1455, and Cetinje became the home of the first printing press in southern Europe in 1494.
The prince bishops
In 1516 there was a major constitutional shift in Montenegro. The last of the Crnojevic dynasty married a Venetian and retired to Venice, conferring the succession upon the prince-bishop (Vladika) of Cetinje. This formal link between church and state ensured national stability, lending the vladika authority in the eyes of the peasants and minimizing the risk of competitive alliances between local leaders and the Turks. War with the Ottoman Empire continued, but although Cetinje was sacked in 1623, 1687 and again in 1712, the Turks were never able to subjugate the Montenegrins. As Orthodox bishops the vladikas were required to be celibate, and initially the succession was elective, but when Danilo acceded in 1696 he won the right to nominate his own heir. Subsequently the hereditary theocracy remained vested in the Petrovic clan, invariably passing from uncle to nephew. In July 1712 Danilo won a notable victory over a 35.000-man Turkish army at Carev Laz. Five thousand Turks died and the battle was a landmark in Montenegros Wars of Independence.
Montenegro and Russia versus Napoleon
In 1806 Montenegro and Russia combined to beat Napoleon at Kotor, then Montenegro won unilateral battles against him at Cavtat and Herceg Novi. The Montenegrins also beat the French in Kotor Bay, utilizing ammunition supplied by Britain and Russia, but the subsequent Congress of Vienna in 1814 nevertheless gave Kotor Bay to Austria. Despite the part they had played in the downfall of Napoleon, Montenegro still lacked the access to the sea they so badly wanted. When Petar I died in 1830, he was proclaimed saint of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, St.Petar of Cetinje (Sveti Petar Cetinskji). The early 19th century saw considerable social change in Montenegro, especially after the succession of Petar II Petrovic Njegos. By general consensus Petar II was the most outstanding of all Montenegrin rulers and he laid the foundations of the subsequent kingdom and indeed of modern Montenegro. He organized a central government comprising a Senate, a 32-man (Guardia), who acted as traveling magistrates, and a Perjanici who were a police force. He organized taxes, despite predictable opposition from individualistic Montenegrins, and he was an epic poet whose magnum opus, The Mountain Wreath, distilled in the vernacular the essence of Montenegrin wisdom and philosophy. Petar II died in 1851, but his nephew Danilo II was already betrothed and therefore could not succeed him as vladika. Instead he became gospodar (prince) and by ensuring that this remained a hereditary position he effectively separated church and state. In 1860 he was assassinated at Kotor, quite possibly at Austrian instigation, and succeeded by the 19-year-old Nikola Petrovic, who had spent the previous two years being educated in Venice.
Prince Nikola Petrovic
The Francophile court which had sent Nikola to Venice favoured French language and French etiquette. Nikola shared this admiration, although his wife was a good Montenegrin. Together they had three sons and nine daughters. Six of the latter married royal or aristocratic Europeans, including Grand Duke Petar of Russia and King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, and became invaluable political assets. This was insufficient, however, to keep the Turks quiet, and after an intermittent series of wars and treaties Montenegro and Serbia jointly declared war on Turkey in 1876, with Russia joining in a year later. Between 1876 and 1878 Prince Nikola led the Montenegrin army to a series of victories. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 confirmed most of the resulting territorial gains, including the towns of Podgorica, Bar, Ulcinj and Niksic. Montenegro virtually doubled in size and its new borders were internationally recognized. It had access to the sea at last.
Nikola was also a social reformer. He introduced free elementary education and a GirlsInstitute for elementary teachers, an agricultural college, post and telegraph offices, a network of roads and railways and freedom of the press. Foreign capital, especially Italian, flooded in; business boomed and a number of embassies opened in Cetinje. Great Britain was among the countries ready to establish good relations with the principality and in 1887 the Duke of Edinburgh, son of Queen Victoria, visited Cetinje on a five-day state visit together with his duchess (Maria Alexandrovna, sister of the Tsar Alexander) and his nephew George (later to become King George V). In 1910 parliament proclaimed Nikola king. But 1912 saw the start of the Balkan wars against Turkey. Montenegro was again victorious and the Treaty of London brought more territorial gains on the Albanian and Kosovan borders, but the Montenegrins paid a high price in casualties.
