Serbia and Montenegro

With the collapse of Yugoslavia and its institutions from 1991 to 1992, the issue of unity of the two republics remaining in the collapsing federation, Serbia, Montenegro, as well as Serb-majority territories in Croatia and Bosnia that wished to remain united, became an issue. In 1991 diplomatic talks chaired by Lord Carrington with the leaders of the six republics of the collapsing federation, resulted in all the republics except for Serbia agreeing that Yugoslavia had collapsed and that each republic should become an independent state. The Serbian government was surprised and outraged by Montenegro's decision in favor of terminating Yugoslavia, as the Bulatović government had previously been closely allied with Milošević's government in Serbia. Yugoslavia's collapse began in 1991 when Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia declared independence.

On 26 December 1991, Serbia, Montenegro, and the Serb rebel-held territories in Croatia agreed that they would form a new "third Yugoslavia".[7] Efforts were also made in 1991 to include SR Bosnia and Herzegovina within the federation, with negotiations between Miloševic, Bosnia's Serbian Democratic Party, and the Bosniak proponent of union – Bosnia's Vice-President Adil Zulfikarpašić taking place on this matter.[8] Zulfikarpašić believed that Bosnia could benefit from a union with Serbia, Montenegro, and Krajina, thus he supported a union which would secure the unity of Serbs and Bosniaks.[8] Miloševic continued negotiations with Zulfikarpašić to include Bosnia within a new Yugoslavia, however efforts to include the whole of Bosnia within a new Yugoslavia effectively terminated by late 1991 as Izetbegović planned to hold a referendum on independence while the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats formed autonomous territories.[8]

Serb-controlled territories during the Yugoslav Wars

The FRY was suspended from a number of international institutions. This was due to the ongoing Yugoslav wars during the 1990s, which had prevented agreement being reached on the disposition of federal assets and liabilities, particularly the national debt. The Government of Yugoslavia supported Croatian and Bosnian Serbs in the wars from 1992 to 1995. Because of that, the country was under economic and political sanctions, which resulted in economic disaster that forced thousands of its young citizens to emigrate from the country.

In a BBC documentary, called The Death of Yugoslavia, and later in his testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia during the trial of Slobodan Milošević, Yugoslav official Borisav Jović revealed that the Bosnian Serb army arose from the Yugoslav army forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He claimed that he had realized that Bosnia and Herzegovina was about to be recognized by the international community, and since Yugoslav People's Army troops were still located there at that point, their presence on Bosnian territory could have led to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia being accused of aggression. To avoid this, he and Milošević decided to move all JNA soldiers originating from Serbia and Montenegro back into Serbia and Montenegro, and to move all JNA soldiers of Bosnian Serb descent to Bosnia and Herzegovina.[9] In this way, every Bosnian Serb was transferred from the Yugoslav army to what became the newly created Bosnian Serb army. Through this, the Bosnian Serb army also received extensive military equipment and full funding from the FRY, as the Bosnian Serb faction alone could not pay for the costs.[9] Furthermore, Serbian Radical Party founder and paramilitary Vojislav Šešelj claimed that President Milošević personally asked him to send paramilitaries into Bosnia and Herzegovina.[9]

In 1995, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević represented the FRY and Bosnian Serbs at peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, US, which negotiated the end of war in Bosnia with the Dayton Agreement.

From 1996, the first public signs of political discord between parts of Montenegrin leadership and the Serbian leadership began to appear. By 1998, simultaneously with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović coming out on top in the power struggle with Montenegrin President Momir Bulatović, the republic undertook a different economic policy by adopting the Deutsche Mark as its currency. During autumn 1999, following the Kosovo War and the NATO bombing campaign, Đukanović (who by now firmly held power in Montenegro as Bulatović was completely squeezed out) drafted a document called Platforma za redefiniciju odnosa Crne Gore i Srbije (A platform for redefinition of relations within Montenegro and Serbia) calling for major changes in the division of governing responsibilities within FR Yugoslavia though still officially seeing Montenegro within a joint state with Serbia. Milošević did not respond to the platform, considering it unconstitutional. Political relations within the federal state became more and more strained, especially against the backdrop of the wave of assassinations against top figures from political, criminal, and state business circles in both republics (Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović, Pavle Bulatović, Žika Petrović, and Goran Žugić as well as two attempts on the life of opposition politician Vuk Drašković). By October 2000 Milošević had lost power in Serbia. Contrary to expectation, Đukanović's response to the power change in Belgrade was not to further push the agenda outlined in his platform, but instead to suddenly start pushing for full independence, thus completely dropping the platform in the process. Subsequent governments of Montenegro carried out pro-independence policies, and political tensions with Serbia simmered despite political changes in Belgrade.

