Polls indicate that 55.3% of the electorate (with a turn of 80+%) have voted in favour of independance. So when does Montenegro officially leave Serbia & Montenegro? Does Serbia need to consent?
It is not 100% certain yet.
What will be even more interesting to see is what happens with Kosovo.
That will be the next country to be carved out of Serbia.
I like the way the EU always says the support an autonomous Kosovo within the confines of Yugoslavia (now Serbia And Montenegro)
So one can infer the EU would NOT suport an autonomous Kosovo within Serbia, which it will be after Montenegro breaks off
Well, Kosovo is still a UN protectorate which has a permanent NATO presence. I don’t think its status will change as an immediate consequence of the Montenegro vote.
Serbia has already consented to Montenegrin independence upon approval by a majority of Montenegrin voters. This agreement was part of the 2002-03 process by which the old Yugoslavian constitution was scrapped and replaced by a new charter for “Serbia and Montenegro”.
The European Union seemed more anxious about Montenegrin independence than the Serbs. Serbia and Montenegro are a “potential candidate member” of the European Union, and in order for the successor republics to maintain that status, Montenegro agreed to delay the referendum for three years (which is why it was held now) and set a 55% threshold for approval. It appears that this threshold was met.
I don’t know how long the independence paperwork will take; it looks like the vote was fairly close to 55% and there may be a recount which will take some time.