Serbia and Montenegro

The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro^[a] (often shortened to Serbia and Montenegro^[b]), known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia^[c] (FRY) and commonly referred to as Yugoslavia,^[d] was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFR Yugoslavia). The state was established on April 27 1992 as a federation comprising the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro. In February 2003, it was transformed from a federal republic to a political union until Montenegro seceded from the union in June 2006, leading to the full independence of both Serbia and Montenegro.

Its aspirations to be the sole legal successor state to the SFR Yugoslavia were not recognized by the United Nations, following the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 777,^[3] which affirmed that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had ceased to exist, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a new state. All former republics were entitled to state succession while none of them continued the SFR Yugoslavia's international legal personality. However, the government of Slobodan Milošević opposed any such claims, and as such, the FR Yugoslavia was not allowed to join the United Nations.

Throughout its existence, the FR Yugoslavia had a tense relationship with the international community, as economic sanctions^[4] were issued against the state during the course of the Yugoslav Wars and Kosovo War. This also resulted in hyperinflation between 1992 and 1994.^[5] the Yugoslav Wars ended with the Dayton Agreement, which recognized the independence of the Republics of Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as establishing diplomatic relationships between the states, and a guaranteed role of the Serbian population within Bosnian politics.^[6]

Later on, growing separatism within the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, a region of Serbia heavily populated by ethnic Albanians, resulted in an insurrection by the Kosovo Liberation Army, an Albanian separatist group.^[7][8] The outbreak of the Kosovo War reintroduced international sanctions, as well as eventual NATO involvement in the conflict. The conflict ended with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which guaranteed economic and political separation of Kosovo from the FR Yugoslavia, to be placed under an UN administration.^[9]

Economic hardship and war resulted in growing discontent with the government of Milošević and his allies, who ran both Serbia and Montenegro as an effective dictatorship.^[10] This would eventually cumulate in the Bulldozer Revolution, which saw his government overthrown, and replaced by one led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia and Vojislav Koštunica, which also joined the UN.^[11][12] The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ended in 2003 after the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia voted to enact the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro, which established the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. As such, the name Yugoslavia was consigned to history.^[13] A growing independence movement in Montenegro, led by Milo Đukanović, caused the new constitution of Serbia and Montenegro to include a clause allowing for a referendum on the question of Montenegrin independence after three years.^[14] In 2006, the referendum was called, passing by a narrow margin.^[15] This led to the dissolution of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and the establishment of the independent republics of Serbia and Montenegro, turning Serbia into a landlocked country. Some consider this the last act in the breakup of Yugoslavia.^[16]

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