The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been ready to monitor the upcoming independence referendum in Montenegro, a senior official of OSCE said in the Montenegro capital of Podgorica on Saturday.

Jorgen Grunnet, who heads some 400 OSCE observers, said that everything was under control and he did not expect problems in the referendum on Sunday, the official Tanjug news agency reported.

Grunnet said that the referendum campaign was conducted in a quiet atmosphere and within the boundaries of polite conduct, and that the few recorded incidents "were not serious."

Montenegro will hold a referendum on Sunday, to decide whether to remain in the state union of Serbia-Montenegro or regain its independence after 88 years.

According to the Republic Referendum Commission (RRC) in Montenegro, there are 484,718 voters eligible to cast their votes in the referendum. In the referendum, Montenegrin voters will respond with a "Yes" or a "No" to the question: "Do you want Montenegro to be an independent state with full international and legal legitimacy?"

Under conditions mediated by the European Union, the independence referendum must pass by a threshold of 55 percent with a turnout of at least half of the mountainous republic's registered voters.

The referendum is to be monitored by over 3,400 observers from 22 international and domestic organizations.

Frantishek Lipka, chairman of the RRC, said on Saturday that conditions have been created for the May 21 referendum to be conducted in a quiet and fair manner and that now the decision rests with "his Highness Mr. Citizen."

Lipka said that the commission could announce the preliminary results at 10 a.m. on May 22 instead of the legal deadline 9 a.m. on May 23.

Source: Xinhua