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U.S. Applauds Peaceful Referendum in Montenegro

22 May 2006

State Department awaits formal vote count on independence ballot

Washington -- The United States applauds the peaceful conduct of Montenegro’s independence referendum, which took place May 21, but the State Department is withholding further comment while it awaits a formal count of the vote.

“We applaud the peaceful, democratic and transparent manner in which the referendum was carried out, and we congratulate the people of Montenegro on both sides of the vote for acting in a responsible manner on this,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey said May 22.

“Since the actual final decisions, as far as I know, have not been reached, the actual final vote count has not been formally announced, I think we're going to withhold comment on this issue until we see it,” Casey said during the State Department’s daily press briefing. “But obviously this was an issue for the Montenegrins to decide, and we've supported the work of the referendum commission as they've moved this process forward.”

Preliminary results reported by news agencies said 55.4 percent of voters chose independence from Serbia. The European Union (EU) negotiated the terms of the Montenegro referendum and said it will recognize Montenegro as a sovereign state if 50 percent of voters participate in the referendum and 55 percent of those participating vote for self-rule. (See related article.)

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also congratulated Montenegrins for an orderly election that met international standards.

“On behalf of NATO, I congratulate the Montenegrin authorities and the Montenegrin people for having held a free, fair and orderly referendum,” he said May 22.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors elections in the region, “has concluded that the results reflect the will of the people, according to the agreed guidelines of the referendum,” de Hoop Scheffer said.

“Because of this assessment, and because the high voter turnout lends full legitimacy to the result, NATO recognizes the outcomes,” he said. “NATO invites all political parties and citizens to respect the outcome of the referendum.”

The OSCE said the Referendum Observation Mission reported that the vote “was conducted overall in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and other international standards for democratic electoral processes. It provided the voters a genuine opportunity to decide the future status through a process of direct democracy.”

For more information on U.S. policies, see Southeast Europe.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)