Yugoslavia

—Yugoslavian, adj., n. —Yugoslavic, adj.

/yooh'goh slah"vee euh/, n.

1. a federal republic in S Europe: since 1992 comprised of Serbia and Montenegro. 10,573,928; 39,449 sq. mi. (102,173 sq. km). Cap.: Belgrade.

2. Formerly (1918-29), Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. a republic in S Europe on the Adriatic: formed 1918 from the kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro and part of Austria-Hungary; a federal republic 1945-91 comprised of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.

Also, Jugoslavia.

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Yugoslavia

Introduction Yugoslavia -
Background: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 was resisted by various paramilitary bands that fought themselves as well as the invaders. The group headed by Marshal TITO took full control upon German expulsion in 1945. Although Communist, his new government successfully steered its own path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In the early 1990s, post-TITO Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic lines: Slovenia, Croatia, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all declared their independence in 1991; Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY)in 1992 and, under President Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Serbia led various military intervention efforts to unite Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia." All of these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In 1999, massive expulsions by FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo provoked an international response, including the NATO bombing of Serbia and the stationing of NATO and Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo. There are Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS)-led coalitions governing at the federal and Serbian Republic levels, implementing a wide-ranging political and economic reform program. The governing coalition in Montenegro is seeking independence from the Federation. Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999, under the authority of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Geography Yugoslavia
Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Geographic coordinates: 44 00 N, 21 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 102,350 sq km water: 214 sq km land: 102,136 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Kentucky
Land boundaries: total: 2,246 km border countries: Albania 287 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina 527 km, Bulgaria 318 km, Croatia (north) 241 km, Croatia (south) 25 km, Hungary 151 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 221 km, Romania 476 km
Coastline: 199 km
Maritime claims: NA
Climate: in the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall); central portion, continental and Mediterranean climate; to the south, Adriatic climate along the coast, hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall inland
Terrain: extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills; to the southwest, extremely high shoreline with no islands off the coast
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Daravica 2,656 m
Natural resources: oil, gas, coal, antimony, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, gold, pyrite, chrome, hydropower, arable land
Land use: arable land: 36.34% permanent crops: 3.44% other: 60.22% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 570 sq km
Natural hazards: destructive earthquakes Environment - current issues: pollution of coastal waters from sewage outlets, especially in tourist-related areas such as Kotor; air pollution around Belgrade and other industrial cities; water pollution from industrial wastes dumped into the Sava which flows into the Danube Environment - international party to: Air Pollution, Climate
agreements: Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity
Geography - note: controls one of the major land routes from Western Europe to Turkey and the Near East; strategic location along the Adriatic coast People Yugoslavia -
Population: 10,656,929 note: all data dealing with population is subject to considerable error because of the dislocations caused by military action and ethnic cleansing (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 19.6% (male 1,077,581; female 1,005,379) 15-64 years: 65.3% (male 3,415,929; female 3,546,410) 65 years and over: 15.1% (male 690,014; female 921,616) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: -0.12% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 12.8 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 10.59 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -3.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/ female total population: 0.95 male(s)/ female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 17.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 73.72 years female: 76.89 years (2002 est.) male: 70.78 years
Total fertility rate: 1.78 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA% HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ NA
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Serb(s); Montenegrin(s) adjective: Serbian; Montenegrin
Ethnic groups: Serb 62.6%, Albanian 16.5%, Montenegrin 5%, Hungarian 3.3%, other 12.6% (1991)
Religions: Orthodox 65%, Muslim 19%, Roman Catholic 4%, Protestant 1%, other 11%
Languages: Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93% male: 97.2% female: 88.9% (1991) Government Yugoslavia -
Country name: conventional long form: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia conventional short form: Yugoslavia local short form: Jugoslavija local long form: Savezna Republika Jugoslavija
Government type: republic
Capital: Belgrade Administrative divisions: 2 republics (republike, singular - republika); and 2 nominally autonomous provinces* (autonomn pokrajine, singular - autonomna pokrajina); Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia, Vojvodina*
Independence: 27 April 1992 (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or FRY formed as self- proclaimed successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or SFRY)
National holiday: Republic Day, 29 November
Constitution: 27 April 1992
Legal system: based on civil law system
Suffrage: 16 years of age, if employed; 18 years of age, universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Vojislav KOSTUNICA (since 7 October 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Dragisa PESIC (since 24 July 2001); Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub LABUS (since 25 January 2001) cabinet: Federal Executive Council elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for up to two, four-year terms; election last held 24 September 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Vojislav KOSTUNICA elected president; percent of vote - Vojislav KOSTUNICA 50.2%, Slobodan MILOSEVIC 37%
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Savezna Skupstina consists of the Chamber of Republics or Vece Republika (40 seats - 20 Serbian, 20 Montenegrin; members distributed on the basis of party representation in the republican assemblies to serve four-year terms; note - the Assembly passed a new constitutional amendment calling for direct elections for the deputies to the upper chamber) and the Chamber of Citizens or Vece Gradjana (138 seats - 108 Serbian with half elected by constituency majorities and half by proportional representation, 30 Montenegrin with six elected by constituency and 24 proportionally; members serve four-year terms) elections: Chamber of Republics - last held 24 September 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); Chamber of Citizens - last held 24 September 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Chamber of Republics - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SNP 19, DOS 10, SPS/JUL 7, SRS 2, SPO 1, SNS 1; note - seats are filled on a proportional basis to reflect the composition of the legislatures of the republics of Montenegro and Serbia; since 1998 Serbia has effectively barred Montenegro from its constitutional right to delegate deputies to the Chamber of Republics; Chamber of Citizens - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - DOS 58, SPS/JUL 44, SNP 28, SRS 5, SNS 2, other 1
Judicial branch: Federal Court or Savezni Sud; Constitutional Court; judges for both courts are elected by the Federal Assembly for nine-year terms Political parties and leaders: Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians or SVM [Jozsef KASZA]; Civic Alliance of Serbia or GSS [Goran SVILANOVIC]; Coalition Sandzak [Rasim LJAJIC]; Coalition Sumadija [Branislav KOVACEVIC]; Democratic Alternative of DA [Nebojsa COVIC]; Democratic Center or DC [Dragoljub MICUNOVIC]; Democratic Christian Party of Serbia of DHSS [Vladan BATIC]; Democratic League of Kosovo or LDK [Dr. Ibrahim RUGOVA, president]; Democratic Opposition of Serbia or DOS [leader NA]; Democratic Party or DS [Zoran DJINDJIC]; Democratic Party of Serbia or DSS [Vojislav KOSTUNICA]; Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro or DPS [Milo DJUKANOVIC]; Movement for a Democratic Serbia or PDS [Momcilo PERISIC]; New Democracy or ND [Dusan MIHAJLOVIC]; New Serbia [Velimir ILIC]; People's Party of Montenegro or NS [Dragan SOC]; Serb People's Party or SNS [Bozidar BOJOVIC]; Serbian Radical Party or SRS [Vojislav SESELJ]; Serbian Renewal Movement or SPO [Vuk DRASKOVIC, president]; Serbian Socialist Party or SPS (former Communist Party) [Slobodan MILOSEVIC]; Social Democracy or SD [Vuk OBRADOVIC]; Social Democratic Union or SDU [Zarko KORAC]; Socialist People's Party of Montenegro or SNP [Momir BULATOVIC]; Yugoslav United Left or JUL [Ljubisa RISTIC] Political pressure groups and Alliance for the Future of Kosovo or
leaders: AAK [Ramush HARADINAJ]; Democratic League of Kosovo or LDK [Ibrahim RUGOVA]; Democratic Party of Kosovo or PDK [Hashim THACI]; Group of 17 Independent Economists or G-17 [leader NA]; National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo or LKCK [Sabit GASHI]; Otpor Student Resistance Movement [leader NA]; Political Council for Presevo, Meveda and Bujanovac or PCPMB [leader NA]; The People's Movement for Kosovo or LPK [Emrush XHEMAJLI] International organization ABEDA, BIS, CCC, CE (guest), CEI,
participation: EBRD, FAO, G- 9, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Ivan ZIVKOVIC telephone: [1] [phone] chancery: 2134 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador William
US: D. MONTGOMERY embassy: Kneza Milosa 50, 11000 Belgrade telephone: [381] (11) 361-9344 FAX: [381] (11) 646-031 branch office: Pristina
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and red Economy Yugoslavia
Economy - overview: MILOSEVIC-era mismanagement of the economy, an extended period of economic sanctions, and the damage to Yugoslavia's infrastructure and industry during the war in Kosovo has left the economy only half the size it was in 1990. Since the ousting of former Federal Yugoslav President MILOSEVIC in October 2000, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition government has implemented stabilization measures and embarked on an aggressive market reform program. After renewing its membership in the IMF in December 2000, Yugoslavia continued to reintegrate into the international community by rejoining the World Bank (IBRD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). A World Bank-European Commission sponsored Donors' Conference held in June 2001 raised $1.3 billion for economic restructuring. An agreement rescheduling the country's $4.5 billion Paris Club government debts was concluded in November 2001; it will write off 66% of the debt and provide a basis for Belgrade to seek similar debt relief on its $2.8 billion London Club commercial debt. The smaller republic of Montenegro severed its economy from federal control and from Serbia during the MILOSEVIC era and continues to maintain it's own central bank, uses the euro instead of the Yugoslav dinar as official currency, collects customs tariffs, and manages its own budget. Kosovo, while technically still part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, is moving toward local autonomy under United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and is dependent on the international community for financial and technical assistance. The euro and the Yugoslav dinar are official currencies, and UNMIK collects taxes and manages the budget.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $24 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,250 (2001 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 26% industry: 36% services: 38% (2001 est.) Population below poverty line: 30% Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): 40% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 3 million (2001 est.) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate: 30% (2001)
Budget: revenues: $3.9 billion expenditures: $4.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industries: machine building (aircraft, trucks, and automobiles; tanks and weapons; electrical equipment; agricultural machinery); metallurgy (steel, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, antimony, bismuth, cadmium); mining (coal, bauxite, nonferrous ore, iron ore, limestone); consumer goods (textiles, footwear, foodstuffs, appliances); electronics, petroleum products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals Industrial production growth rate: 11% (2000 est.) Electricity - production: 32.984 billion kWh (2000) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 58.75% hydro: 41.25% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% Electricity - consumption: 31.546 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 43 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 914 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: cereals, fruits, vegetables, tobacco, olives; cattle, sheep, goats
Exports: $2 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: manufactured goods, food and live animals, raw materials
Exports - partners: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany (2001)
Imports: $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and live animals, raw materials
Imports - partners: Germany, Italy, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (2001)
Debt - external: $9.2 billion (2001 est.) Economic aid - recipient: $2 billion pledged in 2001 (disbursements to follow for several years)
Currency: new Yugoslav dinar (YUM); note - in Montenegro the euro is legal tender; in Kosovo both the euro and the Yugoslav dinar are legal (2002)
Currency code: YUM
Exchange rates: new Yugoslav dinars per US dollar - official rate: 65 (January 2002), 10.0 (December 1998), 5.85 (December 1997), 5.02 (September 1996); black market rate: 14.5 (December 1998), 8.9 (December 1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year Communications Yugoslavia - Telephones - main lines in use: 2.017 million (1995) Telephones - mobile cellular: 87,000 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) Radio broadcast stations: AM 113, FM 194, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: 3.15 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: more than 771 (including 86 strong stations and 685 low-power stations, plus 20 repeaters in the principal networks; also numerous local or private stations in Serbia and Vojvodina) (1997)
Televisions: 2.75 million (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 9 (2000)
Internet users: 400,000 (2001) Transportation Yugoslavia -
Railways: total: 4,059 km standard gauge: 4,059 km 1.435- m gauge (1,377 km electrified) note: during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, the Serbian rail system suffered significant damage due to bridge destruction; many rail bridges have been rebuilt; Montenegrin rail lines remain intact (2001)
Highways: total: 48,603 km paved: 28,822 km (including 560 km of expressways) note: because of the 1999 Kosovo conflict, many road bridges were destroyed; since the end of the conflict in June 1999, there has been an intensive program to either rebuild bridges or build by-pass routes (1999) unpaved: 19,781 km
Waterways: 587 km note: the Danube River, central Europe's connection with the Black Sea, runs through Serbia; since early 2000, a pontoon bridge, replacing a destroyed conventional bridge, has obstructed river traffic at Novi Sad; the obstruction is bypassed by a canal system, the inadequate lock size of which limits the size of vessels which may pass; the pontoon bridge can be opened for large ships but has slowed river traffic (2001)
Pipelines: crude oil 415 km; petroleum products 130 km; natural gas 2,110 km
Ports and harbors: Bar, Belgrade, Kotor, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Tivat, Zelenika
Merchant marine: total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,437 GRT/400 DWT ships by type: short-sea passenger 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: 46 (2001) Airports - with paved runways: total: 19 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 27 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 2 13 (2001)
Heliports: 2 (2001) Military Yugoslavia -
Military branches: Army (VJ) (including ground forces with border troops, naval forces, air and air defense forces) Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age (2002 est.) Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 2,589,437 (2002 est.) Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 2,082,322 (2002
service: est.) Military manpower - reaching males: 82,542 (2002 est.)
military age annually: Military expenditures - dollar $654 million (2002)
figure: Military expenditures - percent of NA%
GDP: Transnational Issues Yugoslavia - Disputes - international: Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have delimited about half of their boundary, but several segments, particularly along the meandering Drina River, remain in dispute; FYROM-Yugoslavia signed and ratified a boundary agreement, which adjusts the former republic boundaries, with demarcation to commence in 2002; ethnic Albanians in Kosovo dispute authority of agreement which cedes small tracts of Kosovo to FYROM; Croatia and Yugoslavia continue to discuss disputed Prevlaka Peninsula and control over the Gulf of Kotor despite imminent UN intention to withdraw observer mission (UNMOP)
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin moving to Western Europe on the Balkan route

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Former federated country situated on the west-central Balkan Peninsula of southern Europe.

Between 1929 and 2003, three federations bore the name Yugoslavia ("Land of the South Slavs"). After the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 ended Turkish rule in the Balkan Peninsula and Austria-Hungary was defeated in World War I, a Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was established, comprising the former kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro (including Serbian-held Macedonia), as well as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austrian territory in Dalmatia and Slovenia, and Hungarian land north of the Danube River. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, officially proclaimed in 1929 by King Alexander I and lasting until World War II, covered 95,576 sq mi (247,542 sq km). The postwar Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia covered 98,766 sq mi (255,804 sq km) and had a population of about 24 million by 1991. In addition to Serbia and Montenegro, socialist Yugoslavia included four other republics now recognized as independent states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia. The "third Yugoslavia," inaugurated on April 27, 1992, had roughly 45% of the population and 40% of the area of its predecessor and consisted of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, which in 2003 abandoned the name Yugoslavia and renamed the country Serbia and Montenegro.

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▪ 2003

Area:

102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi)

Population

(2002 est.): 10,664,000

Capital:

Belgrade

Chief of state:

President Vojislav Kostunica

Head of government:

Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic

      Despite intense international pressure to keep the processes of democratization and reform moving, stubbornness among the leadership prevented basic solutions to the catastrophic economic and social situation in Yugoslavia. Elections were held on the republican level as well as in Serbia's internationally administered province of Kosovo, where the predominantly ethnic Albanians succeeded in electing officials amid a Serb boycott. Amid great confusion and voter apathy, Serbia failed to elect a new president in three attempts.

      In March the parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia's two constituent republics, voted on an agreement regarding the future status of the federation. After intense international pressure, the framework of the agreement gave both republics broad autonomy. Each would operate a separate economic, currency, and customs system while sharing a common defense structure and foreign policy. There would be a single, federal presidency. In addition, each republic was awarded the right to hold a referendum on independence three years after the new state, to be called Serbia and Montenegro, came into being on Jan. 1, 2003.

      The new arrangement was designed to placate Montenegrins who for 10 years had mulled over whether to declare full independence or keep some sort of union with Serbia. The European Union feared that if Montenegro was to secede, other groups in the region, namely the Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia and Serbs and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, might feel encouraged to make similar moves and thereby again touch off violence.

