2006年VOA标准英语-Montenegrin Voters Expected to Vote for In

By Barry Wood
Washington
16 May 2006

Citizens of Montenegro, the mountainous, sparsely¹ populated former Yugoslav territory, will vote Sunday in a referendum on severing² its remaining links with Serbia. The pro³-independence camp is confident of victory.

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Montenegrin boys attend a pro-independence rally in Bijelo Polje  
  

The referendum will determine whether the state of Serbia and Montenegro continues to exist. That loose federation⁴ - replacing the rump Yugoslavia - was created three years at the strong urging of the European Union, which at the time opposed the Montenegrin government's desire to break with Serbia. Since both Serbia and Montenegro wish to join the EU, Brussels has been deeply involved in the May 21 referendum. Under its guidelines independence will be recognized only if 55 percent of the voters favor it.

Srdjan Darmanovic, director of Montenegro's Center for Democracy and Human Rights, says polls clearly point to independence.

"I think we will have a pretty clear result where independence will go beyond 55 percent," said Srdjan Darmanovic. "All polls that are conducted here indicate that the Bloc⁵ for Independent Montenegro might win about 55 percent of the votes."

Montenegro was an independent state in the 19th century. Its 650,000 inhabitants are proud of their separate identity even though their language and religion are like those of the Serbs. Serbia has promised to respect the wishes of the Montenegrin people.

Lisa McClain is the Montenegro country director of the US-based National Democratic Institute, which promotes western style democracy. She says both the pro and anti independence campaigns have been well organized. She says the result could hinge on the votes of the Montenegrins who live outside the territory.

"You have to understand there are a lot of unknowns out there, especially the issue of the Diaspora coming home," said Lisa McClain. "How many Diaspora are coming home and of all that group that is coming home, who are they voting for. That's not included in the poll samples."

It is assumed that many of the over 200,000 Montenegrins living in Serbia will vote to preserve links with Serbia.

Of particular concern to observers is an indecisive result where more than half but less than the needed 55 percent vote for independence.

Christoph Bender in Vienna is a European Stability Initiative expert on the Balkans.

He says stability in the region would best be served by a clear vote for independence. Bender says the current association with Serbia is dysfunctional.

"The current status that we have now is very loose, a state union that can not be a solution in the longer term," said Christoph Bender. "A state like this can not become a member of the European Union."

Srdjan Darmanovic in Podgorica agrees that a decisive victory for independence will be the easiest outcome to deal with.

"The situation will be more complicated if we stay in the gray zone because legally Montenegro will not become independent, but politically a majority of the people will deny the existence of the union [with Serbia]," he said. "If it is between 50 percent and 55 percent then we should expect lengthy⁶ talks among Montenegro, Serbia and the European Union."

Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who has long backed independence, is expected to resign if his side loses the vote.

1 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 severing   

v.切断，断绝( sever的现在分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The death of a second parent is like severing an umbilical cord to our past. 父母当中第二个人去世，就象斩断了把我们同过去联在一起的纽带。 来自辞典例句
• The severing theory and severing method for brittle block are studied. 研究裂纹技术应用于分离脆性块体的分离理论和分离方法。 来自互联网

3 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

6 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。