Serbia and Montenegro

Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeast Europe, created from the two remaining republics of Yugoslavia. The republics of Serbia and Montenegro together established a federation in 1992 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). In 2003, it was reconstituted as a state union officially known as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

The FRY aspired to be a sole legal successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but those claims were opposed by other former republics. The United Nations also denied its request to automatically continue the membership of the former state. Eventually, after the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević from power as president of the federation in 2000, the country rescinded those aspirations and accepted the opinion of Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession, and reapplied for and gained UN membership on 2 November 2000. From 1992 to 2000, some countries, including the United States, referred to the FRY as "Serbia and Montenegro".

The FRY was initially dominated from 1992 to 1997 by Serbian President Slobodan Milošević and his supporters. Milošević installed and forced the removal of several Federal Presidents and Prime Ministers. Federal Prime Minister Milan Panić became frustrated with Milošević's domineering behaviour during diplomatic talks in 1992, and told Milosevic to "shut up" because Milošević's position was officially subordinate to his position. Milosevic later forced Panić to resign. However this situation changed after 1997 when Milošević's last legal term as Serbian President ended and he became Federal President that year, in which Milošević entrenched the power of the Federal Presidency that he held. By this time however, the influence of Slobodan Milošević was confined to Serbia only as Montenegro had experienced internal regime change in 1996 when former Milošević ally Milo Đukanović reversed his policies, showed resilience by becoming leader of his party and subsequently dismissing former Montenegrin leader Momir Bulatović, a man who remained loyal to Milošević. As Bulatović was given central positions in Belgrade from that time (as such national Prime Minister), Đukanović continued to govern Montenegro and isolated his republic from Serbia so that from 1996 to 2006, Montenegro and Serbia were only nominally one country - governance at every feasible level was conducted locally (Belgrade for Serbia and Podgorica for Montenegro).

A loose union, Serbia and Montenegro were united only in certain realms, such as defense. The two constituent republics functioned separately throughout the period of the Federal Republic, and continued to operate under separate economic policies, as well as using separate currencies (the euro was the only legal tender in Montenegro). On 21 May 2006, the Montenegrin independence referendum was held, and 55.5% of voters voted in favor of independence. The state union effectively came to an end after Montenegro's formal declaration of independence on 3 June 2006, and Serbia's formal declaration of independence on 5 June. After the dissolution, Serbia continued to be the legal successor of the union, while Montenegro re-applied for membership in international organizations.