ShAhShOoKa
6th February 2003, 12:36
Yugoslavia Ceases to Exist, New Union Declared
Tue February 4, 2003 04:54 PM ET
By Fredrik Dahl and Julijana Mojsilovic
BELGRADE, Serbia (Reuters) - Yugoslavia officially ceased to exist Tuesday when its parliament voted to replace what remained of the troubled federation with a loose union of Serbia and Montenegro.
The historic move will be welcomed by the European Union, which had piled pressure on Serbia and Montenegro to stay together for now in a revamped union that would leave most powers in the hands of its two member states.
But some analysts and many ordinary people doubt whether it will stand the test of time, predicting that the last two republics that were in Yugoslavia after a decade of Balkan wars will sooner or later also go their separate ways.
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic vowed to do his best to make the union work, responding to widespread skepticism about its survival prospects.
"My message is: give the union a chance," he said.
The federal assembly cleared the final hurdle for establishing the Western-brokered union by passing its founding charter with an absolute majority in both houses, consigning the name Yugoslavia to history after almost 75 years.
Deputies broke out in applause after a day-long debate.
"Goodbye Yugoslavia. Hello Serbia and Montenegro. May you have a long and fruitful life," government-owned YU-Info television told its viewers.
The charter comes into force immediately, but it is expected to take about a month before the institutions of the union -- simply named Serbia and Montenegro -- are set up. They include a 126-member parliament which will pick a president.
"A new state may have been born but the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro still have no flag, national anthem or coat of arms," said independent B92 radio.
DEATH OF YUGOSLAVIA
Serbia and much smaller Montenegro were the only republics which remained in Yugoslavia after the old six-member socialist federation collapsed violently during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.
The other republics were Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Yugoslavia -- which translates as the Land of Southern Slavs -- first became the name of the country when it was still a kingdom in 1929.
The country held together under communist dictator Josip Broz Tito, but then fell apart along ethnic lines in conflicts which killed tens of thousands of people and left many more homeless.
Pro-Western Montenegro distanced itself from dominant Serbia under the final years of the rule of Milosevic, ousted by reformers in late 2000 and later shipped to the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Under EU pressure, Montenegro last year reluctantly shelved plans for breaking away from Serbia for at least three years, after which both sides can become independent. It took a year of wrangling before the two republics finalized the union accord.
The EU had feared independence for the coastal republic of 650,000 people would have encouraged other breakaway movements, for example among Albanians in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
It has made clear closer ties with the bloc would depend on the formation of the union, which some locals jokingly call "Solania" after EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
"This is a significant step forward by Serbia and Montenegro toward closer integration with Europe," said British Foreign Office Minister Denis MacShane in a statement.
Serbia and Montenegro will have one army but two currencies, with Montenegro using the euro and Serbia sticking to the dinar. Their legislatures voted in favor of the union last week.
Many ordinary people showed little enthusiasm for the new country. "I think that this union will last a very short time and that we will very soon have an independent Serbia and an independent Montenegro," said lawyer Sinisa Savic, 40.
(Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic)
Tue February 4, 2003 04:54 PM ET
By Fredrik Dahl and Julijana Mojsilovic
BELGRADE, Serbia (Reuters) - Yugoslavia officially ceased to exist Tuesday when its parliament voted to replace what remained of the troubled federation with a loose union of Serbia and Montenegro.
The historic move will be welcomed by the European Union, which had piled pressure on Serbia and Montenegro to stay together for now in a revamped union that would leave most powers in the hands of its two member states.
But some analysts and many ordinary people doubt whether it will stand the test of time, predicting that the last two republics that were in Yugoslavia after a decade of Balkan wars will sooner or later also go their separate ways.
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic vowed to do his best to make the union work, responding to widespread skepticism about its survival prospects.
"My message is: give the union a chance," he said.
The federal assembly cleared the final hurdle for establishing the Western-brokered union by passing its founding charter with an absolute majority in both houses, consigning the name Yugoslavia to history after almost 75 years.
Deputies broke out in applause after a day-long debate.
"Goodbye Yugoslavia. Hello Serbia and Montenegro. May you have a long and fruitful life," government-owned YU-Info television told its viewers.
The charter comes into force immediately, but it is expected to take about a month before the institutions of the union -- simply named Serbia and Montenegro -- are set up. They include a 126-member parliament which will pick a president.
"A new state may have been born but the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro still have no flag, national anthem or coat of arms," said independent B92 radio.
DEATH OF YUGOSLAVIA
Serbia and much smaller Montenegro were the only republics which remained in Yugoslavia after the old six-member socialist federation collapsed violently during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.
The other republics were Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Yugoslavia -- which translates as the Land of Southern Slavs -- first became the name of the country when it was still a kingdom in 1929.
The country held together under communist dictator Josip Broz Tito, but then fell apart along ethnic lines in conflicts which killed tens of thousands of people and left many more homeless.
Pro-Western Montenegro distanced itself from dominant Serbia under the final years of the rule of Milosevic, ousted by reformers in late 2000 and later shipped to the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Under EU pressure, Montenegro last year reluctantly shelved plans for breaking away from Serbia for at least three years, after which both sides can become independent. It took a year of wrangling before the two republics finalized the union accord.
The EU had feared independence for the coastal republic of 650,000 people would have encouraged other breakaway movements, for example among Albanians in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
It has made clear closer ties with the bloc would depend on the formation of the union, which some locals jokingly call "Solania" after EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
"This is a significant step forward by Serbia and Montenegro toward closer integration with Europe," said British Foreign Office Minister Denis MacShane in a statement.
Serbia and Montenegro will have one army but two currencies, with Montenegro using the euro and Serbia sticking to the dinar. Their legislatures voted in favor of the union last week.
Many ordinary people showed little enthusiasm for the new country. "I think that this union will last a very short time and that we will very soon have an independent Serbia and an independent Montenegro," said lawyer Sinisa Savic, 40.
(Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic)