Montenegro's top priority as an independent state will be to restart stalled talks with the European Union and press for membership as soon as possible, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said tonight.
"Integration into the EU and NATO remains our strategic and national priority," the country's champion of independence told his first news conference after winning a referendum to end nearly a century of formal ties to Serbia.
"I am convinced Montenegro could be the next country from this region to join the European Union after Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, which are further along in the process," he said.
Some 55.4 per cent voters opted for independence in Sunday's referendum, preliminary results showed, giving him a wafer-thin margin over the EU-set target of 55 per cent.
Montenegro's pro-Serbian unionist parties this evening demanded a recount. A final result has not yet been announced because 19,000 votes are still in dispute.
The result closes the final chapter in the breakup of federal Yugoslavia, which was centred on Serbia and five sister republics now all gone their own way.
The independence camp here had long said that the union with Serbia was holding Montenegro back. They were vindicated in mid-May when the EU froze talks on closer ties over Belgrade's failure to deliver war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic to the United Nations tribunal.
"We are expecting to approach the European Commission as soon as possible and to unblock the process of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU," Djukanovic said.
"We expect talks on this to start in the next few days and that we will be able to ensure Montenegro is exempt from the EU decision to suspend talks because of Serbia not fulfilling its commitments to the Hague tribunal."