Serbian President Boris Tadic said today he accepted the result of the Montenegrin referendum vote for independence.
"I accept the preliminary results reached by the referendum commission," he told a news conference, in the first official word from Serbia on Sunday's vote affecting its union with Montenegro.
He called on both Serbia and Montenegro to aid the Montenegrin referendum commission in "unequivocally establishing the result of the referendum and eliminating any suspicion concerning the process."
Official preliminary results of Sunday's vote showed 55.5 per cent of voters opted for independence, achieving the target majority set by the European Union for recognition of the result.
The EU has already welcomed a "successful" referendum and said it would recommend separate talks on closer ties with Montenegro.
Mr Tadic congratulated the Adriatic republic of 650,000 people on the turnout of 86.5 per cent.