Miodrag Lekic, Montenegrin Foreign Minister

PLACE AND DATE OF BIRTH: Bar, November 21, 1947. Regards himself as Montenegrin, no party affiliation.

FAMILY: Married (wife Lidija), two daughters (Livija and Tijana).

QUALIFICATIONS: A degree from the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences (international department). Speaks French, Italian, Portuguese and English. A career diplomat.

WHAT HE HAS DONE SO FAR: Lekic worked as a professor at the Bar Grammar School, was Director of the Information Center, Director of the Cultural Center, a member of the Executive Council of Montenegro, Montenegrin Secretary for Education, Culture and Sports, Socialist Yugoslavia's Ambassador to Mozambique and Lesotho.

CREDO: Likes to say that he considers ``Freedom and responsibility the two fundamental virtues both at the individual and the social levels.'' He supports political commitment which ``leads to democracy, free initiative, social justice and national interests.''

WHAT NOBODY CAN DENY: He has a reputation for perseverance and is a hard worker. Knows how to charm his fiercest opponents in the Montenegrin Assembly and in the Federation. In polemics takes care about the level of discussion and his reputation, so that apart from political, has no other enemies. He, personally, has never called someone an enemy or traitor, nor does he stoop to such terms when his opponents have called him names. Lekic always insists on tolerance and arguments. He abides by all that is Montenegrin, and the identity of the state of Montenegro. During his leisure time he can be found at the promenade, cafes and tennis courts. Different political stands have never been an obstacle to friendship and friendly relations, so that he is seen in the company of politicians currently in power and former ones.

WHAT IS HE LIKE AS FOREIGN MINISTER: Lekic leaves the impression of an educated, civilized and cultured man, which is a great help in winning over world diplomats. In diplomacy he follows the state decrees of Montenegro and the Federation, reasoning that ``all that which is good for Montenegro and isn't detrimental to Serbia, cannot be bad for Yugoslavia.'' He states stands independently when they are the result of ratified international agreements and plans (the VanceOwen plan, etc), and as a rule, his statements made after diplomatic meetings have never been denied by the other side.

WHAT THE SERBIAN BLOC CRITICIZES: They can't forgive him for saying that he agreed to the presence of international observers in Montenegro (which followed from the fact that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic had accepted the VanceOwen plan); nor the statement that Montenegro was not a Serbian, but a civic state, and the fact that he insists on full equality between Serbia and Montenegro.

WHAT THE MONTENEGRIN BLOC CRITICIZES: They didn't like it when he said that he wasn't informed of the idea for the creation of an alliance of all Serb states. They claim that with his diplomatic activities he gives ``an illusion of democracy to an undemocratic authority.''

WHAT ELSE IS HE CRITICIZED OF: The Serbian Radical Party claims that he wishes to separate Montenegro from Serbia and ``tie it to the apron strings of Italy and the Vatican,'' while a part of the Belgrade press claimed that his statement that ``Montenegro wasn't a Serbian state,'' had allegedly initiated the persecution and beating of Serbs in Montenegro.

WHAT HE INSISTS ON: On the preservation and recognition of a joint life by Serbia and Montenegro, a democratic state open towards the world, the preservation of Montenegro's Ministry of Foreign Affairs... Lekic believes that the most important political goal is to end the war and hostilities in the former Socialist Yugoslavia and the reintegration of Montenegro and Yugoslavia in the international community.