YUGOSLAVIA NO LONGER EXISTS - NEW COUNTRY SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

BELGRADE, March 14 (Hina) - By an agreement on coexistence of Serbia and Montenegro signed in Belgrade on Thursday, Yugoslavia does not officially exist any longer, and is now called Serbia and Montenegro. After almost 24 hours of talks with the High EU Representative, Javier Solana, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and Montenegrin Milo Djukanovic signed the agreement. Also present were the Serbian and Montenegrin premiers, Zoran Djindjic and Filip Vujanovic, and federal vice premier Miroljub Labus. A new constitutional framework in the agreement assumes a joint one-house parliament with positive discrimination against Montenegro, a joint army led by a Supreme defense committee consisting of the Serbian and Montenegrin presidents, and the federal president who is also the premier of the new country. Serbia and Montenegro will also have joint ministries of foreign affairs (in which ministers from Serbia and Montenegro will take shifts), defense, foreign economic relations, interior economic relations, and human and minority rights. After signing the agreement, Solana said this was a big day for the EU which offers supports and friendship to the new country. Vojislav Kostunica said this was a political agreement, and that the Constitutional charter should be completed by the end of the year. He said both republics' parliaments will ratify the agreement by June 2002. Miroljub Labus said the new country will have two currencies and two customs' systems. He said they will be adjusted through processes of association and integration with the EU. All rights of citizens, freedom of movement, studying and property rights in both republics will not change, said Labus, apart from personal identification documents because of the country's new name. (hina) np