The Zašto?(Serbian Cyrillic: Зашто, "Why?") Monument, dedicated to the employees of the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) who were killed during NATO bombing of the RTS building in 1999

With Milošević's second and last legal term as Serbian President expiring in 1997, he ran for, and was elected President of Yugoslavia in 1997. Upon taking office, Milošević gained direct control of the Yugoslav military and security forces, and directed them to engage Kosovar separatists. The conflict escalated from 1998 to 1999 and became known as the Kosovo War.

Yugoslav forces committed a series of atrocities in Kosovo. To prevent ethnic cleansing, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) under the leadership of the United States began an air campaign called Operation Allied Force against Yugoslav military forces and positions and suspected Serbian paramilitaries.[10] The air attacks against Belgrade by NATO were the first attacks on the city since World War II. Some of the worst massacres against civilian Albanians by Serbian forces occurred after NATO started its bombing of Yugoslavia. The Serbian police and paramilitaries also committed massacres during the war, including the Cuska massacre[11] and the Podujevo massacre.[12][13] NATO promised to end its bombings of Yugoslavia, when Milošević agreed to withdraw all Yugoslav and Serb security forces from Kosovo. After an array of bombings, Milošević submitted and recalled all forces, and NATO peacekeepers entered Kosovo.[14]

In 2002, Serbia and Montenegro came to a new agreement regarding continued co-operation, which, among other changes, promised the end of the name Yugoslavia, since they were part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 4 February 2003, the federal assembly of Yugoslavia created a loose state union or confederacy—the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, although Yugoslavia was still commonly used. A new constitutional charter was agreed to provide a framework for the governance of the country.

On Sunday, 21 May 2006, Montenegrins voted in an independence referendum, with 55.5% supporting independence. Fifty-five percent or more of affirmative votes were needed to dissolve the confederation and Yugoslavia. The turnout was 86.3% and 99.73% of the more than 477,000 votes cast were deemed valid.

The subsequent Montenegrin proclamation of independence on June 2006 and the Serbian proclamation of independence on 5 June ended the confederation of Yugoslavia and thus the last remaining vestiges of the former Yugoslavia.

The territorial organisation of the Republic of Serbia was regulated by the Law on Territorial Organisation and Local Self-Government, adopted in the Assembly of Serbia on 24 July 1991. Under the Law, the municipalities, cities and settlements make the bases of the territorial organization.[17]

Serbia was divided into 195 municipalities and 4 cities, which were the basic units of local autonomy. It had two autonomous provinces: Kosovo and Metohija in the south (with 30 municipalities), which was under the administration of UNMIK after 1999, and Vojvodina in the north (with 46 municipalities and 1 city). The territory between Kosovo and Vojvodina was called Central Serbia. Central Serbia was not an administrative division on its own and had no regional government of its own.

In addition, there were four cities: Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad and Kragujevac, each having an assembly and budget of its own. The cities comprised several municipalities, divided into "urban" (in the city proper) and "other" (suburban). Competences of cities and their municipalities were divided.

Municipalities were gathered into districts, which are regional centres of state authority, but have no assemblies of their own; they present purely administrative divisions, and host various state institutions such as funds, office branches and courts. The Republic of Serbia was then and is still today divided into 29 districts (17 in Central Serbia, 7 in Vojvodina and 5 in Kosovo, which are now defunct), while the city of Belgrade presents a district of its own.

Montenegro was divided into 21 municipalities.

