(8 May 2006) STRAW POLL IN FAVOR OF MONTENEGRIN INDEPENDENCE. (Balkan Watch)

• 2006-05-23
• Europa in de wereld

A straw poll of Montenegrin voters held in late April by the Center for Democracy found that more than the required 55 percent threshold insisted upon by the EU would vote in favor of independence. Milos Besic of the Center for Democracy announced that 87 percent of Montenegro’s eligible voters were planning on taking part in the referendum. He then noted that 56.3 percent of these voters planned to vote in favor of Montenegro seceding from its state union with Serbia, while 43.7 percent were against the measure. The referendum is scheduled to be held on May 21.

Last month, EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak had made the threshold recommendation, which was accepted by EU leaders and, despite some reservations, by Montenegrin officials on both sides of the debate. The EU stated it would refuse to acknowledge Montenegrin independence unless the 55 percent threshold were to be attained.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic wrote in an op-ed to London’s Financial Times that he believed Montenegrins should vote in favor of independence, in part because of the republic’s aspirations for EU membership. Djukanovic described Montenegro as having been host to thousands of displaced persons during the Balkan wars of the 1990s and was relatively peaceful during this turbulent time. He also criticized the EU for “punishing” Montenegro by not allowing it to separate from

Serbiain 2002. Djukanovic described the current union between Montenegro and Serbia as “dysfunctional” and noted that Serbia was holding Montenegro back from joining the EU.