      Reforms to alleviate the dire situation in Yugoslavia's economic, health, education, and media sectors were obstructed by squabbles among political elites and chaos in public-sector institutions headed by political appointees. Amid concerns of an ultranationalist backlash among voters in the run-up to the December 8 presidential balloting, in early November two bitter rivals, Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic and Yugoslav Pres. Vojislav Kostunica, agreed to end their political feud in an attempt to get the country back on the reform track. Their agreement did not convince the electorate, however, and only 45% of eligible voters cast ballots. According to election law, a 50% minimum was required for validating the balloting. Kostunica won the majority of votes, with ultranationalist Vojislav Seselj finishing a strong second. Montenegrin balloting on December 22 also failed to elect a president because of low voter turnout.

      Voter apathy in Serbia was largely attributed to the government's failure to improve living standards as well as to allegations of corruption and mismanagement. The government could not follow its successes of the previous year, which included tax reform, new privatization laws, and regulations for the labour market. Industrial production fell by 0.8% compared with the previous year, and exports were up only 10%, while imports jumped by 30%. Almost 60,000 companies employing 1.2 million workers were on the brink of bankruptcy. The average monthly salary was $130—barely enough to live on. More than a third of the population continued to live at or below the poverty line, and 18% lived in absolute destitution. In such a situation, the demand by lawmakers in January that frosted cakes be added to the Serbian parliament restaurant menu understandably caused a public outcry. Belgrade media responded by publishing articles and photos contrasting the politicians' call for confectionery delights with soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

      In late October elections were held in 30 municipalities in Kosovo, and most outside observers hailed the balloting as fair and successful. The election was also regarded as crucial in laying the foundations for local government, but the poor turnout by the Serb population troubled international observers. Voter participation was high in five enclaves where Serbs constituted a majority, and of the 82 seats won by Serbs, 68 were in these five municipalities.

      No solution was found to the problem of the final status of Kosovo. In November, Kosovo's Albanian-dominated assembly approved a resolution denouncing the preamble of the draft constitution for the new union between Serbia and Montenegro as proof of Belgrade's intention to annex Kosovo. The Albanian deputies threatened to declare unilateral independence if the offending passage was not deleted. UN representatives affirmed that neither Belgrade nor the Kosovo parliament could unilaterally decide the future of the region.

      The Serbian government in October officially admitted that Yugoimport, a state-owned arms dealer, had violated United Nations weapons-trade bans by overhauling MiG jet engines and providing other unspecified military services to Iraq. The scandal also included several Bosnian Serb companies and led to the firing of several key officials in Sarajevo and in Belgrade. In late November, U.S. weapons experts arrived in Yugoslavia to determine whether Belgrade had stopped all arms trade with Iraq and what benefit Saddam Hussein's military had derived from the massive arms-for-cash trade since 1999. In December the governments of Croatia and Yugoslavia signed an interim solution ending a decade of dispute over the strategic and commercially important Prevlaka Peninsula on the Adriatic coast.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2002

Area:

102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi)

Population

(2001 est.): 10,677,000

Capital:

Belgrade

Chief of state:

President Vojislav Kostunica

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Zoran Zizic and, from July 24, Dragisa Pesic

      Yugoslavia made significant advances in returning to the international fold in 2001. All international sanctions were lifted; former strongman Slobodan Milosevic was extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY); the national currency was stabilized; and nearly one-fourth of the country's foreign debt was erased. Domestically, the privatization process was initiated, and an unexpectedly strong voter turnout among Serbs in Kosovo brought some measure of hope to a country ravaged by more than a decade of conflict, isolation, and economic mismanagement.

      There was no progress over Yugoslavia's future status as a federation, however. The ruling coalition government was split and perpetually on the verge of collapse; the opposition was marginalized; and political parties continued to exert influence over media much as they had during the 13 years of the Milosevic regime. The government seemed far too occupied with internal rivalries to be able to push through legal, social, and economic reforms that could rid the country of the burdens of recent decades.

      Milosevic's arrest on April 1 and his extradition to the ICTY on June 28 revealed the extent of government in-fighting. The ruling coalition, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), led by Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic, clashed with Yugoslav Pres. Vojislav Kostunica, whose Democratic Party of Serbia was the strongest member of the DOS, over the particulars of a draft extradition law and how Yugoslavia should cooperate with the ICTY. Kostunica demanded a thorough legal review of the draft law, while Djindjic pushed through a document on cooperation with the ICTY and authorized Milosevic's extradition.

      The situation in Yugoslavia's constituent republic of Montenegro remained precarious. Pres. Milo Djukanovic's drive for Montenegro's independence from Yugoslavia was imperiled by boycotts from the opposition, pressure from the international community, the worsening economic situation, and fissures within the pro-independence bloc. In April Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro and other parties that favoured independence for the republic barely won the parliamentary election. A broad consensus was lacking even on the rules and conditions for a proposed referendum, and there was considerable wrangling over whether a simple majority or a two-thirds majority would be needed to express the “national will.” Clearly, there was no large majority that would vote in favour of Montenegrin independence; opinion surveys in November indicated 52% favoured independence, 33% opposed it, and 15% remained undecided. Observers were predicting that the economic and political situation could tilt undecided voters against independence. The referendum on the issue was tentatively scheduled to take place in April 2002.

      Parliamentary elections in the Serbian province of Kosovo (under UN control) went on as planned in November without violence and with the participation of a significant number of ethnic Serbs who heeded Belgrade's call to vote and who ignored demands by their local leaders that they boycott the balloting. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe conducted the elections, and international observers generally agreed that the vote was a step toward stability. Kosovar Albanians generally opted for a more moderate approach to government and independence, while the Serbs expressed hope for a negotiated future in which they might secure real power in a new provincial assembly. The international community rejected a call for independence by moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova, whose Democratic League of Kosovo won 47 of 120 seats in the parliament. Two other pro-independence Albanian parties headed by former guerrilla leaders won 34 seats; the only slate of Kosovo Serb candidates, called the Return coalition, took 22 seats.

      The hoped-for upturn in the Yugoslav economy was not evident in 2001. According to one study, conducted by an influential nongovernmental group of economists in Serbia called G17 Plus, one out of seven citizens was worse off at the end of 2001 than the previous year. Experts suggested that Yugoslavia would require an influx of about $15 billion over the next five years to stabilize the economy. Unemployment stood at almost 30%, and officials estimated that about 40% of the population lived below the poverty line. The foreign debt rose 20% to $12 billion, and prices on basic commodities jumped 120%.

      There were positive indicators, however. According to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report in September, the Yugoslav tax system had been successfully adjusted to European standards, budgetary discipline had been restored, the central bank had taken control over the flow of currency, and the government no longer printed money to cover the budget deficit or bail out bankrupt state companies. In addition, foreign currency exchange stabilized, foreign currency reserves continued to rise, and for the first time in nearly a decade, citizens were opening savings accounts. A key privatization law, a precondition for foreign capital investment, was also passed by the parliament. These changes led to Yugoslavia's reentry into the IMF, the World Bank, and other Western institutions. A donors' conference in June pledged $1.3 billion in developmental aid for Yugoslavia, and in November the Paris Club of creditors wrote off $3 billion of Yugoslavia's debt to that organization.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2001

Area:

102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi)

Population

(2000 est.): 10,662,000

Capital:

Belgrade

Chief of state:

Presidents Slobodan Milosevic and, from October 7, Vojislav Kostunica

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Momir Bulatovic and, from November 4, Zoran Zizic

      In September and October 2000, Yugoslav voters, forming a surprisingly united democratic opposition front and mounting massive public demonstrations, ended the autocratic rule of Slobodan Milosevic—a regime that had persisted for longer than a decade.

      The events that led to Milosevic's overthrow surprised all parties involved. On October 5, angered by a Constitutional Court decision that had nullified the September 24 presidential election—which most believed had been won by the chief opposition candidate, Vojislav Kostunica (see Biographies (Kostunica, Vojislav ))—hundreds of thousands of people converged upon Belgrade. Crowds stormed the federal parliament and took over state television. They met with little resistance from police, who often joined the demonstrators. A day later the court decision was reversed, Milosevic conceded defeat, and on October 7 Kostunica was sworn in as the new president. Opposition parties also swept to victory in federal parliamentary and municipal elections. The international community quickly recognized Kostunica's victory, and the country was promptly reinstated into the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Council of Europe after having been suspended for eight years. By year's end diplomatic relations had been reestablished with the former Yugoslav republics, the U.S., and other countries.

