The State Union of Serbia and
Montenegro ( , abbreviated as СЦГ / SCG), was a
union of Serbia
and Montenegro
, which existed between 2003 and 2006.
The two
republics, both of which are former republics of the SFR
Yugoslavia
, initially formed the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia
(FRY) in 1992. In 2003, the FRY was
reconstituted as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held
a referendum to seek
full independence. Final official results indicated on 31 May
that 55.5% of voters had elected to become independent. The state
union effectively came to an end after Montenegro's formal
declaration of independence on 3 June 2006 and Serbia's formal
declaration of independence on 5 June. Many view this as
symbolizing the final end of what was left from the former
Yugoslavia.
A loose confederation, Serbia and Montenegro were united only in
certain political areas (e.g. defense).
The republics had
functioned separately throughout the period of the Federal Republic
, and had continued to have individual economic
policies as well as using separate currencies (the Euro was the
only legal tender in Montenegro).
History
In 2002,
Serbia and Montenegro came to a new agreement regarding continued
co-operation, which, among other changes, promised the end of the
name Yugoslavia, since they were part of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia. On 4 February 2003, the
federal parliament of
Yugoslavia created a loose
confederation - State Union of Serbia and
Montenegro. A new
Constitutional
Charter was agreed to provide a framework for the governance of
the country.
On Sunday, 21 May 2006,
Montenegrins
voted on an independence referendum, with 55.5% supporting
independence. Fifty-five percent or more of affirmative votes were
needed to dissolve the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. The
turnout was 86.3% and 99.73% of the more than 477,000 votes cast
were deemed valid.
The subsequent Montenegrin proclamation of independence on 3 June
2006 and the Serbian proclamation of independence on 5 June ended
the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and thus the last
remaining vestiges of the former
Yugoslavia.
Administrative divisions
Serbia and Montenegro was composed of two republics, Montenegro and
Serbia:
.svg/150px-Flag_of_Montenegro_(1993-2004).svg)
The
country's political and administrative capital was Belgrade
, while its
judicial capital was Podgorica
.
The territorial organization of the
Republic of Serbia is regulated
by the Law on Territorial Organization and Local Self-Government,
adopted in the
Assembly of Serbia
on 24 July 1991. Under the Law, the municipalities, cities and
settlements make the bases of the territorial organization.
Serbia
is divided into 195 municipalities and 4 cities, which are the
basic units of local autonomy.
It has two autonomous provinces: Kosovo and
Metohija
in the south (with 30 municipalities), which is
presently under the administration of the United Nations, and
Vojvodina
in the north (with 46 municipalities).
The part
of Serbia that is
neither in Kosovo
nor in
Vojvodina is called Central Serbia. Central Serbia is
not an administrative division (unlike the two autonomous
provinces), and it has no regional government of its own.
In
addition, there are four cities (gradovi): Belgrade, Niš
, Novi Sad
and Kragujevac
, each having an assembly and budget of its
own. The cities comprise several municipalities, divided
into "urban" (in the city proper) and "other" (suburban).
Competences of cities and their municipalities are divided.
Of those,
only Novi
Sad did not undergo the full transformation, as the
newly formed municipality of Petrovaradin exists pretty much only
formally; thus, the municipality of Novi Sad is largely equated to city of Novi Sad (and the single largest municipality in the
country, with around 300,000 residents).
Municipalities are gathered into districts (okruzi), which are
regional centers of state authority, but have no assemblies of
their own; they present purely administrative divisions, and host
various state institutions such as funds, office branches and
courts.
The Republic of Serbia
is divided into 29 districts (17 in Central Serbia,
7 in Vojvodina and 5 in Kosovo, which are now defunct), while the
city of Belgrade presents a district of its own.
Montenegro has 21
municipalities (Општина, opština), and two urban municipalities
(градска општина, gradska opština), subdivisions of Podgorica municipality.
Geography
Map of Serbia-Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro had an area of 102,350 square kilometres
(39,518 sq mi), with 199 kilometres (124 mi) of
coastline. The terrain of the two
republics
is extremely varied, with much of Serbia comprising plains and low
hills (except in the more mountainous region of Kosovo and
Metohija) and much of Montenegro consisting of high mountains.
Serbia is entirely landlocked, with the coastline belonging to
Montenegro. The
climate is similarly varied.