FR Yugoslavia, later Serbia and Montenegro, was considered by FIFA and UEFA to be the only successor-state of Yugoslavia.[22][23][24] Football was experiencing major success during the 1980s and early 1990s, however due to the imposed economic sanctions, the country was excluded from all international competitions between 1992 and 1996. After the sanctions were lifted, the national team qualified for two FIFA World Cups—in 1998 as FR Yugoslavia and in 2006 as Serbia and Montenegro. It also qualified for Euro 2000.

The 1998 World Cup appearance in France was accompanied with plenty of expectation and quiet confidence as the team was considered to be one of the tournament's dark horses due to being stacked with proven world-class players such as 29-year-old Predrag Mijatović, 33-year-old Dragan Stojković, 29-year-old Siniša Mihajlović, 28-year-old Vladimir Jugović, and 31-year-old Dejan Savićević, as well as emerging 19-year-old youngster Dejan Stanković, and tall 24-year-old target forwards Savo Milošević and Darko Kovačević. Another reason for heightened expectations was the fact this was the country's first major international appearance following the UN-imposed exile. However, the talented squad never managed to hit top gear—although it did make it out of the group, it got eliminated by the Netherlands via an injury-time goal in the round-of-16. Two years later at Euro 2000, virtually the same team again made it out of the group and was again eliminated out of the tournament by the Netherlands, this time convincingly 1–6 in the quarter finals.

The country was also represented at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, and the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.

Serbia and Montenegro were represented by a single national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament, despite having formally split just weeks prior to its start. The final squad was made up of players born in both Serbia and Montenegro.

They played their last ever international on 21 June 2006, a 3–2 loss to Ivory Coast. Following the World Cup, this team has been inherited by Serbia, while a new one was to be organized to represent Montenegro in future international competitions.

The senior men's basketball team dominated European and world basketball during the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s, with three EuroBasket titles (1995, 1997, and 2001), two FIBA World Cup titles (1998 and 2002), and a Summer Olympic Games silver medal (1996).

The national team started competing internationally in 1995, after a three-year exile, due to a UN trade embargo. During that time, FR Yugoslavia was not allowed to compete at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the 1993 EuroBasket, and also the 1994 FIBA World Championship, which was originally supposed to be hosted by Belgrade, before being taken away from the city and moved to Toronto, Canada.

At the 1995 EuroBasket in Athens, its first international competition, the hungry and highly motivated FR Yugoslav team, which was led by head coach Dušan Ivković, featured a starting five full of world-class talent, with established European stars at positions one through four — 27-year-old Saša Đorđević, 25-year-old Predrag Danilović, 29-year-old Žarko Paspalj, 22-year-old Dejan Bodiroga — capped off with 27-year-old Vlade Divac, the starting center for the LA Lakers at the five position. With a bench that was just as capable — with experienced Zoran Sretenović (the only player over 30 in the team), Saša Obradović, talisman power forward Zoran Savić, and up-and-coming young center Željko Rebrača — the team rampaged through its preliminary group, which featured medal contenders Greece and Lithuania, with a 6–0 record. At the first direct elimination stage, the quarterfinals, FR Yugoslavia scored 104 points to destroy France, thus setting up a semifinal clash with the tournament hosts Greece. In the highly charged atmosphere of the OAKA Indoor Arena, the FR Yugoslav team demonstrated its versatility, using defensive prowess in that game to pull off a famous eight-point win, in a tense, low-scoring 60–52 game. In the final, FR Yugoslavia played against the experienced Lithuanian team, which was led by basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis, in addition to other world class players like Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Rimas Kurtinaitis, and Valdemaras Chomičius. The final became a classic game of international basketball, with the crafty Yugoslavs prevailing, by a score of 96–90, behind Đorđević's 41 points.

They were represented by a single team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship as well, even though tournament was played in mid/late-August and early-September of that year, and the Serbia–Montenegro breakup had occurred in May. That team was also inherited by Serbia after the tournament, while Montenegro created a separate senior national basketball team afterwards, as well as their own national teams in all other team sports.