Montenegrin Referendum: Invitations to U.S.

UNCLAS BELGRADE 000478 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL MW SR SUBJECT: Montenegrin Referendum: Invitations to U.S. Congress to Observe Vote ¶1. Please pass the following message from President of Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro to President of the United States Senate Richard Cheney and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert. Originals will follow via diplomatic pouch. ¶2. BEGIN TEXT: Dear Sir: I would like to take this opportunity and greet you most warmly, expressing pleasure with the contacts and cooperation Montenegro has with the United States of America and U.S. Senate to this date. I would especially like to express satisfaction with the meeting and talks we had on the occasion of Summer Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held in Washington, D.C. in July 2005. As you may know, Montenegro is in the final phase of preparations to hold a referendum on independence, and it is our strong interest to have a wide international monitoring of this process. With reference to this, I would like to inform you of the recent developments related to the referendum issue. Namely, with the facilitation of H.E. Ambassador Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, Personal Representative of the EU High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy Mr. Javier Solana, the ruling coalition and the opposition parties agreed on terms for holding the referendum in Montenegro. Following the proposal of H.E. Mr. Filip Vujanovic, President of Montenegro, Parliament of Montenegro, on its session held on March 2, 2006, scheduled the referendum on May 21, 2006 with unanimous vote. Montenegrin Parliament also adopted a new Law on Referendum, as agreed between the ruling and the opposition parties in talks facilitated by the EU. I would also like to inform you that we have sent official invitations for monitoring of the referendum to European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, and we are pleased that they have already accepted our invitations to send observers to Montenegro on the referendum day. I take this opportunity to express once again our strong commitment to further improve communication and cooperation at all levels with the USA, and to reiterate our readiness to conduct the referendum in accordance with the best international standards, in transparent and democratic manner, with credible results. To this end, I have the honor to officially invite the USA Senate/US House of Representatives to send an observation mission to Montenegro and take active part and be fully involved in monitoring of the referendum process, to make sure it is conducted in accordance with best international practice and rules. We are looking forward to the participation of US representatives in this process which, we are convinced, would be of utmost help and importance for its democratic and would further contribute to strengthening and deepening our excellent cooperation and relations. Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration. Sincerely, Ranko Krivokapic END TEXT. POLT