SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO - FROM FEDERATION TO CONFEDERATION
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO - FROM FEDERATION TO CONFEDERATION

Author(s): Slobodan Vučetić
Subject(s): History, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Political history
Published by: CEDET Centar za demokratsku tranziciju
Keywords: Federation; confederation; state union; referendum; legality; legitimacy; Agreement on Principles; Constitutional Charter
Summary/Abstract: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as well as the previous two Yugoslavias, was founded under dramatic international and domestic political and war circumstances. This is the reason why the constitution of the new Yugoslavia (made up of Serbia and Montenegro) was not adopted in a democratically legitimate and legal procedure. Its ten-year long existence (1992-2002) was marked by harsh international economic and political sanctions and war on the territory of the former SFRY. At the same time, in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and above all in Serbia, an authoritarian, neo-communist system of political power was established, personified by Slobodan Milošević, the President of Serbia (since 1997, the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Throughout this period the constitution of Serbia was not brought into line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, thus the FRY was founded and functioned as political-legal provisorium. The functioning of government in Serbia was marked by disrespect for the constitution and laws, serious violations of civil rights and freedoms, degradation of the basic constitutional institutions, dominance of party and executive power, and the establishment of informal centers of political and economic power located outside the constitutionally designated institutions. The political and constitutional crisis in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was accelerated by an unconcealed conflict (since 1997) between the center of power in Belgrade, controlled by Slobodan Milošević, and the Montenegrin authorities headed by Milo Đukanović who started undertaking reforms to the economic and judicial system of Montenegro in accordance with the EU standards. Various attempts of Milošević's government to 'discipline' the Montenegrin government (economic sanctions, the media war, and related strategies) resulted in a gradual take-over of the Federation's economic functions and others (apart from the Army). The Montenegrin government proposed a Constitutional platform (1999) which would lead to the establishment of a 'weak' federation, actually a confederation between Serbia and Montenegro, which was ignored by Belgrade. The crisis of the federal state continued after the federal elections in 2000 that were boycotted by Montenegro. This situation brought in the EU mediation, the aim of which was to define relations between Serbia and Montenegro on new terms. This process resulted in the adoption of the Belgrade Agreement on Principles (on January 14, 2002) of future relations between Serbia and Montenegro within the state union. This Agreement on Principles practically validates the present-day situation and envisages the future state community as a specific confederation, some kind of real union with a minimum number of common functions, and institutions which would operate on the principle of consensus. The potential of the future state union significantly depends on the speed and quality of reforms in Serbia and Montenegro, which should be in keeping with the legal and economic standards of the European Union.

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