World War I
When World War I broke out in 1914, Montenegro immediately invaded the recently established state of Albania and then, in support of Serbia, declared war on Austria. This was a mistake as by late 1915 both countries had been occupied by Austro-German troops. Most of the Serbian army did not stage a tactical retreat, unlike King Nikola who took some of his ministers to Rome and put himself under the protection of his son-in-law of Nikola, exploited the post-war chaos to enter Montenegro with his troops. At first the Serbs were welcomed as liberators and allies in the expectation that the Montenegrin government would be restored as part of the new Confederation of Slavic States. But when Serbias role as an army of occupation became clear and Serbia announced the annexation of Montenegro, Montenegrins staged a national uprising on the Orthodox Christmas, January 7 1919. Nikola died in Antibes in 1921 (though in 1989 his remains, along with those of his queen, were reinterred in Cetinje in the Chapel of Cipur) but this Montenegrin war continued until 1926 and ended only because the leaders believed the promises of the Allies to restore liberty and independence. Lloyd George, Poincare and Wilson all publicly pledged Montenegrin independence but actions did not match words and Montenegro became the only Allied country to lose its freedom as a result of World War I.
The birth of Yugoslavia
Between the two world wars Montenegro disappeared from the map and suffered from malign neglect at the hands of Serbia, which turned itself into Yugoslavia in 1929. The assassination of Yugoslavias King Alexander by a Croat in 1934 and his replacement by the Regent Prince Paul, uncle of King Petar II, made little difference to the centrist Belgrade regime. An effective programmed of land reform turned Yugoslavia into a reasonably prosperous country of small farmers. As Germany under Hitler led the inter-war European economic revival, he deliberately built links to Yugoslavia, and by 1938 53% of Yugoslav exports went there. Following the Anschluss Hitlers annexation of Austria that year, Yugoslavia worked hard to maintain its political independence in the face of German pressure to join the Axis. The invasions of Czechoslovakia and, by the Italians, Albania added to the pressure, as did the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact. In March 1941 Prince Paul finally caved in and signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy.
Montenegro today
On March 14 2002 the Federal and the two remaining republican governments of former Yugoslavia signed the Belgrade Agreement to form a new loose confederation, to be known henceforward as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The constitutional charter of this alliance was signed on 4 February 2003, indicating a firm intention towards eventual integration into the European Union (EU) though this remains a few years off at least. The Union has succeeded the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in the United Nations and other international bodies. The two states, each with its own elected prime minister, are broadly autonomous while preserving joint ministries of defense, foreign affairs, human rights, and internal trade, but retaining separate economies, customs services and currencies (Montenegro adopted the euro when it was first introduced; Serbia has retained the dinar). The unicameral Parliament has 126 seats of which 91 are Serb and 35 Montenegrin. Both countries have elected their own new presidents as has the Union. Filip Vujanovic of the pro-independence coalition heads Montenegro, Boris Tadic heads Serbia, while Svetozar Marovic (who happens to be a Montenegrin) was confirmed as Union President by Parliament in March 2003. He was the only candidate and now heads the Council of Ministers responsible for Foreign and Economic Affairs, Defiance and Human Rights. The more important post of prime minister are filled respectively by Milo Djukanovic of the Montenegrin Democratic Party of Socialists and Vojilav Kostunica of the Democratic Party of Serbia. It is interesting to note that in autumm 2004, of Montenegros 24 government ministers only one, Mrs Gordana Djurovic (Minister for International Economic Relations and European Integration) was a woman.
