Introducing Serbia and Montenegro

That’s all I know!

The Montenegrin Republic has an area of ??13,812 square kilometers and a population of 680,000. It is one of the six former Yugoslavia allies. It is located in the southwest of Serbia and borders the Adriatic Sea. Among the country's population, more than 400,000 are Montenegrins, and the rest are Serbs, Albanians and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Republic of Montenegro is Serbia's only access to the Adriatic Sea. Therefore, since Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia declared independence in the 1990s, the Republic of Montenegro has been of great importance to Serbia. status.

Montenegro is a country with many high mountains, beautiful scenery and close to the coast. Historically, Montenegro has been ruled by other ethnic groups in the Balgan region. The country's independence movement dates from 1878 to 1918 AD. After the First World War in 1918, some ethnic groups in Yugoslavia united to form the Kingdom of Serbs-Croats-Slovenes. In 1929, it was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, with Serbia and Montenegro becoming part of it. During World War II, Montenegro ostensibly achieved independence with the support of Italian fascism. However, after the victory of the guerrillas led by Tito, Yugoslavia once again invaded and occupied Montenegro. Until Tito's death in 1980, Montenegro had close ties with the ruling Socialist Party of Yugoslavia. cooperation.

Since Tito’s death, differences of opinion have emerged between Montenegro’s political leaders and the central government, especially since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and the collapse of the socialist camp in Eastern Europe, which included Montenegro and other Yugoslavia parties* The Republic of Korea followed the example of the former Soviet Union and joined the Republic of Korea to demand independence. However, the ethnic conflict in Yugoslavia turned the Balgan region into a crisis center in Europe. From 1991 to 1992, after Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia declared independence, Montenegro remained a member of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia through a referendum in April 1992. On April 27 of that year, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was declared to consist of Serbia and Montenegro.

Political analysts have different opinions as to why the people of Montenegro are unwilling to become independent from Yugoslavia. Some people say that the reason why the people of Montenegro are unwilling to become independent is because they are worried that the Serbs will create conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The tragedy was repeated in Montenegro, so they would rather give up their independence than go to war with the Serbs. Some analysts also believe that the Montenegrin Republic does not have serious ethnic conflicts like other countries in the Yugoslavia. Although there are differences between the Montenegrin and Serbs, they are not serious. Therefore, the Montenegrin people do not want independence from the Yugoslavia. go out.

The former Yugoslavian President Milosevic did not pay attention to the rights of the Montenegrin people, and the policies of Europe and the United States in the Balgan region caused the Montenegrin people to embark on the path of fighting for independence. In 1998, President Djukanovic of the Republic of Montenegro put forward the slogan of Montenegro’s independence, which won strong support from the people of Montenegro. As a result, he defeated his opponents in the presidential election and was successfully elected as the President of the Republic of Montenegro. Montenegro There have also been new changes in history. When the Serb army attacked Kosovo wildly and repeated the tragedy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Djukanovic believed that this was the best time to fight for Montenegro's independence. He first asked Yugoslavia President Milosevic to treat Montenegro and Serbia equally and not Engage in discriminatory policies. Since Milosevic is a nationalist extremist, and Montenegro's status cannot be compared with Serbia, it is natural that Djukanovic's request was opposed by Milosevic. At the same time, Milosevic warned the President of the Republic of Montenegro that if Montenegro was to be separated from the Yugoslav Federation, he would send troops to attack Montenegro. At this time, in order to overthrow Milosevic, Western countries ostensibly supported Djukanovic's views and sent 40,000 NATO troops to the Kosovo region. Montenegrin President Djukanovic also seized this opportunity to strengthen ties with Western countries, strive for economic and political support from Western countries, sign bilateral cooperation agreements with its neighbors, and cut off ties with Serbia. economic and political cooperation. At the same time, Djukanovic also changed the common currency of Montenegro to the mark and gradually canceled the Yugoslav dinar.

However, since Milosevic stepped down, the situation in the Balgan region has changed. Djukanovic's action to demand Montenegro's independence, which was originally supported by Western countries, has now become an issue in the Balgan region. A major crisis.

Before Milosevic stepped down, the reason why Western countries supported Montenegro's independence was to put pressure on Milosevic. However, since Milosevic stepped down, Western countries are worried that once Montenegro becomes independent, the rest of the Balgan region will suffer. The people will rise up and fight for independence. Therefore, Western countries are firmly opposed to Montenegrin independence. The United States and European countries have sent special envoys to Montenegro to explain the position of Western countries and clearly oppose Montenegro's independence.

But Western countries face another problem in preventing Montenegro’s independence. That is, the ruling party led by Serbian Prime Minister Djanajic has adopted a relatively moderate position on Montenegro’s independence. Although the party opposes Djucano Vic proposed a loose alliance between Montenegro and Serbia, with both countries having independent seats in the United Nations. However, he did not express any objection to the people of Montenegro deciding the future of Montenegro through a referendum. The EU has adopted a series of policies to prevent Montenegro from becoming independent. In late 2001 and early 2002, Solana, the EU's High Commissioner for External Relations and Security Affairs, made several visits to Serbia and Montenegro, intending to persuade the two independent countries of Serbia and Montenegro to maintain the Yugoslav Union, but his efforts were met with failure. fail. Afterwards, the negotiations to maintain the Yugoslav Union were handed over to the Brussels Conference for discussion. In fact, both the republics of Herzegovina and Herzegovina were under pressure from the EU. In this regard, Solana proposed a plan to maintain the Yugoslav Union, and his plan was basically close to Djukanovic's plan. According to the plan proposed by Solana, Montenegro would establish a loose alliance with Serbia, but would not recognize Montenegro's independence.

Montenegro and Serbia have agreed to form a new alliance after four months of diplomatic efforts by Solana. On March 14, the two independent countries of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Serbia and Montenegro - signed a historic plan in Belgrade. Both parties agreed to erase Yugoslavia's name from the map and replace it with A loose federation of states was formed under the new name "Serbia and Montenegro".

After the reorganization, the two semi-independent countries of Japan and China will share national defense and diplomacy, and temporarily maintain the independence of economic, monetary, customs and other institutions. After three years, both sides will be free to hold a referendum on independence or withdrawal.

Kostunica, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, said, "The signing of this plan has established a new form of relationship between Serbia and Montenegro." "This step is a breakthrough in the original political system."

The union established by Serbia and Montenegro is the only country in the world with two independent political and economic systems. In fact, Serbia and Montenegro are two independent countries, but internationally, the two countries are one political system, and the president, foreign minister and defense minister are only symbolic. In view of this, Yugoslavia President Kostunica said that the new Federation of Serbia and Montenegro is neither a federation nor an alliance, but a new system containing various factors. In fact, the EU strives to maintain the unity of Serbia and Montenegro, even on the surface, in order to avoid a wave of independence in the Balgan region. But one problem is very clear. With the signing of the new agreement, the name Yugoslavia has disappeared from the map and become history