      However great was the public astonishment and joy, discontent with the new pro-democratic leadership soon bubbled to the surface along several fault lines: a dire economic situation and severe energy crisis; continuing instability in Kosovo; new hopes for autonomy voiced by provincial leaders in Vojvodina (with a large Hungarian minority) and the Sandzak (an ethnically mixed area); debates over the future status of Montenegro, the second (with Serbia) constituent republic of Yugoslavia; and bickering between the forces that had ousted Milosevic.

      Kostunica, a former law professor, had no experience in government, and the fractious coalition of 18 parties that formed his Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) was difficult to hold together. Kostunica was a nationalist and frequently criticized U.S. support of nongovernmental bodies and independent media in Yugoslavia. He initially refused to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague in their pursuit of figures indicted as war criminals—notably Milosevic—for fear that such a move would destabilize Yugoslavia.

      The drastic decline in the standard of living and economic instability continued into the post-Milosevic era. The new leadership discovered that the former regime had emptied the state coffers as well as warehouses once filled with food, fuel, and medical supplies. Inflation raged, and prices increased to such a level that staple foodstuffs, electricity, and heating were unattainable for large numbers of people. Belgrade's Institute of Economic Sciences forecast that about 30% of the population would require welfare assistance by early 2001. With no money to finance such a program, however, the state would have to rely on foreign assistance.

      Meanwhile, Milosevic was still a presence on the scene; he was reelected head of the Socialist Party of Serbia on November 25. The former strongman was reportedly biding his time, convinced that the public would grow weary of Kostunica. He labeled the current leadership “traitors” and attributed his defeat as having been orchestrated by the West. He blamed the new leadership for making already difficult living conditions even worse and warned of severe economic hardships and renewed unrest to come. Milosevic's attempts to discredit the DOS failed, however. The DOS scored another victory in the December 23 elections to the Serbian parliament, taking 176 seats to the Socialists' 37.

      Montenegro's ruling coalition agreed to call a referendum on the republic's status by June 2001. Milo Djukanovic, Montenegro's president, said he was convinced that Montenegro and Serbia would succeed in reaching agreement on their future relations within the Yugoslav federation. Public opinion in Montenegro did not favour independence, but the majority envisioned some form of state sovereignty.

      The situation in Kosovo remained unstable more than one year after a peace settlement had ended the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Some 42,500 members of the NATO-led Kosovo Force in the province struggled to protect Serbs, Turks, and Roma (Gypsies) from ethnic Albanians seeking revenge. All the while, organized crime activities and mutual distrust among Albanian leaders hindered efforts to rebuild the economy and civil institutions. Kosovo voters gave the majority in the communal elections to Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo, and the more radical Democratic Party of Kosovo, headed by former Kosovo Liberation Army leader Hashim Thaci, finished a distant second. Because both leaders advocated Kosovo's full independence from Yugoslavia, voters viewed the election as the first step toward sovereignty. They simply opted for the less-violent methods of Rugova's party. Serbs in the province abstained from voting and by and large did not recognize the newly elected ethnic Albanians. In November ethnic Albanian militants launched an offensive into a demilitarized zone between Serbia and Kosovo in an effort to declare heavily populated Albanian districts independent of Serbia and part of Kosovo.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 2000

Area:

102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi)

Population

(1999 est.): 10,731,000

Capital:

Belgrade

Chief of state:

President Slobodan Milosevic

Head of government:

Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic

      The armed conflict between Serbs, Kosovar Albanians, and NATO dominated headlines in Yugoslavia and internationally throughout the first half of 1999. Repressions by Serb military and police forces inside the Serbian province of Kosovo grew sharply worse in the early weeks of the year. By late March the six-nation Contact Group, which had been seeking a peaceful resolution and had brought the Yugoslav authorities and representatives of the ethnic Albanian Kosovars together for talks, felt they had exhausted all options, largely owing to the intransigence of Yugoslav Pres. Slobodan Milosevic. (See Biographies (Milosevic, Slobodan ).) NATO began 78 days of bombing raids against targets in Yugoslavia on March 24. Although damage to Yugoslav military objectives was relatively minor, the upheavals to civilians in Kosovo and Serbia were horrendous, the economic effect on Yugoslavia proper was staggering, and a major refugee crisis attended on the hostilities. (For a detailed discussion of the military and peacekeeping activities, see Military Affairs: Yugoslavia (Military Affairs ), and of the refugees issue, Social Protection: Refugees and International Migration (Social Protection ), as well as the World Affairs articles Macedonia and Albania .)

      The most intense parts of the crisis were over by late June, after the NATO bombings had stopped and the security of Kosovo was guaranteed by a NATO-led peacekeeping contingent, KFOR. The conflict made the process of democratization and stability especially difficult. Uncertainties about the Milosevic regime, inflation, forced migration, illness, hunger, and unemployment—and even the possibility of more NATO attacks or civil war—kindled deep anxiety among the populace.

      On May 27 Milosevic and four other top officials were indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity, including murder in Kosovo. International passport restrictions for almost the entire ruling establishment were also laid down. These international sanctions had little effect on Milosevic's personal power, if only because of the success of the state-controlled media in painting NATO as the main demon and because of the freshness of memories of the NATO bombing in people's minds. Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia continued to clamp down on any form of dissent, claiming that it alone was rebuilding the country. Opposition leaders continued to lack a specific vision and squabbled among themselves over petty logistic matters. If the opposition agreed on one issue, it was its appeal to Western nations to ease the economic sanctions against Belgrade. Maintaining the sanctions, they pointed out, only benefited Milosevic. The police and the army remained loyal to Milosevic, and at year's end there were few signs of any serious split in the ruling establishment.

      Montenegro, Serbia's smaller partner in the Yugoslav Federation, was proving a major annoyance for Milosevic. Montenegrin Pres. Milo Djukanovic, a former Milosevic protégé, announced plans to hold a referendum on independence in February 2000 should Milosevic reject Djukanovic's demands to restructure the federation. On November 2 Montenegro introduced the Deutsche Mark as an official currency. The Yugoslav dinar would continue to be used as a “parallel” currency, but salaries and pensions were to be paid mainly in the convertible German currency, which could have a substantial impact on the economy in Serbia. On December 8 Milosevic's troops took over the airport in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, a day before Djukanovic's supporters had planned to do so.

      The future of Kosovo also remained highly uncertain. There were few signs of ethnic reconciliation, and ethnic Albanians indicated that they wanted all Serbs to get out of Kosovo. NATO's stated goal was for Kosovo to remain within Yugoslavia but with substantial autonomy. A report on crimes in Kosovo released in early December by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) contradicted statements by many countries involved in the bombing campaign, stating that there had been no widespread killing of Albanians before the NATO air attacks began. A U.S. State Department report a week later provided an estimate of 10,000 Kosovar Albanians dead during the whole year (extrapolated from some 2,000 bodies already exhumed from mass graves). The OSCE report also pointed to an increase in revenge attacks by Kosovar Albanians on Serbs and other minorities after Belgrade withdrew its forces. Nearly 400 people were murdered in Kosovo in the last half of the year, a disproportionate number of them Serbs.

      The Yugoslav economy continued its downward spiral with no signs of hope or improvement. Poverty was growing apace, with 63% of the population living on about $60 a month. Unemployment had been close to 50% before the NATO operations, and the destruction of many factories only added to the problem. European watchdog organizations said Yugoslavia had the worst record for corruption and fraud on the continent. Bucking international sanctions, the UN earmarked $208 million for humanitarian assistance and sought to deliver heating fuel to cities controlled by opposition politicians; these deliveries were seized by the government, however.

Milan Andrejevich

▪ 1999

      Area: 102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi)

      Population (1998 est.): 10,664,000

      Capital: Belgrade

      Chief of state: President Slobodan Milosevic

      Head of government: Prime Minister Radoje Kontic

      Yugoslavia's descent into poverty, ethnic violence, and authoritarianism continued unabated in 1998. Armed conflict between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, an underdeveloped province of Serbia, the population of which was about 90% ethnic Albanian, made the process of democratization especially difficult. The UN-imposed economic embargo of Serbia and Montenegro, which had been lifted at the end of the Bosnian war, was reimposed because of the violence in Kosovo. The sanctions that cut the country off from normal flows of capital remained in place in order to pressure Yugoslavia into living up to the commitments it made in the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement and also to work toward a resolution in Kosovo.

