Serbia and Montenegro head for ‘velvet divorce’

BELGRADE: “I expected this to be a happy day for Serbs, because we have become an independent state too, but this looks so gloomy,” Stojan Misic, 55, told IPS in front of the Serbian parliament building on Monday. He was watching the parliament janitor replace the flag of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro with the flag of Serbia, quite unceremoniously.

Serbia’s ‘independence’ came after Montenegro, the now tiny nation of 650,000, voted for independence from the Union on May 21. Montenegro’s independence was officially proclaimed on Saturday.

“The time has come now for the velvet divorce, despite all the grudging and fanning of fear by Belgrade authorities,” international law professor Vojin Dimitrijevic told IPS. “This has to be done in a civilised manner, appropriate for the new circumstances in the region.” The ‘velvet divorce’ will finalise the division of assets, army, property abroad and foreign reserves between Serbia and Montenegro. Experts say the process will last months.

Prior to the replacement of flag, Serbian parliament simply proclaimed independence by transferring solely to Belgrade the international status of the State Union, including its seat on bodies such as the United Nations. The members of parliament backed an order to the government and state bodies to complete all formalities about the succession and resolve all disputed issues with Montenegro within the next 45 days.

Neither Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has still not accepted Montenegro’s decision, nor President Boris Tadic were present in the parliament when Serbia became a nation on its own. “Serbia is still acting like an offended bride, left by the groom on their wedding day,” law expert Gaso Knezevic told IPS. “Its government was broadly abusing media to disseminate fears and uncertainties so reminiscent of the early 90s. But, luckily, all the things are regulated with the Charter of the State Union.”

For months ahead of the referendum, Serbian media was flooded with stories on how Serbian property will be seized by Montenegrin authorities once the country becomes independent.

Threatening stories appeared that visas will be introduced for travel to Montenegro. Some 260,000 Montenegrins living in Serbia, a nation of 7.5 million, were threatened with introduction of work permits and other intimidating moves. Nationalist Serb media said no Montenegrin citizen would be allowed to hold jobs in the judiciary, prosecution and police in Serbia.

More than 20,000 Montenegrin students in Serbia were warned, through such media, that they would be considered foreigners once their homeland became independent. That would mean they would have to pay thousands of dollars tuition fees instead studying for free.

Other messages via the media said that Montenegrins would no more have health services available to them in Serbia if they chose independence. The tiny nation is deficient in specialists in specific areas of medicine, and many Montenegrins seek healthcare in Serbia.

“This was an orchestrated campaign aimed at putting pressure on Montenegrins not to vote for independence,” historian Predrag Markovic told IPS. “It abused the trauma of disintegration of former Yugoslavia and irregularities rectified only now, 10 years after the wars ended.” The divorce of Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia from former Yugoslavia was anything but a velvet one.

More than 100,000 people died in wars 1991-95. Apart from devastation of homes, infrastructure, factories and other economic valuables, mutual seizure of private and state property and introduction of strict visa regimes became the trademark of the period. This time things are clearer. The Charter of State Union describes what should be done. Serbia will keep as its property whatever is on its territory and the same goes for Montenegro.

“There will be no division of chairs or tables in the former federation building,” Serbian finance minister Mladjan Dinkic told reporters. The formula for division says 94.5 per cent of all property goes to Serbia and 5.5 per cent to Montenegro, in proportion to their size and their participation in generating the overall capital and property of the former state. The small nation has not decided yet how large its army will finally be, but officers of the former army of Serbia and Montenegro can remain in the tiny country if they choose or if they are of Montenegrin origin. Those who do not want this option will be transferred to Serbia.

The remaining 50,000 strong army will be named the Army of Serbia, defence minister Zoran Stankovic told reporters in Belgrade. Embassies abroad will be divided between Serbia and Montenegro in accordance with the succession agreement between the states of former Yugoslavia adopted only in 2003.

Of the financial reserves abroad, Serbian economy minister Milan Parivodic told reporters that “the formula is well known.” Some 94 per cent will go to Serbia and the rest to Montenegro. After Monday’s parliamentary session, the flags of Serbia-Montenegro were sent to a museum, officials said. “This ended a part of history, but one should not be sad,” Markovic said. “Serbia is now on its own, like more than 100 years ago when it began the process of creating the state of South Slavs (Yugoslavia).”

Several Yugoslavias have existed in the 20th century. The kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, created in 1918, was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929 and existed in that form until it was invaded by Germany in 1941. A communist Yugoslavia emerged after the end of World War II in 1945, but fell apart in the early 1990s.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia then came into existence, although it included just Serbia and Montenegro. It was renamed the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro under the auspices of the European Union in 2003, and the name Yugoslavia finally became history.—Dawn/IPS News Service