BELGRADE, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Montenegro has called on major world powers and neighboring countries to recognize it as a sovereign and independent state, the official Tanjug news agency reported on Monday.

    Montenegrin Foreign Minister Miodrag Vlahovic has sent relevant letters to UN Security Council member states, European Union (EU) members, neighboring countries and other influential nations of the world, said the report, citing a government statement.

    "Montenegro is ready to establish diplomatic relations" and make efforts to become a member of relevant international organizations in the shortest possible period of time, said Vlahovic.

    Vlahovic said Montenegro had become independent on the basis of the results of the recent referendum, the parliament's decision to go for independence and the Declaration on Montenegro's Independence that had been adopted by the Montenegrin parliament.

    In a special session of Montenegrin parliament on June 3, MPs of the ruling coalition unanimously ratified the result of the independence referendum on May 21, ending Montenegro's longtime union with Serbia since 1918.

    On May 31, the Montenegro referendum commission formally confirmed the result of the poll, in which 55.5 percent of the turnout voted for independence, just above the required threshold of 55 percent.

    Serbia-Montenegro, which was renamed from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in February 2003, is a loose union with only limited ministries of foreign affairs, defense and human rights.

    The EU Ministerial Council is to acknowledge Montenegro as an independent country on June 12, after which its member states will establish diplomatic relations, Slovenia's member of the European Parliament Jelko Kacin said in Podgorica on Sunday.

    In an interview with Montenegrin TV, he voiced his belief that Montenegro would soon be given a new mandate for the resumption of pre-membership negotiations with the EU, and that it would sign relevant documents by the end of the year. Enditem