Montenegro pro-independence campaign kicks off

17/10/2005

PODGORICA, Serbia-Montenegro -- The Movement for Independent Montenegro kicked off its pro-independence campaign with a big rally on Saturday (15 October). Several thousand people gathered in Cetinje to demand that a referendum be held early next year. Cetinje was the capital while Montenegro was an independent state, prior to 1918.

Also Saturday, several hundred ethnic Hungarians rallied in Subotica, in northern Serbia, demanding better treatment from Serbian authorities. The rally was organised by an ethnic Hungarian formation called Civilian Movement. During the event, a letter was read from Doris Pack, head of the European Parliament's committee for Southeast Europe. In it, she urged Serbian authorities to do more to ensure a working multiethnic model of society. (AP, AFP, Beta, B92 - 15/10/05)