Serbia and Montenegro

[5] FR Yugoslavia's involvement in the Yugoslav Wars ended with the Dayton Agreement, which recognized the independence of the Republics of Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as establishing diplomatic relationships between the states, and a guaranteed role of the Serbian population within Bosnian politics.The conflict ended with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, which guaranteed economic and political separation of Kosovo from FR Yugoslavia, to be placed under UN Administration.[9] Economic hardship and war resulted in growing discontent with the government of Slobodan Milošević and his allies, who ran both Serbia and Montenegro as an effective dictatorship.[10] This would eventually cumulate in the Bulldozer revolution, which saw his government overthrown, and replaced by one led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia and Vojislav Koštunica, which also joined the UN.[22] This was due to the ongoing Yugoslav Wars during the 1990s, which had prevented agreement being reached on the disposition of federal assets and liabilities, particularly the national debt.[23][24] However, the Government of FR Yugoslavia would treat these republics as separate entities, and gave unofficial, rather than active, aid by transferring control of units from the now-defunct JNA to the secessionist movements.[25] In this way, FR Yugoslavia avoided potential accusations of committing acts of aggression against the breakaway republics recognised by the international community.'[29] In 1995, following Operation Storm, a military offensive by the Croatian Army, and NATO involvement in the Bosnian War, President Slobodan Milošević agreed to negotiate, as the Serbian position within Bosnia had become substantially worse.[4] An estimated 3 million Yugoslavs (Serbs and Montenegrins) lived below the poverty line,[4] suicide rates increased by 22%[36] and hospitals lacked basic equipment.Along with this, supply links were cut, which meant that the Yugoslav economy could not grow, and imports or exports needed for industries could not be obtained, forcing them to close.[41] International sanctions crippled the Yugoslav economy, and prevented it from playing an active role in aiding Serb breakaway republics.The governments of FR Yugoslavia and the US declared the Kosovo Liberation Army a terrorist organisation, following repeated deadly attacks against Yugoslav law enforcement agencies.[46][47][48] US intelligence also mentioned illegal arms sources of the Kosovo Liberation Army, including conducting raids during the course of the 1997 Albanian civil unrest, and drug dealing.[54] 169,824 Serb and Romani civilians were estimated by the UNHCR's Belgrade office to have fled from Kosovo-Metohija to either Serbia proper, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, or the constituent Republic of Montenegro by 20 June 1999.NATO responded in March 1999 by ordering airstrikes against Yugoslav military targets and infrastructure, including roads, railroads, administrative buildings and the headquarters of Radio Television Serbia.The effects of continuous aerial bombardment and sanctions cost the Yugoslav economy hundreds of billions of USD[63] and eventually forced Milošević's government to comply with an agreement put forward by an international delegation.[66] In the aftermath of the Kosovo War, a low level insurgency continued in parts of Southern Serbia (Presevo valley), which had Albanian minorities.The string of defeats, as well as a complete collapse of the Yugoslav economy, led to mass unpopularity of the essential dictatorship of Slobodan Milošević and his allies in the Socialist Party of Serbia.The first president from 1992 to 1993 was Dobrica Ćosić, a former communist Yugoslav partisan during World War II and later one of the fringe contributors of the controversial Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.On April 12, 1999, the Federal Assembly of the FR Yugoslavia passed the "Decision on the accession of the FRY to the Union State of Russia and Belarus".[78] Although Serbia is, according to constitutional and international law, the successor state to this decision (as well as many others made during Milošević's regime), in practice, after the Bulldozer Revolution, nothing has been done in this direction, as the country is a candidate for the European Union.Since the ousting of former Federal Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević in October 2000, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition government has implemented stabilization measures and embarked on an aggressive market reform program.Corruption also presented a major problem, with a large black market and a high degree of criminal involvement in the formal economy.[87][88][89] Football was experiencing major success during the 1980s and early 1990s; however, due to the imposed economic sanctions, the country was excluded from all international competitions between 1992 and 1996.Serbia and Montenegro were represented by a single national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament, despite having formally split just weeks prior to its start.During that time, FR Yugoslavia was not allowed to compete at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the 1993 EuroBasket, and also the 1994 FIBA World Championship, which was originally supposed to be hosted by Belgrade, before being taken away from the city and moved to Toronto, Canada.At the 1995 EuroBasket in Athens, its first international competition, the hungry and highly motivated FR Yugoslav team, which was led by head coach Dušan Ivković, featured a starting five full of world-class talent, with established European stars at positions one through four — 27-year-old Saša Đorđević, 25-year-old Predrag Danilović, 29-year-old Žarko Paspalj, 22-year-old Dejan Bodiroga — capped off with 27-year-old Vlade Divac, the starting center for the LA Lakers at the five position.At the first direct elimination stage, the quarterfinals, FR Yugoslavia scored 104 points to destroy France, thus setting up a semifinal clash with the tournament hosts Greece.In the final, FR Yugoslavia played against the experienced Lithuanian team, which was led by basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis, in addition to other world class players like Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Rimas Kurtinaitis, and Valdemaras Chomičius.In 2006, the year of Montenegrin independence, the country Serbia and Montenegro did not have a representative due to the scandal in Evropesma 2006, but was still able to vote in both the semi-final and the final.