Serbia and Montenegro Union: Prospects and Policy Implications

The Congressional Research Service, a department of the Library of Congress, conducts research and analysis for Congress on a broad range of national and international policy issues. Some of the CRS work is carried out specifically for individual members of Congress or their staff and is confidential. However, there is also much CRS compiled material which is considered public but is not formally published on the CRS website.

For that reason a number of other organisations try to keep track of these publications and make them publicly available via their own websites. Currently, ESO uses the following websites to track these reports and allow access to them in ESO:

EveryCRSReport.com
Federation of American Scientists (FAS)

In some cases hyperlinks allows you to access all versions of a report, including the latest. Note that many reports are periodically updated.Among the many policy challenges currently or imminently facing Serbia and Montenegro, such as the issue of cooperation on war crimes and the future status of Kosovo, remains the question of the future of the state itself, the Serbia and Montenegro Union. Replacing the ‘Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’ in February 2003, the union kept Serbia and Montenegro together in a highly decentralized but joint state under a deal brokered by the European Union (EU).

Continued stark differences between the two republics and their respective governments initially held up consolidation of the union and closer association with the EU; however, Serbia and Montenegro and the EU have worked to accommodate these differences in order to move forward with EU integration. The long-term future of the Serbia and Montenegro union remains in doubt and could complicate international efforts to address unresolved problems in the region. This report may be updated as events warrant. For additional information, see CRS Report RL30371, Serbia and Montenegro: Current Situation and U.S. Policy.

EveryCRSReport.com https://www.everycrsreport.com/

Federation of American Scientists (FAS): Congressional Research Service [CRS] Reports https://fas.org/sgp/crs/index.html

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