The north has a
continental
climate (cold winters and hot summers); the central region has
a combination of a
continental
and
Mediterranean climate; the
southern region had an
Adriatic
climate along the coast, with inland regions experiencing hot,
dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy
snowfall inland.
Belgrade, with its population of 1,574,050, is the largest
city in the two nations: and the only one of significant
size. The country's other principal cities were
Novi
Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, Podgorica, Subotica
, Pristina
, and Prizren
, each with populations of about 100,000-250,000
people.
Demographics
Serbia and Montenegro had more demographic variety than most other
European countries. The three largest named nationalities were
Serbs (62.3%),
Albanians (mostly Ghegs) (16.6%) and
Montenegrins (5%) according to the 1991 census.
The country also had significant populations of
Hungarians,
Roma,
Bulgarians,
Ethnic Macedonians,
Romanians and other eastern Romance peoples
(including
Aromanians,
Megleno-Romanians and
Vlachs), plus dozens of other
Slavic peoples, namely
Bosniaks,
Croats,
Bunjevci,
Šokci,
Goranci,
Janjevci,
Rusins,
Slovaks,
Muslims by nationality and
Yugoslavs.
Turkic
subgroups still live in Kosovo (mostly
Gagauz and Seljuks). There were a number of citizens who
declared their nationality as
Egyptian and
Ashkali.
These two were previously regarded as a part
of Roma who are of the belief that
they originated from present-day Egypt
and Israel
.
Most of
the ethnic diversity was situated in the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where smaller numbers of other minority groups may
have be found. The large Albanian
population was chiefly concentrated in Kosovo, with
smaller populations in the Preševo
and Bujanovac
municipalities in Central
Serbia, and in the south-east of Montenegro (Ulcinj
municipality). The large
Bosniak
population lived in the
Sandžak region
on the border between
Serbia and
Montenegro.
- Total Serbia-Montenegro - 10,019,657
- Serbia (total): 9,396,411
- Vojvodina: 2,116,725
- Central Serbia: 5,479,686
- Kosovo: 1,800,000
- Montenegro: 623,246
- Major cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) - 2002 data (2003 for
Podgorica):
- Beograd
(Belgrade): 1,280,639 (1,574,050 metro)
- Novi
Sad: 215,600 (298,139 metro)
- Pristina: 200,000 (2002 estimation)
- Niš: 173,390
(234,863 metro)
- Kragujevac: 145,890 (175,182 metro)
- Podgorica: 139,500 (169,000 metro)
- Prizren: 121,000 (2002 estimation)
- Subotica: 99,471 (147,758 metro)
According to an estimate from 2004, the State Union had 10,825,900
inhabitants.
According to a July 2006 estimate, the State Union had 10,832,545
inhabitants.
Economy
An extended period of economic sanctions, and the damage to
Yugoslavia's infrastructure and industry
caused by the
Kosovo War left the economy
only half the size it was in 1990.
Since the ousting of former Federal
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević in October
2000, the Democratic
Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition government has implemented
stabilization measures and embarked on an aggressive market reform
program. After renewing its membership in the
International Monetary Fund
in December 2000, Yugoslavia continued to reintegrate into the
international community by rejoining the World Bank (IBRD) and the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). A World Bank-European Commission
sponsored Donors' Conference held in June 2001
raised $1.3 billion for economic restructuring. An agreement
rescheduling the country's $4.5 billion
Paris
Club government debts was concluded in November 2001; it will
write off 66% of the debt; a similar debt relief agreement on its
$2.8 billion
London Club commercial debt
has been reached in July 2004; 62% of the debt have been written
off.
The smaller republic of
Montenegro severed its
economy from federal control and from Serbia during the
Milošević era. During the Serbia and
Montenegro period, both republics had separate central banks,
different currencies - Montenegro used the
euro, while Serbia used the
Serbian dinar as official currency. The two
states also had different customs tariffs, separate state budgets,
police forces, and governments.
The
southern Serbian province of Kosovo, while
formally still part of Serbia (according to United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1244), moved toward local autonomy under the
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
and was dependent on the international community for financial and
technical assistance. The
euro and the
Yugoslav dinar were official
currencies, and UNMIK collected taxes and managed the budget.
