PODGORICA, Serbia-Montenegro-An EU envoy urged Montenegro's rival camps to open talks as soon as possible on a set of rules for an independence referendum.

Miroslav Lajcak, the Slovak diplomat sent by Brussels to mediate in an internal Montenegrin dispute, met with the separatist authorities and the unionist opposition leaders.

"We all agreed we should start concrete talks as soon as possible," Lajcak said. "We are ready to begin next week ... or the week after."

Montenegro is deeply divided over whether the tiny Adriatic republic should become an independent state or remain in a Serbia-Montenegro union with much larger Serbia.

Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's government is planning to hold a referendum on the issue in April.

Under discussion are conditions under which the plebiscite is held. The opposition says that at least 50 percent of all eligible voters need to vote in favor of independence before the union with Serbia is abandoned.

Djukanovic and his allies say that 25 percent to 40 percent approval would suffice.

There are 440,000 registered voters in the Adriatic republic of 650,000 people. Recent polls showed 41.4 percent in favor of independence, 32.3 opposed to it and about 25 percent undecided.

Montenegro's parliament is to convene Feb. 7 and possibly set an official date for the referendum. A failure to agree on terms for holding the plebiscite could lead to a boycott by those opposed to independence.

Lajcak said the topics for discussion should include access to media, monitoring of the referendum process, laws, transparency, control of the finances and other issues.

"The legitimacy of the process is key for the European Union," Lajcak said. "The aim of the EU is to create conditions for free and fair expression of the citizens' will."

Lajcak also said the government and opposition would not meet directly at first, but would negotiate with EU mediation. Lajcak expressed hope that "they will end up in the same room eventually."

Montenegro was the only republic that stayed together with Serbia after the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. But their relations have deteriorated over the years, and the European Union brokered a deal in 2003 that created Serbia-Montenegro as a union of two nearly independent states sharing only a small central administration.

January 12, 2006 1:03 PM