      Throughout the year the inability of international negotiators to completely halt the fighting in Kosovo led to threats of NATO air strikes. In October Pres. Slobodan Milosevic agreed to a truce that ended eight months of combat between Yugoslavia's security forces and the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army. The truce was arranged by U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke. (See BIOGRAPHIES (Holbrooke, Richard Charles Albert ).) Under the deal, Milosevic would allow the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to provide up to 2,000 civilians to monitor a cease-fire in Kosovo and to promote a political settlement that would give Kosovo greater autonomy. Late in December, however, the cease-fire was broken when government forces attacked an ethnic Albanian stronghold.

      As the violence increased dramatically in Kosovo, Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia and its coalition partners took the opportunity as an excuse to further intensify its clampdown on any form of dissension. New regulations at the University of Belgrade forced the closing of departments and the reassigning of faculty to nonexistent posts or into forced retirement or dismissal. The independent media faced a new wave of fines and confiscation of property, and nongovernmenal organizations were harassed or had their missions impeded. Foreign radio broadcasts were also banned, and locals working for or interviewed by such broadcasters were labeled "spies" and "enemies of the state."

      In the face of severe economic crisis, the country's democratic-oriented opposition virtually disintegrated, and, as a result, the Serbian Radical Party under Vojislav Seselj strengthened its power base. Late in the year Milosevic dismissed the head of the secret security service, Jovica Stanisic, who had been regarded by some as the number two man in the regime, and Yugoslav Army Chief of Staff Gen. Momcilo Perisic, who quickly called the move "inappropriate and illegal." Before his dismissal Perisic had criticized Milosevic for having allowed Yugoslavia to become a "pariah state," opposed the use of his soldiers against ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo, and had told Milosevic that he would play no part in any police or military move against a Montenegrin bid for independence.

      During the year Montenegro, Serbia's smaller partner in the Yugoslav federation, was another major concern for Milosevic. Milo Djukanovic's victory in the 1997 presidential elections in Montenegro (he assumed office in January 1998) over Milosevic's protégé Momir Bulatovic and Djukanovic's party's triumph in parliamentary balloting in May were seen as the severest blow to Milosevic's regime since his coming to power in 1986. Montenegro halted its transfer of tax revenue to the federal government, which it claimed was not legally constituted, and Montenegrin officials publicly discouraged men from reporting for Yugoslav military service. Montenegro announced plans to open its own liaison offices in five foreign capitals and considered establishing a separate Montenegrin currency. Djukanovic denounced Milosevic's refusal to grant autonomy to Kosovo and accused him of stifling freedom and economic reform.

      The Yugoslav economy continued its rapid downward decline, with no signs of hope or improvement. After having endured years of mismanagement, institutionalized corruption, and resistance to full-fledged market-oriented reforms and with the situation exacerbated by six years of international sanctions and the current Kosovo crisis, much of the population had become focused on how to survive in poverty. Unemployment was close to 50%, and the strength of the Yugoslav economy was about half its 1989 level. Milosevic bought himself some economic breathing space by selling 49% of the state telephone company to Stet of Italy and OTE of Greece for about $1 billion. The reimposition of more stringent sanctions in 1998 in response to the violent conflict in Kosovo blocked further sales of state assets, however. In addition, the expense of Belgrade's Kosovo operations was estimated by officials at $1 million per day, and this alone appeared to be pushing Yugoslavia closer to total economic collapse.

MILAN ANDREJEVICH

▪ 1998

      Area: 102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi)

      Population (1997 est.): 10,632,000

      Capital: Belgrade

      Chief of state: Presidents Zoran Lilic until June 25, Srdja Bozovic (acting) until July 23, and, from July 23, Slobodan Milosevic.

      Head of government: Prime Minister Radoje Kontic

      Yugoslavia's economic and social situation continued to deteriorate in 1997. The easing of its international isolation after the signing of the Dayton peace accords in December 1995 had little tangible effect on living standards, although the country's straitened circumstances did appear to have eroded the authority of strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

      After almost three months of protests against his regime's decision to annul opposition victories in 32 municipal elections held on Nov. 17, 1996, Milosevic decided to recognize his Socialist Party of Serbia's (SPS's) defeat. The Socialists, in alliance with two other leftist parties (one led by Milosevic's wife), still dominated Serbia's parliament and retained control of the media, security forces, and municipal budgets. Constitutionally barred from another term as president of Serbia, Milosevic became president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (comprising Serbia and Montenegro) in July.

      Many voters in Serbia's parliamentary and presidential elections in September and October turned to the right, and candidates of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) finished second behind Milosevic's much-weakened SPS. The SRS leader and mayor of Zemun, Vojislav Seselj, received more votes than SPS candidate Zoran Lilic in the second round of presidential balloting, but the post remained vacant because of an unacceptably low voter turnout. Lilic was replaced by Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic as the Socialists' candidate for the December 7 runoff elections, but the results again were inconclusive, and a new election was held on December 21. Milutinovic was the winner and was sworn in as president on December 29.

      Another indication of Milosevic's waning influence came in Montenegro, where his protégé, Pres. Momir Bulatovic, was defeated by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic in presidential balloting in October. The two men had cofounded the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, but they and the party split over relations with Serbia and economic and political reforms. Djukanovic was slated to take over the presidency in January 1998, but Bulatovic maintained that the election was fraudulent. The parliament drafted a new electoral law and scheduled extraordinary parliamentary elections for May 1998 but could not break the impasse.

      The situation in Serbia's predominately ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo remained tense. Less than a year after Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova, head of the shadow government of the "Republic of Kosovo," signed an agreement calling for the reintegration of Kosovo schools and the return of some 300,000 Albanian-speaking children to classes, clashes between Serbian security forces and Albanians intensified. The agreement, which had been pushed by Western countries and was hailed as the first major breakthrough in normalizing relations between Serbs and Albanians, was never implemented. Rugova appealed for Western mediation, but Milosevic was unenthusiastic. Several European countries and the U.S. advocated a special status for Kosovo to guarantee local autonomy but emphasized that secession was not an option.

      The federal Yugoslav economy, devastated by international trade sanctions, years of mismanagement, failure to push privatization, half-hearted reforms, and lack of interest by foreign investors, showed little signs of improvement. Belgrade economists predicted that the overall economic picture throughout Yugoslavia would remain bleak for at least five more years. On the last day of 1996, Milosevic had promised that 1997 would be a year of reforms, and the Serbian government reiterated that pledge for reforms in October. Deputy Prime Minister Danko Djunic, a nonparty economist who was well-connected internationally, was entrusted with the task of guiding reforms and improving Yugoslavia's image abroad.

      In July Serbia's parliament passed a voluntary privatization scheme to take effect on October 31. The valuation procedures were lengthy and cumbersome, however, and seemed likely to remain unattractive to foreign investors. International financial and aid institutions were also demanding greater compliance with the Dayton peace agreement. Nevertheless, a number of foreign companies toured Serbia and Montenegro looking for firms to buy. One success was the purchase of 49% of Serbia's postal and telephone company by Italian and Greek companies for something under $1 billion.

MILAN ANDREJEVICH

▪ 1997

      A federal republic comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, Macedonia and Albania to the south, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, and Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west. Area: 102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 10,473,000. Cap.: Belgrade. Monetary unit: new dinar, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a free rate of 5.06 new dinars = U.S. $1 (7.97 new dinars = £1 sterling). President in 1996, Zoran Lilic; prime minister, Radoje Kontic.

      The pivotal point in Yugoslav politics in 1996—and possibly for the career of Serbian Pres. Slobodan Milosevic, came on November 17, when local elections were held. Surprisingly, in the elections Milosevic's ruling Socialists lost majorities to the centrist-right opposition alliance Zajedno ("Together") in at least 14 of the country's 18 largest cities, including the capital, Belgrade.

      Devastated by international trade sanctions, years of mismanagement, failure to institute privatization, and halfhearted approaches to reform, the economy showed only slight signs of improvement during the year. Nearly one-third of the population was still unemployed, according to September 1996 figures, though the average annual wage reached $141, almost double the amount of a year earlier. Gross national product in 1996 was projected to be slightly higher than the 1995 total of $7.7 billion. Agriculture also continued to languish.

