no more s&m in europe

And now Montenegro has formalized its divorce from Serbia, ending S&M (Serbia and Montenegro!) in Europe. Unlike Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia, Montenegro has left Serbia's embrace peacefully, and the Serbian government has recognized the reborn state; Montenegro was independent from 1878 until the creation of Yugoslavia (at the time, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes) after World War One. The last real question regarding the former Yugoslavia is the status of the Albanian-majority province of Kosovo. The last joint act for Serbia-Montenegro will be their team in the upcoming World Cup in Germany.

I wonder if Milosevic, before his richly deserved death, ever regretted the rabble-rousing Serb ultranationalism that he indulged in, which kicked the last props out from under the multi-ethnic state that Tito had managed to keep going. Now, instead of being the leading ethnic group in a large confederation, his Serbs are reduced almost to their pre-WWI borders, and are way back in the queue for membership in the European Union.