![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/montenegro-country-profile/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/88800210_montenegro_map.gif&description=Montenegro emerged as a sovereign state after just over 55% of the population opted for independence in a May 2006 referendum.The vote heralded the end of the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro - itself created only three years earlier out of the remnant of the former Yugoslavia.The EU-brokered deal forming it was intended to stabilise the region by settling Montenegrin demands for independence from Serbia and preventing further changes to Balkan borders.The same deal also contained the seeds of the union's dissolution. It stipulated that after three years the two republics could hold referendums on whether to keep or scrap it. Montenegro opted for the latter.Montenegro, which means "Black Mountain", borders Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo and Albania. About half of it is covered in thick forest.The tiny republic encompasses an Adriatic coastline, lowlands and high mountain ranges. The Tara River canyon is the deepest and longest in Europe. Image source, Getty ImagesPresident: Milo DjukanovicMilo Djukanovic was sworn in as president in May 2018 after winning the April 2018 presidential election. He has dominated politics in Montenegro for a quarter of a century, having served as prime minister six times and president from 1997 to 2002. He became the youngest prime minister in Europe, aged 29, when he assumed the post for the first time in 1991. At the time his mentor was Serbian politician and convicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic. Under Djukanovic's leadership, Montenegro participated in the attack on Dubrovnik and the war in Bosnia, but by 1997 Djukanovic had distanced himself entirely from Milosevic.Prime minister: Dritan AbazovicImage source, Getty ImagesDritan Abazovic took over as prime minister of Montenegro in April 2022. He heads the United Reform Action party and previously served as deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Zdravko Krivokapic from 2020 until 2022.He was the first ethnic Albanian to serve as prime minist){kind=link}
Montenegro emerged as a sovereign state after just over 55% of the population opted for independence in a May 2006 referendum.
The vote heralded the end of the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro – itself created only three years earlier out of the remnant of the former Yugoslavia.
The EU-brokered deal forming it was intended to stabilise the region by settling Montenegrin demands for independence from Serbia and preventing further changes to Balkan borders.
The same deal also contained the seeds of the union’s dissolution. It stipulated that after three years the two republics could hold referendums on whether to keep or scrap it. Montenegro opted for the latter.
Montenegro, which means “Black Mountain”, borders Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Serbia’s breakaway province of Kosovo and Albania. About half of it is covered in thick forest.