YUGOSLAVIA: There seemed to be almost as many monitors as voters here yesterday as the minuscule mountain republic of Montenegro held parliamentary elections which were expected to be a tight race between those for and against independence.
Nearly 19,000 foreign and domestic observers were reportedly on hand to see just over 450,000 people go to the polls in the only republic, alongside Serbia, which makes up what remains of federal Yugoslavia after 10 years of civil war.
The ruling coalition, which includes the Democratic Party of Socialists led by the President, Mr Milo Djukanovic, has traditionally campaigned for independence from Belgrade. Earlier this year, Mr Djukanovic bowed to EU pressure and agreed to form a new relationship with Serbia based on looser ties, including an end to the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the birth of a new Republic of Serbia and Montenegro.
The deal incensed one of the ruling coalition parties, the Liberal Alliance, which dropped out of government and forced yesterday's early elections.
The main opposition group, led by Mr Predrag Bulatovic and his Socialist People's Party, opposes any break from Serbia, believing that the two republics need one another to function economically and because ties between Serbs and Montenegrins have traditionally run deep.
Many ordinary Montenegrins, struggling on average pay of €140 a month, are also worried about accusations of widespread corruption which have shadowed the election campaign. In early summer, the anti-Mafia directorate in southern Italy announced it was investigating whether Mr Djukanovic had links to international cigarette smuggling rings. The president immediately said Montenegro did an "exceptional amount" to prevent smuggling and he was ready to do everything to establish the truth.
Most observers believe there will be no outright winner when final votes are tallied this morning and that the two main political groups will spend the next few days trying to win over smaller groups in an attempt to form the next coalition government.
One player who might emerge is Mr Vojislav Seselj, an ultra-nationalist who is backed by overthrown Yugoslav leader Mr Slobodan Milosevic from his prison cell in The Hague and who scored unexpectedly well at recent elections for a new president in Serbia.