Looking for Its Own Financial Ties with West
WASHINGTON, April 26 (AP) — Frustrated by Serbia’s hostility to Western influence and free-market reforms, tiny Montenegro is breaking ranks with its federal partner and seeking separate economic ties with the United States and international financial institutions.
“Our most important goal is the rapid integration of Montenegro into the international community, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,” Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said in an interview. “We are fully aware that U.S. support is vital for this,” said Djukanovic, who is on a visit to the United States. He left for New York Thursday and planned to return to Washington next week.
He said Montenegro had applied for a loan from the Export-Import Bank, a U.S. government bank that finances U.S. exports, to purchase Boeing 737 passenger jets for the state’s nascent airline. Montenegro will soon open its own trade office in Washington, and a separate U.S.-Montenegro Chamber of Commerce in New York, Djukanovic said.
Montenegro’s fledgling moves towards economic autonomy have not been welcomed by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, the power behind the rump Yugoslavia. Milosevic, who fought wars with Bosnia and Croatia after they broke away from the old Yugoslavia, is unlikely to allow Montenegro a greater degree of independence that might lead to secession.
In an indication of Milosevic’s displeasure, the Yugoslav Embassy in Washington boycotted the Montenegrin delegation. The Clinton administration also is unlikely to encourage any move towards greater autonomy by Montenegro. The United States depends on Milosevic to ensure that the Bosnian Serbs continue to cooperate with NATO peacekeepers — who include 20,000 American soldiers — in neighboring Bosnia.
“We recognize a Montenegrin identity independent of Serbia,” said a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “However, there’s no inclination or ability to have a different foreign policy towards Montenegro.” The small, mountainous state was the only entity to remain united with Serbia following the breakup of the old, six-member Yugoslav federation in 1992.
Home to just 600,000 people, Montenegro traditionally has stressed its separate identity from Serbia despite a shared Orthodox religion, identical language and many common traditions. Serbia has more than 10 million inhabitants. More recently, Montenegro’s program of radical economic privatization and tolerance for opposition groups has contrasted sharply with Serbia’s preference for Marxist dogma, state ownership and political repression.
Djukanovic himself had several highly publicized run-ins with Milosevic’s wife, Mirjana Markovic, a Communist ideologue who has been pushing for a command economy modeled after China’s. The latest flareup between the two states erupted earlier this month with the collapse of talks aimed at gaining membership for Yugoslavia in the International Monetary Fund.
Milosevic insists that the fund treat the new federation as the sole successor to the old Yugoslavia. The IMF rejects that, and the breakdown of negotiations has blocked both Serbia and Montenegro from obtaining commercial loans abroad.
Milosevic’s intransigence dismayed the Montenegrin leadership, which desperately needs foreign capital to jump-start its economy after 3 1/2 years of U.N. sanctions. These were imposed to punish Milosevic, and were lifted after a peace accord was signed last November in Dayton, Ohio. “We have been pressing (Serbia) to abandon the futile, irrational dilemma about continuity and succession, with the goal of reaching an accord with the IMF as quickly as possible,” Djukanovic said.
Djukanovic said he asked both the IMF and the World Bank “not to waste time” waiting for the formal normalization of ties with Yugoslavia. Instead, he proposed that expert teams be sent to Montenegro immediately to assist with setting up a tax system compatible with Western standards and to recommend improvements in its privatization program.
Montenegro Home Page
Montenegro
Montenegro & Serbia Links
Democratech in Serbia and Montenegro
Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved
