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BUDVA, Serbia-Montenegro - Voters are deciding whether to write the final chapter in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and the T-shirts show vividly how divided they are. Sunday's referendum is about whether tiny Montenegro should end its union with big-brother Serbia, and in the Adriatic resort of Budva, vendor Milan Jakic says his red "da" (yes) shirts are selling well. "If you compare the sale of yes and no," he says, "there is no doubt Montenegro will be independent." But six miles away in the quiet fishing village of Bigovo, the "ne" (no) shirt is doing well, and graffiti...

Citizens of Montenegro, the mountainous, sparsely populated former Yugoslav territory, will vote Sunday in a referendum on severing its remaining links with Serbia. The pro-independence camp is confident of victory. The referendum will determine whether the state of Serbia and Montenegro continues to exist. That loose federation - replacing the rump Yugoslavia - was created three years at the strong urging of the European Union, which at the time opposed the Montenegrin government's desire to break with Serbia. Since both Serbia and Montenegro wish to join the EU, Brussels has been deeply involved in the May 21 referendum. Under its...

United Press International Front Page > UPI Page Corrupt Kosovo cannot be independent state Apr. 14, 2006 at 8:54AM A U.N. mediator says Serbia's southern Kosovo province has to eliminate corruption before it gains independence. Albert Rohan, U.N. negotiator in ongoing talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, said: "Corruption endangers the independence of Kosovo," Albanian-language media in Kosovo's major town of Pristina reported Friday. "There will be no independence unless corruption is contained. We do not want a state which has shortcomings from the very beginning," the Beta news agency quoted Rohan as saying. Kosovo Albanians, who make up 90...

Home / SEE Security Monitor / SEE Security Monitor: Serbia & Montenegro Premier seeks Islamic countries' help in building Kosovo's future November 17, 2005 YU Excerpt from report by independent internet news agency KosovaLive Prishtina [Pristina], 17 November: Kosova [Kosovo] Prime Minister Bajrami Kosumi asked the ambassadors from Islamic countries today to influence positively the creation of the state of Kosova. After a meeting with the ambassadors of several countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference accredited to Belgrade, Kosumi said that he had informed them about the preparations for the final stage of finalizing the independence of Kosova...

An explosive device placed in a trash container exploded in downtown Pristina Tuesday damaging the passing car carrying Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova. The blast occurred at 8:20 am as President Rugova's motorcade was headed to a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The president was not injured but one person was hurt by flying glass and the president's car was damaged. Shop windows were blown out from the blast which police say was apparently detonated by remote control. Mr. Rugova, who continued with his regular schedule, said the blast proves there are still bad elements who want...

WASHINGTON -- Tuesday – The new Bush Administration in the US is unlikely to invest much effort in resolving the problems of Kosovo, an associate of the Nixon Centre said today. Nicholas Gvozdev told The Voice of America that the administration will be focused on Iraq and Afghanistan. “The US says that it is opposed to any kind of change of borders in the Balkans. I think that this position is a vague formulation of the problem because it is not a Kosovo’s borders that are to be changed but its states and respect for Resolution 1244 which takes for...

Invitation for Pope to visit Serbia-Montenegro in the works, president says Updated at 13:00 on October 20, 2004, EST. BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Serbia-Montenegro's president said Wednesday he is preparing an invitation for Pope John Paul to visit the Balkan country. President Svetozar Marovic said in a statement that he is certain both the Serbian and Montenegrin leaderships would support the Pope's visit. Marovic said a papal visit "would reaffirm the European sense of tolerance and strengthen Christian values . . . not only in Serbia-Montenegro but throughout southeastern Europe." The pontiff has visited nearly all of the countries that...

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Kosovo's parliament threw down the gauntlet to the province's U.N. overseers Thursday, adopting constitutional changes including the right to call a referendum on independence from Serbia. The amendments also included switching control for international relations and public security from the U.N. mission, which has run the majority Albanian province since the 1999 conflict, to local authorities. But to become law they must be signed by Kosovo's acting U.N. governor, who has already warned that only the United Nations has the authority to make major constitutional changes. "Any comprehensive review of the Constitutional Framework is...

Ukraine celebrates Eurovision win Ruslana's high tempo song impressed Europe Ukraine has won the 2004 Eurovision song contest in Istanbul, Turkey - only the second time the country has taken part in the competition. Ruslana, a successful singer, producer, dancer and composer in her home country, won for her song Wild Dance. Debutants Serbia and Montenegro came second, with Greece third. The UK's James Fox took 16th spot. More than 100 million viewers were expected to watch the TV coverage of the event, now in its 49th year.

Kostunica's New Secret Service Chief Was Suspect in Djindjic Assassination Mar 6, 2004 The Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Saturday appointed a close aide as his new secret service chief, despite his arrest as a suspect in the assassination of a chief of government. Rade Bulatovic was a security adviser while Kostunica was president of Yugoslavia, the predecessor state to Serbia-Montenegro. He also was among dozens of suspects that the police said were part of the plot to kill former Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. He was arrested March 12 and held for several weeks,...

Serbs Hold Third Presidential Election Serbs Hold Third Presidential Election Within a Year, After Apathy Dooms Previous Efforts The Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro Nov. 16 — Serbians voted for a president for the third time in a year Sunday, hoping that the low turnout that caused two previous elections to fail would not happen again and cause a political crisis. Dragoljub Micunovic, a veteran politician with strong democratic credentials backed by the governing Democrats and their allies, was leading pre-election polls against five other candidates. His main rival, Tomislav Nikolic, an ultranationalist with ties to Slobodan Milosevic, is banking that...

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - A U.S. peacekeeper serving in Kosovo was found dead early Sunday, a statement from the main U.S. Camp Bondsteel said. The soldier's body was discovered near the town of Dobercane, about 35 miles east of the provincial capital Pristina. The statement did not give the cause of death. The name of the soldier was not released, pending notification of the next of kin. "Military police are conducting an investigation of the incident," the statement said. About 3,000 U.S. troops are serving with the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, which came under NATO and U.N. control after the...

.c The Associated Press Key points of the EU-sponsored plan signed Thursday to preserve the alliance between Serbia and Montenegro: Yugoslavia gets a new name: Serbia and Montenegro. The name Yugoslavia, first introduced in 1929, will be discarded. A new, single-chamber parliament will provide ``positive discrimination'' for Montenegro's representatives, to give the tiny republic of 650,000 people legislative parity with Serbia, whose population is 10 million. The parliament will elect a president. A five-member government will be in charge of foreign affairs, defense, international economic relations, internal economic relations and protection of minorities and human rights. The armed forces will...