In 2006, Montenegro will be constitutionally able to hold a referendum on seceding from the Union and proceeding with a view to joining the EU independently; and President Vujanovic intends these things to happen. At present Montenegrins are fairly equally divided on the advantages of independence, with a likely small majority in favor of going it alone; maybe 45 to 35, with 20% undecided. After a political campaign in the context of a referendum, the balance could well rise to 60:40 in favor. Serbia, too, is split on the issue, though probably with a small majority in favor of maintaining the status quo. Both the EU and the US are opposed to a split on the grounds that Balkanisation and the regional proliferation of small states would promote instability. One hopes that they might eventually agree that the native population should decide for themselves. After winning an absolute endorsement in the parliamentary election of October 2002, Djukanovic stepped down from the presidency and was subsequently elected prime minister in January 2003. His Coalition for a European Montenegro, comprising representatives of all ethnic groups his own Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Peoples Unity and the Civil Party held 39 of the 75 seats. Pedrag Bulatovics Pro-Yugoslavia Coalition for Changes, made up of the Socialist Peoples Party (SNP), the Serb Peoples Party (SNS), and the Peoples Party, won 30 seats. Of the remaining seats, four went to the pro-independence Montenegrin Liberal Alliance (LS), and two to the ethnic Albanians.
The future now bodes well for Montenegro to sail smoothly out of her doldrums decade of isolation and frustration. Further democratic progress, prospects of continued privatization and fresh international investment initiatives look assured. And which will be the first Western hotel group to go for gold.
Recent history
Spared much of the devastation faced by other Former-Yugoslav countries during the civil war of 90s, it nevertheless suffered considerable economic hardship. Formerly a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Montenegro alongside Serbia, until recently, constituted the union of Serbia and Montenegro, a loose political Alliance which allowed both countries considerable autonomy. However, as has been well recorded, 55,5% of the Montenegrin population voted to separate from Serbia on the 21st May 2006. Montenegro is now the newest country in the Europe and their sovereign status has been recognized by the EU and neighboring Croatia and Serbia. Although Montenegro as a new republic is fresh to the world stage, it has a long and proud history and will hold its position well in terms of culture, uniqueness, welcoming people and a fresh approach in the region to globalization and attracting inward investment.
Foreign investment is recognized widely as a key input into the future economic success of Montenegro. The government of Montenegro led by 43 year old President Djukanovic, is a forward thinking, outward looking government, that understands globalization and the need for inward investment and an ultimate ultra modern economy to succeed in such a small country. It is now going through a period of rapid change and economic growth. Its an exciting place to be.
For a small country, Montenegro has an immensely complex history. But bearing in mind that it sits in the middle of the Balkans, has been on or near the front lines of a series of more or less despotic empires including the Roman, the Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian, the Napoleonic, the Nazi and the Soviet, and that its people are said to take seriously only God and war, this may not be much of a surprise.
Illyrians, Romans and Slavs
Signs of Balkan civilization date back to the 7th millennium BC. Agriculture, pottery and copper smelting supported the establishment of small towns and by the end of the 4th millennium BC there was active trade with Eastern Europe. By 600 BC the Illyrians were settled in what is now Montenegro, utilizing iron technology for both swords and ploughshares and dealing extensively with the Greek city states.
By 400 BC Celts were moving in from the north, closely followed by the Romans. In AD9 the Illyrians were subdued though the territory remained Illyrian. The Romans built roads, aqueducts, forts and all the usual trappings of their empire. When the Emperor Theodosius died in AD395, the Roman Empire split into two, roughly from the site of the present Budva and up the Sava and Danube rivers. Rome lost control of the eastern half, which became the Byzantine Empire. The western half remained Roman. The Goths and the Huns displaced the Romans over the next 200 years, but the overall military masters of the region were the Avars and Bulgars under the nominal rule of Constantinople. During the 6th century AD Slavs Poland and the Baltic, attracted partly by the Mediterranean climate, moved into the province of Provalis. They found Roman settlements already established at what are now Kotor, Budva, Ulcinj, Bar and Duklija, and were gradually converted to Christianity by the existing populace. One can still trace many hundreds of Baltic and Polish place names, rivers and mountains which correspond to those in the Balkans.
In AD625 the Emperor Heraclius formed an alliance with two of the stronger Slaavic tribes already in the region, the Croats and the Serbs, who took control of the Dalmatian coast. Because Dalmatia was rugged and lacking in minerals, the interior became something of a haven for refugee tribes living mostly as extended family group (zadruge) governed by a fairly democratically selected patriarch (zupan). Sometimes several of these zadruge would unite under a senior zupan who might even adopt the title of king. The fist Serb mini-state duly emerged in about 850 under a senior zupan called Vlastimir, who resisted Bulgar expansion and acknowledged Byzantine suzerainty. This encouraged the Byzantine emperor, Michael, to undertake the religious conversion of the Serbs, sending Cyril the Evangelist to translate the scriptures into the local dialect and improvise a new script, now known respectively as Old Church Slavonic and Cyrillic.
