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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia favours European idea of integration over disintegration

Belgrade, 3 February 2006

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today that the forthcoming referendum in Montenegro will affect both Serbia and the state union of Serbia-Montenegro as well.

Vojislav Kostunica

In a written statement, Kostunica said that the basic issue in the current talks on referendum is determining what kind of majority is needed to make the results of the referendum legally undisputable. Such a decision needs a majority which will ensure that the result of the referendum, whatever it may be, will stop creating further tension and disputes, and prolonging instability.

The Prime Minister pointed out that, when it comes to determining a country's fate on the referendum, it is logical and necessary to get at least a majority vote of the total number of citizens who live on the territory where the referendum is held.

"Indeed, if the authorities in one part of the state are calling such a referendum, then at least a qualified majority of registered voters is needed for a valid result. Any other kind of majority in such cases is inexplicable and unnatural. There is another concrete argument for this: at the 1992 referendum in Montenegro, more than 60% of registered voters gave their support to the union with Serbia. Therefore, it would be clearly impermissible to accept any lesser support to disintegrate the state union", stressed the Prime Minister.

Kostunica recalled that this has already been envisaged in the opinion of the Venetian Commission. Article 39 of this document says that "in practice, decisions of this kind are acceptable if they get the support of more than 50% of all registered voters". This is all the more necessary because 260,000 Montenegrin citizens who live on the territory of Serbia have been deprived of their right to vote on the referendum on independence by the Venetian Commission, with a hardly sustainable argument that registering these voters in this phase "would only undermine the credibility and reliability of the voting rolls".

"It is now the role of the EU to say that natural majority required for the referendum in Montenegro can only be the absolute majority, and that is at least 50% of registered voters. This would end all previous and subsequent disputes and debates. Because of all who strongly believe in the idea of a united Europe and its future, it will be not only good but also necessary that the EU demonstrates that European states cannot be easily dissolved and especially not by means of a relative majority in referendums", stressed Kostunica.

According to Kostunica, Serbia favours the European idea of integration over disintegration when it comes to the issue of the state union. Serbia also believes that the preservation of the state union will ensure a peaceful, prosperous and European-oriented life for all citizens of Serbia-Montenegro.