Montenegro celebrates 15 years of independence restoration

Savo Prelevic/AFP

Podgorica marks 15 years of its independence from Belgrade on Friday with a paratroopers' show and military orchestra performance in the capital's Independence Square.

On May 21, 2006, Montenegro held an independence referendum, being the last out of five republics that formed the ex-Yugoslav federation, which became a sovereign state, with 55.5 per cent of the tiny coastal republic’s population voting to separate from Serbia.

The move restored Montenegro’s independence after 80 years and at the same time made Serbia a separate state.

The ‘divorce’ from Belgrade went on peacefully as it was also the case with Macedonia in 1991, unlike with Slovenia and Croatia in 1991 and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, which became independent after wars with Belgrade.