[SEDXC] Two new countries soon?

[Robert S. (Bob) Duggan, Jr.]

                      Yugoslavia no more
                Pact by republics renames region


BELGRADE, Yugoslavia, 14 March (AP) - Agreeing to wipe the name =
Yugoslavia from the
map of Europe, the federation's two remaining republics committed =
Thursday
to forming a loose joint state with a new name: Serbia and Montenegro.

The radically restructured alliance - mediated by the European Union and
approved in a historic accord signed by top Serbian and Montenegrin
leaders - aims to ease years of feuding between the republics and help =
the
volatile Balkan region focus on much-needed economic reforms.

It was a major policy victory for the United States and the EU, which
feared the discord would lead to further fragmentation of the region =
that
is returning to peace after more than a decade of war.

However, many Serb and Montenegrin nationalists were unhappy with the
accord and could pose a challenge to its ratification.

"We went to bed in one state, and we woke up in another," said Branko
Ruzic, spokesman for the party of former Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic.

The two semi-independent states will share a common defense and foreign
policy but will maintain separate economies, currencies, and customs
services - at least for the time being. After three years, both states =
will
be free to organize referendums on independence and secede if they so
choose.

The political accord also calls for elections for a new parliament in =
the
fall. This legislature will replace the current bicameral parliament =
with
one chamber in which the two entities will be equally represented. The
legislatures of both republics, as well as the existing parliament, must
endorse the accord by June, when the country's name will also be =
formally
changed.

"This document sets the shape of completely new relations between the
states of Serbia and Montenegro," said Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica. "This step means a break with the previous regime of =
Milosevic,"
currently on trial before a U.N. tribunal for war crimes in Kosovo, =
Croatia,
and Bosnia.
----------------
Sounds like probably two new countries before too long!

73

Bob - N4IA

Robert S. (Bob) Duggan, Jr.=20
r.duggan@ieee.org
[home page] http://pages.prodigy.net/r.duggan
[genealogy] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~duggan


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