PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) – Montenegro’s Parliament yesterday proclaimed independence for the tiny Balkan republic, forming a new European state and formally dissolving the last union of the former Yugoslavia.

The assembly unanimously verified the results of a May 21 referendum – when Montenegrins supported a split from the Serbia-Montenegro union by a slim margin – by formally proclaiming a declaration on independence.

The document envisages Montenegro as a “multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society … based on the rule of law and market economy”.

It says Montenegro’s strategic national goal is integration into the European Union and NATO, and that the new country will immediately launch the procedure for admission into the United Nations and other international organisations.

The independent Montenegro “expresses special interest and full readiness” to “build good and friendly relations with Serbia”, the declaration added.

No Serbian officials were at the independence ceremonies as Serbian conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica refused to officially congratulate Montenegro’s pro-independence leaders on the referendum results.

But, in a message issued by the office of Serbian President Boris Tadic, the pro-democracy leader wished the people of Montenegro “peace, stability and overall prosperity” on their way to European integration.

“On that road, as always in our history, Serbia will be the closest friend,” Tadic said. “I am in favour of preserving family, historic, cultural, economic and political ties, because they present an unbreakable bond between our two countries.”

The proclamation formally ended the Serbia-Montenegro union, the last shred of what was once Yugoslavia, following years of crisis in the Balkans that began when the federation of six republics disintegrated in violence in the 1990s.

With tiny Montenegro’s independence, Serbia also becomes de-facto independent. Serbian officials announced Parliament would finalise the country’s new status next week.

Montenegro’s unionist parties, who were opposed to the split with Serbia, boycotted the Parliament session.

Serbia – eight times larger than Montenegro – had opposed previous declarations of independence by Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, triggering nearly a decade of wars.

Montenegro had been an independent kingdom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it abandoned its statehood to join a new Serb-led Balkan union in 1918.

Montenegro, with 620,000 people, was the only republic to stay with Serbia, but it gradually edged toward independence during the autocratic rule of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic who died while on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal for his part in the bloody break-up of former Yugoslavia.

After the assembly meeting, the authorities raised a red and gold Montenegrin flag on the Parliament building and played the ancient Montenegrin anthem – Oh, The Bright May Dawn – amid fireworks in the Montenegrin capital.