The kingdom of Duklija
Following Vlastimirs death there was a period of general disorganization, but in 1017 his nephew, King Vojislav, set up the vassal state of Duklija (or Doclea) named after the Illyrian tribe who once lived there. In 1042 he beat the Bizantines at the battle of Bar and won independence. By 1077 his son Mihailo governed a kingdom which included most of Montenegro, Albania and Herzegovina and he was acknowledged by Pope Gregory VII as Sclavorum Regi King of the Slavs. The kingdom of Duklija gradually weakened until in 1169 a senior zupan called Stefan Nemanja established a vassal state in the region of Raska. His son Stefan Provencani (first crowned) became the first real Serb king in 1217. The dynasty steadily expanded until the ninth king, Stefan Dusan (1331-55), ruled over an area including Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, much of Bosnia and Serbia as Epirus and Thessaly. A key to this expansion was the families success in promoting religious and cultural cohesion under the Orthodox Church and in codifying the law.
The arrival of the Ottomans
The Ottoman Empire established a foothold on mainland Europe in 1354 and began to expand northwards. Slav leaders were disunited and competitive, constantly making and breaking alliances with the Turks and with each other. The Turks regarded all Muslims as belonging to a single community of the faithful and so anyone could join the ruling group by converting to Islam. The Ottomans took Serbia at the battle of Kosovo in 1389, occupied Bosnia in 1463 and Herzegovina in 1483. The Crnojevic dynasty, who by now ruled most of present-day Montenegro, moved the capital from Zabljak on Skadar Lake to the hill town of Cetinje in 1482 to resist the invaders more easily. The territory began for the first time to be known as Crna Gora and, though its boundaries had contracted, it established traditions of independent sovereignty and culture. For tactical reasons King Stefan concluded an alliance with Venice in 1455, and Cetinje became the home of the first printing press in southern Europe in 1494.
The prince bishops
In 1516 there was a major constitutional shift in Montenegro. The last of the Crnojevic dynasty married a Venetian and retired to Venice, conferring the succession upon the prince-bishop (Vladika) of Cetinje. This formal link between church and state ensured national stability, lending the vladika authority in the eyes of the peasants and minimizing the risk of competitive alliances between local leaders and the Turks. War with the Ottoman Empire continued, but although Cetinje was sacked in 1623, 1687 and again in 1712, the Turks were never able to subjugate the Montenegrins. As Orthodox bishops the vladikas were required to be celibate, and initially the succession was elective, but when Danilo acceded in 1696 he won the right to nominate his own heir. Subsequently the hereditary theocracy remained vested in the Petrovic clan, invariably passing from uncle to nephew. In July 1712 Danilo won a notable victory over a 35.000-man Turkish army at Carev Laz. Five thousand Turks died and the battle was a landmark in Montenegros Wars of Independence.
Montenegro and Russia versus Napoleon
In 1806 Montenegro and Russia combined to beat Napoleon at Kotor, then Montenegro won unilateral battles against him at Cavtat and Herceg Novi. The Montenegrins also beat the French in Kotor Bay, utilizing ammunition supplied by Britain and Russia, but the subsequent Congress of Vienna in 1814 nevertheless gave Kotor Bay to Austria. Despite the part they had played in the downfall of Napoleon, Montenegro still lacked the access to the sea they so badly wanted. When Petar I died in 1830, he was proclaimed saint of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, St.Petar of Cetinje (Sveti Petar Cetinskji). The early 19th century saw considerable social change in Montenegro, especially after the succession of Petar II Petrovic Njegos. By general consensus Petar II was the most outstanding of all Montenegrin rulers and he laid the foundations of the subsequent kingdom and indeed of modern Montenegro. He organized a central government comprising a Senate, a 32-man (Guardia), who acted as traveling magistrates, and a Perjanici who were a police force. He organized taxes, despite predictable opposition from individualistic Montenegrins, and he was an epic poet whose magnum opus, The Mountain Wreath, distilled in the vernacular the essence of Montenegrin wisdom and philosophy. Petar II died in 1851, but his nephew Danilo II was already betrothed and therefore could not succeed him as vladika. Instead he became gospodar (prince) and by ensuring that this remained a hereditary position he effectively separated church and state. In 1860 he was assassinated at Kotor, quite possibly at Austrian instigation, and succeeded by the 19-year-old Nikola Petrovic, who had spent the previous two years being educated in Venice.
