On the Subject of Referendums

As you may have heard, the Montenegrins voted for their formal independence from Serbia in a referendum that was held on May 21. Why am I mentioning this on a Czech Republic blog? First of all, Jeff and I are going to be vacationing in Montenegro this summer, so we’re keeping an eye on what’s happening in the country. Aside from this purely selfish reason, I also wanted to reminisce briefly about the split of Czechoslovakia (or then The Czech and Slovak Federative Republic) back in 1993. There’s a difference between the two separations. The Montenegrins voted. We, the Czech and Slovak people, had no say in the division of the country. We were not asked whether or not we wanted to be divided from each other at all. The politicians decided for us. I will forever wonder if things would have turned out the same had a referendum been held.