Montenegro shelved its independence plans on Thursday to form a new union with Serbia, consigning Yugoslavia to history in a deal the West hopes will avoid more violent redrawing of Balkan borders. "We have taken an important step forward for the stability of the region and of Europe," European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told a news conference after signing a draft constitutional framework with leaders of the two republics. Under heavy EU pressure, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic agreed to a three-year moratorium on a breakaway referendum for his small coastal republic and committed to reshape Yugoslavia as a union called "Serbia and Montenegro."

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