      On May 8 an estimated 10,000 workers from the Nis Electronics Industry, one of the largest firms in Yugoslavia, went on strike, and in September-October the country's largest armaments and munitions manufacturer, in Kragujevac, was the scene of a strike involving 15,000 workers. With elections approaching, the opposition leaders backed the workers, and the government was obliged to meet most of their demands.

      It was not at all certain, however, that the workers would support Zajedno at the polls. In fact, the opposition was given only the slimmest chance of winning. Early in the campaign Dragoslav Avramovic stepped down as Zajedno leader, and the alliance suffered from its inability to enunciate a clear political strategy and from a lack of access to the state-controlled mass media.

      Nonetheless, by November 19 it was clear that the opposition had won in at least 32 municipalities and had swept a majority of the seats in the Belgrade city council. Jubilant demonstrations followed. The government, however, citing vague electoral "irregularities," announced that it would annul the election results and hold a third round.

      Protesting the government's action, the crowds began gathering daily, growing in size to as many as 200,000 by mid-December. Opposition deputies walked out of the federal parliament on December 10 and joined the demonstrators, and there were rumours that some military units were sympathetic to Zajedno as well.

      Significantly, except in Nis, Serbia's second largest city, the demonstrators were not joined by the workers. Although riot police began to be sent in on December 24, at the same time that Milosevic supporters were bused into central Belgrade for a counterdemonstration, a violent government crackdown never materialized. The one notable episode of violence took place that same day; 58 people were injured, one later dying of gunshot wounds. Milosevic banned demonstrations from December 25 onward, but they were still occurring at the year's end.

      On December 27 a mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe led by former Spanish prime minister Felipe González Márquez publicly warned the Serbian strongman that he should accede to the election results. Milosevic's isolation at home and internationally deepened as Montenegro, the second constituent republic of Yugoslavia, too sought to distance itself from the events in Serbia.

      Some small progress was made in resolving Serbia's differences with its predominantly ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo. Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova, president of the self-styled shadow government of the Republic of Kosovo, signed an agreement on September 1 calling for the reintegration of Kosovo schools and the return of some 300,000 Albanian children to classes. The agreement was hailed as the first major breakthrough in normalizing relations between Serbs and Albanians in the region.

      Yugoslavia established full diplomatic relations with Macedonia in April, initiated bilateral ties with Croatia in August, and agreed with Bosnia and Herzegovina on inaugurating diplomatic relations in October. (MILAN ANDREJEVICH)

      This article updates Yugoslavia, history of (Serbia).

▪ 1996

      A federal republic comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, Macedonia and Albania to the south, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, and Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west. Area: 102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi). Pop. (1995 est.): 10,555,000. Cap.: Belgrade. Monetary unit: new dinar (second), with (Oct. 6, 1995) a par value equal to the Deutsche Mark (free rates of 1.42 new dinars [second] = U.S. $1 and 2.25 new dinars [second] = £ 1 sterling). President in 1995, Zoran Lilic; prime minister, Radoje Kontic.

      Serbia's president, Slobodan Milosevic, regarded by many as the principal instigator of the war in former Yugoslavia, continued to play a key role in the peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995. As before, his main concern seemed to be the lifting of UN sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia in May 1992 because of its involvement in the Bosnian war. Meanwhile, Milosevic continued to maintain a firm grip on power at home in Serbia and, to lesser degree, in Montenegro.

      During the first half of 1995, Yugoslavia continued to supply military aid and personnel to the Serbs of western Slavonia and the self-declared "Serb Republic of Krajina" in Croatia. In response to appeals from Croatian Serbs for more soldiers, the Yugoslav authorities rounded up able-bodied Serbs from Croatia living in Serbia and sent them to the Serb-controlled regions of Croatia. Politically, however, Yugoslavia continued to distance itself from the Croatian Serbs and their policy of close cooperation with the Bosnian Serb leaders, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Yugoslavia made no attempt to go to the aid of Serbs of western Slavonia in May or the Serbs of the Krajina in August when Croatia recaptured these areas in lightning military actions. Some Serb refugees were allowed to enter Yugoslavia and were typically sent either to Kosovo province, largely populated by the Albanian minority, or to Vojvodina, where they were given the homes of Croats and Hungarians who had fled or been expelled.

      In June Milosevic played a key role in the release of UN hostages who had been captured by Bosnian Serbs following NATO raids on arms dumps near Pale, the Bosnian Serb headquarters near Sarajevo. Milosevic sent Jovica Stanisic, his chief of secret police, to put pressure on Karadzic and Mladic to release the hostages. They were all released by June 18. On November 28 Milosevic carried out a purge of pro-Karadzic members of his own party, including the party's vice president, Borislav Jovic, his close ally from the last days of former Yugoslavia, and Mihailo Markovic, Milosevic's chief ideologue in the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the recycled League of Communists of Serbia. Jovic published a diary late in the year that was extremely unflattering of the Serbian president and suggested that he deliberately began the war in Yugoslavia. A similar purge had been carried out earlier in the organs of the mass media, where heads of radio and television as well as of some of the most important newspapers, such as the daily Politika, were replaced by people more attuned to Milosevic's policy in Bosnia.

      The Bosnian Serbs' military actions in July, the bloody conquest of Srebrenica and Zepa, the threat to Gorazde, and the military push in the Bihac area all contributed to the marginalization of the Serbian political opposition. Meanwhile, Milosevic seemed to be attempting, with the aid of his wife, Mirjana Markovic, who led a small party called the United Yugoslav Left, to take Serbia away from a policy of overt nationalism. Often by precipitating scandals or using other means of pressure, pro-government people were slowly taking over constituencies where the opposition had won in 1993. The most radical nationalist opponent of Milosevic's, Vojislav Seselj, an erstwhile ally, had been imprisoned following an incident engineered by the secret police. His parliamentary immunity was lifted during a nocturnal session of the parliament, and he was quickly packed off to prison. Opinion polls, even in the small independent Belgrade press, showed Milosevic by far the most popular politician in the country.

      His popularity in Serbia increased still further in the wake of the U.S.-brokered negotiations at Dayton, Ohio, in November at which he was seen to be playing a key role, negotiating on behalf of the Bosnian Serbs. Milosevic's greatest triumph in the eyes of war-weary Serbs was the lifting of sanctions by the United States after the signing of the Balkan accords in Paris on December 14. Throughout the year the constituent republic of Montenegro demonstrated irritation with Serbian policies. It refused to cooperate in the roundup of Serb troops to fight in Croatian territories, and it viewed Serbia's refusal to recognize Croatia unless it ceded the strategic Prevlaka promontory (at the entrance to the Yugoslav Gulf of Kotor naval base) as a potential threat to Montenegro's postwar relations with Croatia. In October Montenegro withheld payment of customs duties and taxes to the federal government as a protest against its nonpayment of Montenegrin pensions and disability benefits. One of the most prominent figures from the Tito era, Milovan Djilas, a dissident and writer hailing from Montenegro, died on April 20 at the age of 83.

      Industrial production in Yugoslavia in January-November 1995 was 4.6% higher than in the corresponding period of 1994 but 48.5% lower than in 1991. Inflation was running at an annual rate of 114%. (K.F. CVIIC)

      This updates the article Yugoslavia, history of (Serbia).

▪ 1995

      A federal republic comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, Macedonia and Albania to the south, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, and Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west. Area: 102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 10,515,000. Cap.: Belgrade. Monetary unit: new dinar (second) or "super dinar," with (Sept. 26, 1994) a par value (from January 24) equal to the Deutsche Mark (free rates of 1.56 new dinars [second] = U.S. $1 and 2.47 new dinars [second] = £1 sterling); hyperinflation caused major ongoing devaluations in 1993, but inflation was close to zero in 1994. President in 1994, Zoran Lilic; prime minister, Radoje Kontic.

      Slobodan Milosevic, the president of Serbia since 1989, strengthened his grip on power in Yugoslavia in 1994. Internationally, Milosevic, for so long condemned as a warmonger and even a war criminal, completed his truly breathtaking metamorphosis, begun in 1993, into a champion of peace in former Yugoslavia.