Prince Nikola Petrovic
The Francophile court which had sent Nikola to Venice favoured French language and French etiquette. Nikola shared this admiration, although his wife was a good Montenegrin. Together they had three sons and nine daughters. Six of the latter married royal or aristocratic Europeans, including Grand Duke Petar of Russia and King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, and became invaluable political assets. This was insufficient, however, to keep the Turks quiet, and after an intermittent series of wars and treaties Montenegro and Serbia jointly declared war on Turkey in 1876, with Russia joining in a year later. Between 1876 and 1878 Prince Nikola led the Montenegrin army to a series of victories. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 confirmed most of the resulting territorial gains, including the towns of Podgorica, Bar, Ulcinj and Niksic. Montenegro virtually doubled in size and its new borders were internationally recognized. It had access to the sea at last.
Nikola was also a social reformer. He introduced free elementary education and a GirlsInstitute for elementary teachers, an agricultural college, post and telegraph offices, a network of roads and railways and freedom of the press. Foreign capital, especially Italian, flooded in; business boomed and a number of embassies opened in Cetinje. Great Britain was among the countries ready to establish good relations with the principality and in 1887 the Duke of Edinburgh, son of Queen Victoria, visited Cetinje on a five-day state visit together with his duchess (Maria Alexandrovna, sister of the Tsar Alexander) and his nephew George (later to become King George V). In 1910 parliament proclaimed Nikola king. But 1912 saw the start of the Balkan wars against Turkey. Montenegro was again victorious and the Treaty of London brought more territorial gains on the Albanian and Kosovan borders, but the Montenegrins paid a high price in casualties.
World War I
When World War I broke out in 1914, Montenegro immediately invaded the recently established state of Albania and then, in support of Serbia, declared war on Austria. This was a mistake as by late 1915 both countries had been occupied by Austro-German troops. Most of the Serbian army did not stage a tactical retreat, unlike King Nikola who took some of his ministers to Rome and put himself under the protection of his son-in-law of Nikola, exploited the post-war chaos to enter Montenegro with his troops. At first the Serbs were welcomed as liberators and allies in the expectation that the Montenegrin government would be restored as part of the new Confederation of Slavic States. But when Serbias role as an army of occupation became clear and Serbia announced the annexation of Montenegro, Montenegrins staged a national uprising on the Orthodox Christmas, January 7 1919. Nikola died in Antibes in 1921 (though in 1989 his remains, along with those of his queen, were reinterred in Cetinje in the Chapel of Cipur) but this Montenegrin war continued until 1926 and ended only because the leaders believed the promises of the Allies to restore liberty and independence. Lloyd George, Poincare and Wilson all publicly pledged Montenegrin independence but actions did not match words and Montenegro became the only Allied country to lose its freedom as a result of World War I.
The birth of Yugoslavia
Between the two world wars Montenegro disappeared from the map and suffered from malign neglect at the hands of Serbia, which turned itself into Yugoslavia in 1929. The assassination of Yugoslavias King Alexander by a Croat in 1934 and his replacement by the Regent Prince Paul, uncle of King Petar II, made little difference to the centrist Belgrade regime. An effective programmed of land reform turned Yugoslavia into a reasonably prosperous country of small farmers. As Germany under Hitler led the inter-war European economic revival, he deliberately built links to Yugoslavia, and by 1938 53% of Yugoslav exports went there. Following the Anschluss Hitlers annexation of Austria that year, Yugoslavia worked hard to maintain its political independence in the face of German pressure to join the Axis. The invasions of Czechoslovakia and, by the Italians, Albania added to the pressure, as did the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact. In March 1941 Prince Paul finally caved in and signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy.
