Slobodan Milo?evi?

Slobodan Milo?evi? {{Audio|sr-SlobodanMilosevic.ogg|listen}} (Serbian: ???????? ?????????, pronounced {{IPA|}}; born 20 August 1941) is a former President of Serbia and of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as well as leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia.

Presidency

Slobodan Milo?evi? was first elected President of Serbia by the National Assembly in 1989.

Related Topics:
President of Serbia - National Assembly - 1989

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On the 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in January 1990, the delegation of Serbia led by Milo?evi? insisted on the reversal of 1974 Constitution policy that empowered the republics and rather wanted to introduce a policy of "one person, one vote", which would empower the majority population, the Serbs. This caused the Slovenian and Croatian delegations (led by Milan Ku?an and Ivica Ra?an, resp.) to leave the Congress in protest and marked a culmination in the rift of the Yugoslav ruling party.

Related Topics:
League of Communists of Yugoslavia - 1990 - 1974 - Constitution - Slovenia - Croatia - Milan Ku?an - Ivica Ra?an

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Milo?evi? presided over the transformation of the League of Communists of Serbia into the Socialist Party of Serbia (July 1990) and the adoption of a new Serbian constitution (September 1990) providing for the direct election of a president with increased powers. Milo?evi? was subsequently re-elected president of the Serbian Republic in the direct elections of December 1990 and December 1992.

Related Topics:
Socialist Party of Serbia - Serbia - 1990 - 1992

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In the first free parliamentary elections of December 1990, Milo?evi?'s Socialist Party won 80.5% of the vote. The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo largely boycotted the election, effectively eliminating even what little opposition Milo?evi? had. Milo?evi? himself won the presidential election with even higher percentage of the vote.

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Milo?evi?'s rise to power happened amidst a growth of nationalism in all the former Yugoslavian republics following the collapse of communist governments throughout eastern Europe. Notably, Slovenians elected a nationalist government under Milan Ku?an, and the Croatians did the same with Franjo Tu?man. The main Bosnian politicians were also nationally oriented.

Related Topics:
Former Yugoslavia - Communist - Eastern Europe - Slovenia - Milan Ku?an - Croatia - Franjo Tu?man - Bosnian

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The socialist Yugoslavia was at the time governed by an eight-member Presidency where four members were inclined to support Slobodan Milo?evi?'s ideas (such as the proclamation of a state of emergency), while four were inclined to oppose it. As the critical decisions would all end in a stalemate, the head of state was rather dysfunctional.

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In June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia seceded from the federation, followed by the republics of Macedonia (September 1991) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (March 1992). The large Serb minorities in Croatia (580,000) and Bosnia (1.6 million) demanded to stay in Yugoslavia based on the same right of self-determination claimed by their Croat and Muslim neighbours.

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The Serbs of Croatia started organizing their own autonomy as early as mid-1990, and they were supported in this by the Yugoslav government. Through 1991 and early 1992, together with the Yugoslav People's Army, they engaged in a war against the Croatian government. The first leader of Serbs in Croatia, Milan Babi?, has stated that Milo?evi? was responsible for this, whereas his successor Goran Had?i? publicly bragged about how he was "the extended hand of Slobodan Milo?evi?".

Related Topics:
Croatia - Yugoslav People's Army - Milan Babi? - Goran Had?i?

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In 1992, the same thing happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the Yugoslav People's Army moved the bulk of its forces in. In 1995, Milo?evi? negotiated the Dayton Agreement in the name of the Bosnian Serbs (similar to how Tu?man did it for the Bosnian Croats). As the agreement finally brought an end to the war in Bosnia, Milo?evi? was credited in the West with being one of the pillars of Balkan peace.

Related Topics:
Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1995 - Dayton Agreement - Tu?man

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