      Although Milosevic's Socialist (former Communist) Party of Serbia had secured only 123 seats in the country's 250-seat single-chamber assembly in the December 1993 election, it managed to attract to its side eight opposition deputies. After lengthy negotiations, on March 15 the Socialists formed a government with Mirko Marjanovic, a Socialist deputy, as prime minister. The Socialists came under strong attack from their erstwhile ally, Vojislav Seselj, a Bosnian Serb and leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party. Following a fight with another deputy in the Belgrade assembly, Seselj was deprived of his parliamentary immunity, arrested, and charged with defaming the president of Serbia and incitement to disorder and unrest.

      Several trials of Serbs charged with having committed atrocities while serving with Serb paramilitary units (including Seselj's) in Croatia in 1991 and Bosnia in 1992-93 were held as part of Milosevic's policy of distancing himself from those wars. This implied no relaxation of government control over the mass media. Purges were carried out in both state-controlled television and the Politika newspaper and magazine publishing house. Belgrade continued to keep a firm grip on Kosovo, the former autonomous province with an Albanian majority, reannexed to Serbia in 1989. In Sandzak, a Muslim-majority region in Serbia contiguous to Bosnia, 24 local members of the mainly Muslim Party of Democratic Action were sentenced on October 13 to jail terms of up to six years for "plotting to violate the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia."

      Milosevic also succeeded in maintaining indirect political control over the Serbs in the occupied territories in Croatia and obtained the reelection of his man, Milan Martic, as president in January. Milosevic was, however, less successful in imposing his will on Radovan Karadzic, leader of the so-called Serbian Republic in Bosnia. Milosevic repeatedly appealed in July to Karadzic and his army commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic, to accept the plan for Bosnia prepared by the "contact group" (Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the U.S.) that offered 49% of the republic's territory to the Serbs and 51% to the Muslim-Croat federation. Karadzic's rejection of the plan led to the imposition by Serbia on August 4 of an embargo on deliveries to Bosnian Serbs of all but essential medical and humanitarian supplies. Serbia's media links with the Bosnian Serbs were also cut. On September 24 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 943, partially lifting for a period of 100 days sanctions originally imposed on Yugoslavia by the UN Security Council in May 1992 for its role in the war against Bosnia.

      This diplomatic success for Milosevic helped increase his popularity at home. His stock had already risen after the introduction on January 24 of the economic plan prepared by Dragoslav Avramovic, a former official of the International Monetary Fund. The plan introduced a high degree of financial and fiscal responsibility and tempered Serbia's hyperinflation, which had reached an annual percentage rate of 313 million by January 1994. The "super dinar" (unofficially called "avram") pegged to the Deutsche Mark became Yugoslavia's new currency.

      Yugoslavia's relations with Hungary improved following a visit to Belgrade in January by Geza Jeszenszky, Hungary's foreign minister. The slow thaw in the relations with Croatia continued with the establishment of diplomatic missions in Zagreb and Belgrade. Following elections on December 19, the Socialist Party of Serbia was three seats short of a majority in the parliament. Ethnic Hungarians, however, hesitated to join the government, fearing that their participation in a coalition would weaken their demand for autonomy in the province of Vojvodina. (K.F. CVIIC)

      This updates the article Yugoslavia, history of (Serbia).

▪ 1994

      A federal republic comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, Macedonia and Albania to the south, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, and Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west. Area: 102,173 sq km (39,449 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 10,561,000. Cap.: Belgrade. Monetary unit: Yugoslav new dinar, with (Oct. 4, 1993) a free rate of 104.24 new dinars to U.S. $1 (157.92 new dinars = £ 1 sterling); hyperinflation has caused major ongoing devaluations since the beginning of 1992. Presidents in 1993, Dobrica Cosic until June 1 and, from June 25, Zoran Lilic; prime minister, Radoje Kontic.

      Many observers might think it remarkable, but the Socialist (former Communist) regime of Slobodan Milosevic, president of Serbia since 1989, managed to maintain and even consolidate its power in 1993. To be sure, it was helped by the hugely popular territorial conquests, constantly glorified by the state-controlled mass media in Serbia, and applauded by Belgrade-backed Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, even in the teeth of widespread but ineffectual international disapproval. Milosevic's political strength overcame growing economic hardship and hyperinflation. In August Yugoslavia reached a monthly inflation rate of 1,880%; in December it was about 300,000% and still rising. UN-imposed economic sanctions continued to hit Yugoslavia hard, but thanks to its porous borders with Albania, Bulgaria, and Macedonia plus the tacit support of its close ally, Greece, it continued to import sufficient quantities of essentials such as oil and to export enough goods (including arms) to cover about 80% of the cost of its imports.

      Following earlier extensive purges of its officer corps, on August 26 the Yugoslav Army (the former Yugoslav National Army) was placed under the control of Gen. Momcilo Perisic, a Milosevic loyalist and veteran of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. In June Milosevic secured the elimination from his post as president of Yugoslavia a strong Serb nationalist and his erstwhile ally, the writer Dobrica Cosic, who had attempted to exercise his powers as commander in chief by independently summoning army generals to see him.

      Serbia's divided opposition proved unable to offer a serious challenge to Milosevic. The police broke up a popular demonstration in Belgrade on June 1 and severely beat and subsequently arrested Vuk Draskovic, the charismatic leader of the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement. In October a series of clashes over the policy toward Bosnia occurred between Milosevic and his erstwhile protégé and ally Vojislav Seselj, leader of the semifascist Serbian Radical Party. Seselj, a Bosnian Serb and bitter enemy of Radovan Karadzic, Milosevic's man in Bosnia, accused Milosevic and Karadzic of plotting to sell out in Bosnia in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against Yugoslavia. When Seselj called for a vote of no confidence in the government, Milosevic dissolved the parliament and called new elections. During the campaign Seselj was portrayed in the state-controlled media as a war criminal guilty of serious atrocities in the war in Croatia in 1991 and Bosnia in 1992. Milosevic's main ally in the campaign was Zeljko Raznjatovic, who aligned his Party of Serbian Unity with Milosevic's Serbian Socialist Party. Better known by his nom de guerre, Arkan, Raznjatovic had been a deputy from Kosovo since December 1992, but he was also notorious in Europe as a criminal and a spy for the Yugoslav security service who had reportedly enriched himself in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. In the event, however, Milosevic failed to achieve a majority, winning only 123 of the 250 seats at stake in the December 19 polling.

      Throughout the year pressure was maintained—on the whole successfully—by Belgrade against the political opposition in Kosovo, the 90% ethnic Albanian province fully reintegrated into Serbia. Aware of the local Albanians' weakness against the Serbs as well as of the inability of Albania to come to their rescue, the moderate Kosovar leadership under its unofficial president, Ibrahim Rugova, put up no serious opposition. Belgrade's confidence over Kosovo was demonstrated by its decision earlier in the year to expel the international monitoring group stationed there since 1992 at the request of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. This decision provoked Western protests but no retaliation. The Milosevic regime also managed to maintain political control in the volatile Sandzak, an area with a Muslim majority next door to Bosnia.

      In the second half of the year, the Milosevic regime ran into increasing political trouble in Montenegro, Serbia's small but strategically important federal partner. As early as March, Montenegro's president, Momir Bulatovic, had demonstrated a tendency toward independent action by taking into the new government members of the opposition Liberal Alliance, which had been critical of Milosevic's policy of curtailing Montenegro's autonomy. As part of its policy of diversifying Montenegro's foreign relations, Bulatovic visited Albania in September. Soon afterward, a large convoy carrying food for Montenegro was halted on the Montenegrin-Serbian border, causing an upsurge of anti-Serbian feeling. A week earlier the Liberal Alliance, with 13 seats in the 85-seat Montenegrin parliament, had left the coalition in protest against Montenegro's subordinate relationship with Serbia. The People's Party (14 seats) proposed a vote of no confidence in the government. (K.F. CVIIC)

      This updates the article Yugoslavia, history of (Serbia).

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▪ former federated nation, 1929–2003

Introduction

 former federated country situated on the west-central Balkan Peninsula.

      This article briefly examines the history of Yugoslavia from 1929 until 2003, when it became the federated union of Serbia and Montenegro (which further separated into its component parts in 2006). For more detail, see the articles Serbia, Montenegro, and Balkans.

