[ALBSA-Info] {QIKSH =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=AB?=ALBEUROPA=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BB?=} Austrian Official: Montenegro 'Moving in Direction of Independence'

[Nikoll A Mirakaj]

Austrian Official: Montenegro 'Moving in Direction of Independence' 

BELGRADE, Oct 23, 2000 -- (RFE/RL) Albert Rohan, who is general-secretary at the Austrian Foreign Ministry, told Vienna's "Die Presse" of 20 October that Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic recently left him with the impression that Podgorica is "moving along in the direction of independence, albeit with a certain degree of caution."

Rohan added that unspecified domestic and foreign policy considerations have prompted Djukanovic to be less than clear about his intentions in public.

The Montenegrin president told the Austrian official that his government wants a new legal relationship with Serbia that would amount to a "union of independent states." According to Djukanovic, Serbia and Montenegro would have common foreign, defense, and financial policies but would otherwise function as independent countries.

Rohan noted that he found little interest in Montenegro in the future of Kosova, which his interlocutors told him is "Serbia's problem, not ours." Swedish diplomat Carl Bildt recently suggested that Yugoslavia should be reconstructed as a federation consisting of Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosova. Kosovars firmly reject anything short of independence.

Copyright (c) 2000 RFE/RL

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