Hannes Swoboda, vice-president of the European Parliament's delegation in charge of relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro, said that a decision on independence should be made by citizens of Montenegro, warning that there was the problem of the Serb population in the republic.
It is not easy for Serbia to take the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Montenegro's independence bid and the status of Kosovo, but it would contribute to long-term stability, Swoboda said.
Swoboda said that Montenegro was an example in the region of how cooperation with minorities should be maintained. The future of the entire region is to become a part of the European Union, he stressed.
James Lyon, who until recently held the post of director of the International Crisis Group for Serbia and is now its adviser on the Balkans, said that an independent Montenegro would make the strongest contribution to the stability of the region and force Serbia to renounce its dream of territorial expansion.
Lyon said that Brussels had made a mistake when it proposed that Montenegro's independence should be supported by 55 per cent of the electorate participating in the referendum.
The EU's proposal brings instability to the region, and a simple majority is the only just solution, Lyon said.
Istvan Darmati, a member of the Budapest-based Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy, said that the unresolved status of Montenegro would create instability in the region, and that this was the reason why the EU and the United States had a moral obligation to resolve the issue and provide assistance.
With regard to its future Montenegro should find a concept that will be viable in a longer term, Darmati said, adding that there was a risk of reforms being blocked unless independence was achieved.
Montenegrin Foreign Minister Miodrag Vlahovic said that the present state union of Serbia and Montenegro would not be able to survive if there was a single vote more in favour of independence. He said that the EU's message regarding the referendum was based on a projection of results rather than on a principle, insisting that the EU should "speak the language of principles".