      Three federations have borne the name Yugoslavia (“Land of the South Slavs”). The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Kraljevina Jugoslavija), officially proclaimed in 1929 and lasting until World War II, covered 95,576 square miles (247,542 square km). The postwar Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija) covered 98,766 square miles (255,804 square km) and had a population of about 24 million by 1991. In addition to Serbia and Montenegro, it included four other republics now recognized as independent states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia. The “third Yugoslavia,” inaugurated on April 27, 1992, had roughly 45 percent of the population and 40 percent of the area of its predecessor and consisted of only two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, which agreed to abandon the name Yugoslavia in 2003 and rename the country Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006 the union was disbanded, and two independent countries were formed.

The first Yugoslavia

      After the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 ended Turkish rule in the Balkan Peninsula and Austria-Hungary was defeated in World War I, the Paris Peace Conference underwrote a new pattern of state boundaries in the Balkans. The major beneficiary there was a newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Kingdom of), which comprised the former kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro (including Serbian-held Macedonia), as well as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austrian territory in Dalmatia and Slovenia, and Hungarian land north of the Danube River. Great difficulty was experienced in crafting this multinational state. Croats favoured a federal structure that would respect the diversity of traditions, while Serbs favoured a unitary state that would unite their scattered population in one country. The unitarist solution prevailed. The 1921 constitution established a highly centralized state, under the Serbian Karadjordjević dynasty, in which legislative power was exercised jointly by the monarchy and the Skupština (assembly). The king appointed a Council of Ministers and retained significant foreign policy prerogatives. The assembly only considered legislation that had already been drafted, and local government acted in effect as the transmission belt for decisions made in Belgrade. After a decade of acrimonious party struggle, King Alexander I in 1929 prorogued the assembly, declared a royal dictatorship, and changed the name of the state to Yugoslavia. The historical regions were replaced by nine prefectures (banovine), all drafted deliberately to cut across the lines of traditional regions. None of these efforts reconciled conflicting views about the nature of the state, until in 1939 Croat and Serb leaders negotiated the formation of a new prefecture uniting Croat areas under a single authority with a measure of autonomy. Whether this would have laid the basis for a durable settlement is unclear, as the first Yugoslavia was brought to an end by World War II and the Axis powers' invasion in April 1941.

      The economic problems of the new South Slav state had been to some extent a reflection of its diverse origins. Particularly in the north, communications systems had been built primarily to serve Austria-Hungary, and rail links across the Balkans had been controlled by the European great powers. As a result, local needs had never been met. Under the new monarchy, some industrial development took place, significantly financed by foreign capital. In addition, the centralized government had its own economic influence, as seen in heavy military expenditure, the creation of an inflated civil service, and direct intervention in productive industries and in the marketing of agricultural goods. Modernization of the economy was largely confined to the north, creating deep regional disparities in productivity and standards of living. By the outbreak of war in 1941, Yugoslavia was still a poor and predominantly rural state, with more than three-fourths of economically active people engaged in agriculture. Birth rates were among the highest in Europe, and illiteracy rates exceeded 60 percent in most rural areas.

The second Yugoslavia

      Socialist Yugoslavia was formed in 1946 after Josip Broz Tito (Tito, Josip Broz) and his communist-led Partisans had helped liberate the country from German rule in 1944–45. This second Yugoslavia covered much the same territory as its predecessor, with the addition of land acquired from Italy in Istria and Dalmatia. The kingdom was replaced by a federation of six nominally equal republics: Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. In Serbia the two provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina were given autonomous status in order to acknowledge the specific interests of Albanians and Magyars, respectively.

      Despite this federal form, the new state was at first highly centralized both politically and economically, with power held firmly by Tito's Communist Party of Yugoslavia and a constitution closely modeled on that of the Soviet Union. In 1953, 1963, and 1974, however, a succession of constitutional reforms created an ever more loosely coordinated union, the locus of power being steadily shifted downward from the federal level to economic enterprises, municipalities, and republic-level apparatuses of the Communist Party (renamed the League of Communists of Yugoslavia). Throughout this complex evolution, the Yugoslav system consisted of three levels of government: the communes (opštine), the republics, and the federation. The 500 communes were direct agents for the collection of most government revenue, and they also provided social services.

      Under the constitution of 1974, the assemblies of the communes, republics, and autonomous provinces consisted of three chambers. The Chamber of Associated Labour was formed from delegations representing self-managing work organizations; the Chamber of Local Communities consisted of citizens drawn from territorial constituencies; and the Sociopolitical Chamber was elected from members of the Socialist Alliance of the Working People of Yugoslavia, the League of Communists, the trade unions, and organizations of war veterans, women, and youth. The federal assembly (Skupština) had only two chambers: the Federal Chamber, consisting of 220 delegates from work organizations, communes, and sociopolitical bodies; and the Chamber of Republics and Provinces, containing 88 delegates from republican and provincial assemblies.

      The executive functions of government were carried out by the Federal Executive Council, which consisted of a president, members representing the republics and provinces, and officials representing various administrative agencies. In 1974 the presidency of the federation was vested for life in Tito; following his death in 1980, it was transferred to an unwieldy rotating collective presidency of regional representatives.

      After 1945 the communist government nationalized large landholdings, industrial enterprises, public utilities, and other resources and launched a strenuous process of industrialization. After a split with the Soviet Union in 1948, however, Yugoslavia placed greater reliance on market mechanisms. A distinctive feature of this new “Yugoslav system” was “workers' self-management,” which reached its fullest form in the 1976 Law on Associated Labour. Under this law, individuals participated in Yugoslav society through the work organizations in which they were employed. Work organizations might be either “Basic Organizations of Associated Labour” (a single industrial enterprise, for instance) or “Complex Organizations of Associated Labour” uniting different segments of an overall activity (e.g., manufacture and distribution). Each work organization was governed by a workers' council, which elected a board of management to run the enterprise. Managers were nominally the servants of the workers' councils, although in practice their training and access to information and other resources gave them a significant advantage over ordinary workers.

      Under the new system, remarkable growth was achieved between 1953 and 1965, but development subsequently slowed. In the absence of real stimulus to efficiency, workers' councils often raised wage levels above the true earning capacities of their organizations, usually with the connivance of local banks and political officials. Inflation and unemployment emerged as serious problems, particularly during the 1980s, and productivity remained low. Such defects in the system were patched over by massive and uncoordinated foreign borrowing, but after 1983 the International Monetary Fund demanded extensive economic restructuring as a precondition for further support. The conflict over how to meet this demand resurrected old animosities between the wealthier northern and western regions, which were required to contribute funds to federally administered development programs, and the poorer southern and eastern regions, where these funds were frequently invested in relatively inefficient enterprises or in unproductive prestige projects. Such differences contributed directly to the disintegration of the second Yugoslavia.

The third Yugoslavia

      On June 25, 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their secession from the Yugoslav federation. Macedonia followed suit on December 19, and, in February–March 1992, Bosnian Croats and Muslims voted to secede. As civil war raged, Serbia and Montenegro created a new federation, adopting a new constitution on April 27, 1992. This document created a federal government consisting of a bicameral legislative assembly, a president elected by the assembly, a prime minister nominated by the president and approved by the assembly, a federal court, a state prosecutor, and a national bank. The greater part of social and economic affairs remained within the purview of the republics, with the federal government taking responsibility for defense and security, foreign policy, the monetary system and unified market, human and civil rights, and communications systems. Serbia and Montenegro also had their own governments under separate constitutions.

      Economic sanctions and a reorganization in the Yugoslav parliament finally ended support for Serb rebellions in Bosnia and Croatia in 1995. Meanwhile, growing pressure in Kosovo from the majority ethnic Albanians for greater autonomy escalated into civil war in 1998. In the wake of failed international efforts to mediate the conflict and in response to a major Serbian military offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization retaliated in March 1999 with a bombing campaign, prompting Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević to order a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” that made refugees of hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians. In June, however, a peace accord was reached. A change in the Yugoslav government late in 2000 brought reinstatement in the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Nevertheless, agitation continued in Kosovo and Montenegro for independence.

      To alleviate the concerns of many European Union (EU) leaders, who feared that independence in Montenegro might once again unleash destructive forces that devastated the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the Yugoslav and Montenegrin presidents and the Serbian prime minister agreed to an EU-brokered accord that would maintain the federal union but with greater autonomy for each partner. The agreement, ratified in 2003, renamed the country Serbia and Montenegro and effectively consigned the name Yugoslavia to the annals of history.

John B. Allcock Ed.

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