VIENNA, Austria -- Montenegro's foreign minister warned that a referendum for independence from Yugoslavia could be held within weeks if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic does not respond to the republic's demand for sweeping reforms.
"A referendum could come sooner than expected," Foreign Minister Branko Perovic said in an interview published Saturday by the Vienna newspaper Die Presse. "Montenegrins are becoming impatient."Relations between the Belgrade government and Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav Federation, have deteriorated to their worst level ever, he said. The two republics have already pursued largely separate foreign, economic and other policies.
Serbia's vice premier, Tomislav Nikolic of the ultranationalist Radical Party, threatened with countermeasures in case of secession.
"We will introduce working permits" for the large Montenegrin population living in Serbia and "review their status," Nikolic told a local TV station in Serbia. He urged Montenegrins to "think well" before deciding on the referendum.
But Perovic said his reformist, pro-Western government had made its last offer to Milosevic, and if his government does not respond favorably, an independence referendum could be a matter of weeks or a few months.
Perovic warned that the republic's social stability was threatened by hyperinflation. He said his government's next step would be to initiate currency reforms that would give Montenegro a convertible currency. The Yugoslav dinar currently isn't fully convertible.
The dinar has plummeted more than 30 percent in value over the past month, largely because the central authorities in Belgrade have put an additional amount of dinar notes into circulation to cover budget deficits.
"The increasingly deteriorating economic situation will force us to take further steps," Perovic said.
He said "our demands for democracy and decentralization are just not compatible with the Milosevic dictatorship."
Asked about Montenegro's relationship with the Serbian opposition movement, Perovic said his government was doing what it could to help it win democracy but it was up to the Serbs themselves to achieve their goals.
"We have to show more solidarity," Perovic told the newspaper.