Fears of violence by Serb paramilitaries and police forces in northern Montenegro in the aftermath of Sunday's elections have led hundreds of Montenegrins of Albanian and Bosnian origin to take refuge in Kosovo and Bosnia.
Ms Paula Ghedini, spokeswoman for UNHCR in Pristina, Kosovo, said: "These are people who know the nature of the Yugoslav authorities, they know what might happen after the election results are announced, so this is a pre-emptive move."
The refugees crossed by bus and car into Kosovo at the Rozaje border post, in the mountains above the town of Peja.
The government of Montenegro, the Yugoslav Federation's smaller republic, boycotted the elections, and the Albanians and Bosnians fear violence at the hands of supporters of President Slobodan Milosevic if he loses.
The area around Berane in northern Montenegro is close to the operational centre at Bijelo Polje of the 7th Battalion, a unit comprising mainly Serb paramilitaries, many of whom participated in last year's ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
Recruiting from Serb paramilitary groups such as the notorious Tigers, the Wolves and Frenki's Boys, the battalion is said to have been reinforced recently by criminal elements from Serb prisons.
Frenki's Boys, recruited by their ruthless leader Frenki Simatovic, were responsible for much of the paramilitary activity in western Kosovo during the 78day NATO air campaign last year.
In one incident, a Kosovan Albanian pensioner outside the town of Istok described how in April 1999 one of Frenki's men had said his wife could accompany him as a refugee to Albania only if he paid 20,000 deutschmark (£6,500) in cash.
After the Albanian man had put together the cash, the paramilitary cut off his wife's head with a saw and presented it to him, saying "take her to Albania with you".