A group of seventy-four university teachers in Montenegro have published an open letter calling for independence from Yugoslavia.

The letter, which was published on the Information Ministry's internet site, says that Montenegro should end its partnership with Serbia to show its rejection of President Milosevic's policies and to work for integration with the rest of Europe.

The republic's pro-Western President, Milo Djukanovic, has already threatened to call a referendum on independence, if there are not major political and economic reforms in Yugoslavia.

The threat comes despite the presence of some forty-thousand Serb troops in Montenegro, many having moved in from Kosovo.