Montenegro today
On March 14 2002 the Federal and the two remaining republican governments of former Yugoslavia signed the Belgrade Agreement to form a new loose confederation, to be known henceforward as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The constitutional charter of this alliance was signed on 4 February 2003, indicating a firm intention towards eventual integration into the European Union (EU) though this remains a few years off at least. The Union has succeeded the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in the United Nations and other international bodies. The two states, each with its own elected prime minister, are broadly autonomous while preserving joint ministries of defense, foreign affairs, human rights, and internal trade, but retaining separate economies, customs services and currencies (Montenegro adopted the euro when it was first introduced; Serbia has retained the dinar). The unicameral Parliament has 126 seats of which 91 are Serb and 35 Montenegrin. Both countries have elected their own new presidents as has the Union. Filip Vujanovic of the pro-independence coalition heads Montenegro, Boris Tadic heads Serbia, while Svetozar Marovic (who happens to be a Montenegrin) was confirmed as Union President by Parliament in March 2003. He was the only candidate and now heads the Council of Ministers responsible for Foreign and Economic Affairs, Defiance and Human Rights. The more important post of prime minister are filled respectively by Milo Djukanovic of the Montenegrin Democratic Party of Socialists and Vojilav Kostunica of the Democratic Party of Serbia. It is interesting to note that in autumm 2004, of Montenegros 24 government ministers only one, Mrs Gordana Djurovic (Minister for International Economic Relations and European Integration) was a woman.
In 2006, Montenegro will be constitutionally able to hold a referendum on seceding from the Union and proceeding with a view to joining the EU independently; and President Vujanovic intends these things to happen. At present Montenegrins are fairly equally divided on the advantages of independence, with a likely small majority in favor of going it alone; maybe 45 to 35, with 20% undecided. After a political campaign in the context of a referendum, the balance could well rise to 60:40 in favor. Serbia, too, is split on the issue, though probably with a small majority in favor of maintaining the status quo. Both the EU and the US are opposed to a split on the grounds that Balkanisation and the regional proliferation of small states would promote instability. One hopes that they might eventually agree that the native population should decide for themselves. After winning an absolute endorsement in the parliamentary election of October 2002, Djukanovic stepped down from the presidency and was subsequently elected prime minister in January 2003. His Coalition for a European Montenegro, comprising representatives of all ethnic groups his own Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Peoples Unity and the Civil Party held 39 of the 75 seats. Pedrag Bulatovics Pro-Yugoslavia Coalition for Changes, made up of the Socialist Peoples Party (SNP), the Serb Peoples Party (SNS), and the Peoples Party, won 30 seats. Of the remaining seats, four went to the pro-independence Montenegrin Liberal Alliance (LS), and two to the ethnic Albanians.
The future now bodes well for Montenegro to sail smoothly out of her doldrums decade of isolation and frustration. Further democratic progress, prospects of continued privatization and fresh international investment initiatives look assured. And which will be the first Western hotel group to go for gold.
Recent history
Spared much of the devastation faced by other Former-Yugoslav countries during the civil war of 90s, it nevertheless suffered considerable economic hardship. Formerly a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Montenegro alongside Serbia, until recently, constituted the union of Serbia and Montenegro, a loose political Alliance which allowed both countries considerable autonomy. However, as has been well recorded, 55,5% of the Montenegrin population voted to separate from Serbia on the 21st May 2006. Montenegro is now the newest country in the Europe and their sovereign status has been recognized by the EU and neighboring Croatia and Serbia. Although Montenegro as a new republic is fresh to the world stage, it has a long and proud history and will hold its position well in terms of culture, uniqueness, welcoming people and a fresh approach in the region to globalization and attracting inward investment.
Foreign investment is recognized widely as a key input into the future economic success of Montenegro. The government of Montenegro led by 43 year old President Djukanovic, is a forward thinking, outward looking government, that understands globalization and the need for inward investment and an ultimate ultra modern economy to succeed in such a small country. It is now going through a period of rapid change and economic growth. Its an exciting place to be.