INTERVIEW - Montenegrin Opposition Urges Referendum or Snap Vote To Ease Political Tensions over Kosovo Recognision

The opposition’s next step, if the government fails to call a referendum, will be to demand an early general election, which is the only way to alleviate the current political tensions in the country, Popovic told SeeNews.

Thirty-four people were injured last week when police used tear gas to disperse a protest rally in the Montenegrin capital against the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state.

Kosovo, where the population is predominantly ethnic Albanian, declared its secession from Serbia on February 17, after almost nine years under the administration of the U.N. Serbia says it would never recognise its southern province as an independent state and gained two weeks ago the U.N. approval to seek the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legitimacy of the independence proclamation.

EU aspirant Montenegro, which was tied in a loose state union with Serbia until 2006, recognised Kosovo two days after Serbia gained the U.N. approval to question the legitimacy of the independence proclamation.

“I am not an optimist that this referendum petition will clear parliament, but it is important a debate to be launched,” Popovic said, referring to the number of seats the opposition controls in parliament.

The five opposition parties that protest against Kosovo’s recognition, together hold 31 of the 81 seats in Montenegro’s parliament. They are: the Movement for Change, the People’s Party, the Socialist People’s Party, the Serb People’s Party and the Democratic Serbian Party.

The parties, forming Montenegro’s governing coalition, the Democratic Party of Socialists and the Social Democratic Party, together control 40 seats, but gain a majority through the sole seat held by the Croatian Civil Initiative, a formal member of the governing coalition in parliament. The remaining nine seats belong to smaller parties.

“It is also important to say that the referendum will be of a consultative nature,” Popovic said.

“It is not an obligatory legal act for the government. The government can use the outcome of the referendum as a reason to reverse its decision if the majority of citizens vote to dismiss the government decision. But it does not have to.”
 
“The reason why we are filing this demand for a referendum is to show that the government’s decision is illegitimate, the will of the majority of Montenegrin citizens doesn’t stay behind it. So, it directly leads Montenegro towards a deep political crisis, which could be resolved either by calling a referendum or by calling early parliamentary elections,” Popovic said.

In 2006 Montenegro decided in a referendum to break its state union with Serbia and restore its independence. Around one-third of Montenegro's population of 620,000 is ethnic Serbs, while some five percent is ethnic Albanians. Montenegro's prospects of joining the European Union were boosted in October 2007 when the country signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the bloc, the first formal step towards membership.

Popovic said that by recognising Kosovo, Montenegro has put under question its relations with one of the biggest countries in southeast Europe, which will destabilise the whole region.

“Serbia’s decision to question Kosovo’s legitimacy before the International Court of Justice is a reason good enough to wait with the recognition, especially once this decision was approved.” 

Belgrade has expelled the Montenegrin ambassador to show its fury over the recognition of Kosovo’s independence by Serbia's closest neighbour.

Popovic said it is too early to say whether the economic relations between Montenegro and Serbia will suffer from Montenegro's recognition of Kosovo's independence. Serbia accounted for about a third of Montenegro's imports and over a fifth of Montenegro's exports in 2007, data from Montenegro's statistics office showed. 

“If you have broken diplomatic relations with a country, this inevitably will have economic repercussions. Let’s not forget that the Montenegrin economy is organically linked to Serbia, Montenegro's main connection with the European transport corridors runs via Belgrade. Our tourism relies to a big extent to the huge number of Serbian tourists,” said Popovic.