Montenegro Votes For Independence

Montenegro voted by a slim margin to secede from Serbia and form a separate nation, a result showed Monday, but the pro-Serb camp demanded a recount of the vote.

"The preliminary results of the referendum process should be double checked and ballots from all the polling stations should be recounted," said a statement signed by four main leaders of the unionist bloc.

The state referendum commission said Monday that near complete results showed 55.4 percent of voters voted in favor of Montenegro's independence on Sunday. That is just over the 55-percent threshold needed to validate Sunday's referendum under rules set by the European Union.

The EU-appointed head of the commission, Frantisek Lipka, has said the tally was based on near-complete results that are unlikely to change much in the final count. He said later Monday that complete results would be announced Tuesday morning.

Lipka also dismissed the unionists' complaints, saying the referendum had been carried according to rules agreed upon by both camps, and the "European standards."

"The referendum was conducted in a peaceful, democratic and legitimate way," Lipka said.

The unionists also demanded that voting lists at polling stations be compared to the central voting list, and checked for possible irregularities. They were apparently angered by the announcement of results Monday by the state commission based on the partial count.

"After the reaction by the state bodies and the definite stand by the referendum commission, the unionist leaders will take a stand," they said in the statement.

The unionists' demands add to tensions in Montenegro, which have been running high between those supporting independence and those opposing it.

Seeking to ease the atmosphere, Montenegro's pro-independence prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, Monday promised to help society overcome deep divisions over the question of Montenegro's relations with Serbia.

"This dilemma had hovered over Montenegro for too long," Djukanovic said. "Now, conditions have been created to overcome tensions, bridge the gaps and consolidate the Montenegrin society."

The EU on Monday commended Montenegro's conduct in the vote Sunday, and said it would recognize the result of the plebiscite.

International observers who monitored the independence referendum also said the vote was "genuine and transparent," and free of fraud or other irregularities.

Independence supporters flooded streets of the capital, Podgorica, and other towns late Sunday, firing celebratory shots in the air, honking car horns and waving the eagle-emblazoned flag used when Montenegro last enjoyed independence, from 1878-1918.

Those who supported maintaining a union with Serbia urged restraint and calm, but refused to acknowledge defeat until the complete official results were announced. Ethnic Serbs make up 30 percent of Montenegro's population, and many opposed separation from Serbia.

In Serbia itself, which did not want separation, Serbs reacted with a mixture of resignation and anger, but said they would respect the decision.

Djukanovic said Montenegro's move toward independence would pave the way for establishing partner relations with Serbia based on mutual recognition.

"I would very much like Serbia to be the first to recognize independent Montenegro," Djukanovic said.

Serbia-Montenegro held the last union between republics of the Yugoslav federation after it split apart in a series of bloody wars in the 1990s.

Montenegrins and Serbs share the same language, culture and Orthodox Christianity. Over the centuries, however, Montenegrins have developed a separate identity.

Past referendums have sometimes led to violence and nationalistic outbursts. The Bosnian war of 1992-1995 touched off with minority Serbs rebelling against the pro-independence government on the day the republic voted for independence.

Djukanovic acknowledged that Montenegro's split "runs deep and is not only political." But, he said, "a healing phase is ahead of us."

The State Electoral Commission said 88 percent of Montenegro's 485,000 voters cast ballots in the referendum, the highest turnout since the first democratic elections in the 1990s.