Montenegro

V

Government

In 1991 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed by Serbia and Montenegro (see History below; and Serbia and Montenegro: History). In May 2002 the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ratified an agreement by which the state would cease to exist and be replaced by a new political entity, Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro sent 35 representatives to the 126-member Federal Assembly.

Montenegro adopted a new constitution in 2007. The Republic of Montenegro is run by a president, elected to a five-year term. The legislative body is the 81-member assembly (Skupština Republike Crne Gore); the leading political parties and blocs at the 2006 general election were the Coalition for European Montenegro, the Socialist People’s Party, the Serbian List, and the Movement for Change.

VI

History

In the Middle Ages the region formed the province of Zeta of the Serbian Kingdom in the Balkans. Feudal lords ruled parts of the territory, which was virtually autonomous. After Serbia was conquered (1389) by Ottoman Turks, the Montenegrins, withdrawing to their mountain strongholds, particularly on Mount Lovçen, remained the only independent Balkan people. Cetinje became the mountain capital in around 1484. Despite continual war with the Turks, the region maintained its autonomy, but the princes effectively ruled only a part of the present republic’s territory. In 1516 the last secular prince resigned and transferred civil authority to the Greek Orthodox vladika, or bishop, of Montenegro.

A

The Prince-Bishops

First an elective office, the episcopate became (1697) hereditary, from uncle to nephew, with the rule of Danilo Petroviç, first of the Petroviç-Njegós dynasty; he instituted friendly relations with Russia that thereafter characterized Montenegrin policies.

The two greatest Petroviç prince-bishops are considered to be Peter I, who published a legal code, and Peter II, who instituted a senate, founded schools, tried to abolish blood feuds, and became known as a great Serbian poet. Church and State were separated by Danilo II, who abolished the office of prince-bishop in 1852 and established himself as a secular ruler.

B

Secular Rule

The first Montenegrin constitution was drawn up by Nicholas I in 1868. In 1905 Nicholas decreed the end of autocratic government, granted a liberal constitution, and began parliamentary government; he assumed the title of King in 1910. Montenegro joined Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia in alliance against the Ottoman Empire in 1912, and as a result of the Balkan Wars the country was almost doubled in size. When World War I was declared, the kingdom joined its traditional allies, Russia and Serbia, against the Central Powers. The fear of Nicholas and his sons that Allied victory would result in territorial adjustments and the end of their dynasty led them into intrigue with the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1915 and 1916. This action was disavowed by Slav nationalists, who desired union with Serbia.

C

Yugoslavia

Austro-Hungarian forces occupied Montenegro in late 1915. A year later Montenegrin patriots met with Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes on the Greek island of Corfu and voted to unite in a single Slav kingdom. Their pact was endorsed by the Allies, and the new Yugoslav nation was proclaimed in 1918. Nicholas I was deposed in the same year, and Montenegro formally became the Yugoslav province of Zeta in 1921. When Axis troops invaded the Balkan Peninsula in 1941, during World War II, Italian forces occupied parts of Montenegro. In 1945, with the establishment of Yugoslavia as a socialist federal republic under Communist rule, Montenegro became one of the six constituent republics. In early 1992, after Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia had declared their independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a referendum was held in Montenegro to determine whether the republic should also become independent or remain within a common state, Yugoslavia. Two thirds of voters chose to remain in the federation. In April, after Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared its independence, Serbia and Montenegro announced the formation (with the then autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina) of a Federal Republic of Yugoslavia constituted by themselves as the legal successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, the UN and the international community refused to recognize the country as the successor state to former Yugoslavia, and denied it the Yugoslavian seat at the UN, saying it would have to reapply under its own name. This the Serbian-dominated federal government did not do. From 1992 the relationship between Serbia and Montenegro showed signs of strain. A major factor was the damaging UN-imposed economic sanctions brought about by the war in Bosnia, which many in Montenegro attributed to Serbian nationalism. The UN sanctions were scaled back in October 1994, subject to review by the international community. Other issues that strained the federation include Serbian harassment of the Muslim community in Montenegro and a move by Serbia to consolidate foreign relations at the federal level. Milo Djukanović, a strong critic of the Serbian president Slobodan Milošević, was elected President of Montenegro in October 1997. His inauguration in January 1998 was accompanied by violent demonstrations by supporters of the former president Momir Bulatović. With Western air attacks on Yugoslavia commencing from March 1999 over Serbian actions in Kosovo, Montenegro officially attempted to remain neutral, though some air strikes were made at military targets in its territory. Yugoslav army units loyal to Serbia stationed in Montenegro steadily increased pressure on the Montenegrin government, raising fears of open internal conflict.

The withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo in June 1999 after the West’s successful air campaign greatly lessened the likelihood of a conflict between Serbia and Montenegro. With the fall from power of Slobodan Milošević, and the democratic election of Vojislav Koštunica as president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in October 2000, Montenegro announced that it would not rejoin any federal institution with Serbia unless it was based on consent.