The complexity of Serbia and Montenegro's political relationships,
slow progress in privatisation, and stagnation in the European
economy were detrimental to the economy. Arrangements with the IMF,
especially requirements for fiscal discipline, were an important
element in policy formation. Severe unemployment was a key
political economic problem. Corruption also presented a major
problem, with a large
black market and
a high degree of criminal involvement in the formal economy.
Transportation
Serbia,
and in particular the valley of the Morava
is often described as "the crossroads between the
East and the West" - one of the primary reasons for its
turbulent history. The valley is by far the easiest way of land
travel from continental Europe to Greece and Asia Minor
.
Until the outbreak of the
Yugoslav
wars, the ironically-named
highway
"Bratstvo i jedinstvo" (Brotherhood and Unity) running through
Croatia, Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia was one of Europe's
most important transport arteries. It gradually resumed this role
as the security situation stabilized.
Major
international highways going
through Serbia are
E75 and
E70.
E763/
E761 is the
most important route connecting Serbia with Montenegro.
The
Danube, an important international
waterway, flows through Serbia.
The
largest seaport is Montenegro's Bar
.
Holidays in Serbia and Montenegro
- Holidays celebrated only in Serbia
- Holidays celebrated only in Montenegro
- 13 July - Statehood Day (non-working)
Proposed Flag & Anthem
2003 proposed flag for Serbia and
Montenegro.
After the formation of Serbia and Montenegro, the Yugoslav
tricolour was to be replaced by a new compromise flag. Article 23
of the Law for the implementation of the Constitutional Charter
[4523] stated that a law specifying the new
flag was to be passed within 60 days of the first session of the
new joint parliament. Among the flag proposals, the popular choice
was a flag with a shade of blue in between the Serbian tricolour
and the Montenegrin tricolour of 1993-2004. The colour shade
Pantone 300 C was perceived as the best choice.
[4524] However the parliament failed to vote on the
proposal within the legal timeframe and the flag was not adopted.
In 2004, Montenegro adopted a radically different flag, as its
independence-leaning government sought to distance itself from
Serbia. Proposals for a compromise flag were dropped after this and
the Union of Serbia & Montenegro never adopted a flag.
A similar fate befell the country's anthem and coat-of-arms to be;
the above-mentioned Article 23 also stipulated that a law
determining the State Union's flag and anthem was to be passed by
the end of 2003. The official proposal for an anthem was a
combination piece consisting of one verse of the Serbian anthem
"
Bože pravde" followed by a verse
of the Montenegrin anthem, "
Oj,
svijetla majska zoro". This proposal was dropped after some
public opposition, notably by Serbian Patriarch
Pavle.
[4525] Another legal deadline passed and no anthem was
adopted.
Serious proposals for the coat of arms were
never put forward, probably because the coat of arms of the
FRY
, adopted in 1994 combining Serbian and Montenegrin
heraldic elements, was considered adequate.
Thus, the
State Union never officially adopted state symbols and continued to
use the flag, arms and anthem of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia by inertia until its dissolution in
2006.
Sports and contests
Serbia and Montenegro were represented by
a single football
team in the
2006 FIFA World
Cup tournament, despite having formally split just weeks prior
to its start. Following this event, this team has been inherited by
Serbia, while a
new
one was to be organized to represent Montenegro in future
international competitions. Their most notable player is
Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidić, who is Serbian.
They were represented by a single team in the
Basketball World Championship
2006 as well. This team was also inherited by Serbia after the
tournament, while Montenegro created a separate national basketball
team afterwards, as well as the national teams of all other team
sports.
The two countries were represented in the
Miss Earth 2006 pageant by a single
delegate,
Dubravka Skoric. It is
unknown if the two countries would field two different candidates
in the pageant's succeeding editions.
Serbia is home to three of the worlds top tennis players.
Novak Đoković is currently ranked #4
in the world, and in 2007, was a U.S. Open finalist.He also won the
2008 Australian open defeating
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Jelena Janković is currently the best
women's player and has reached very far into many gram slams, thus
being ranked first in the world. Lastly,
Ana Ivanović was formerly ranked First in
the world and was the 2008 French Open winner, she also reached the
semi finals of Wimbledon in 2007, and in January 2008 she reached
the finals of the Australia Open. Ivanović was also on the cover of
the October Issue of
Tennis
Magazine.
See also
References
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