H. Res. 149
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
April 9, 2003.
Whereas Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic symbolized the hopes
of a new generation of Serbs exhausted by decades of war
and turmoil until he was felled by 2 sniper bullets in
front of his office in the center of Belgrade on Wednes-
day, March 12, 2003;
Whereas Djindjic’s killing was a heinous attack on democ-
racy;
Whereas Zoran Djindjic was born on August 1, 1952, in Bos-
nia and became politically active during his student years
at the University of Belgrade;
Whereas after spending several months in jail for attempting
to create an autonomous noncommunist student organi-
zation with fellow students from Croatia and Slovenia,
Zoran Djindjic moved to Germany, where he earned a
doctorate in philosophy under Ju¨rgen Habermas in 1979,
and returned to Yugoslavia in 1989 to teach philosophy
at Novi Sad University;
Whereas in 1989, Djindjic joined a group of Serb dissident
writers and intellectuals to found the Democratic Party;
Whereas one year later, Djindjic was voted the Chairman of
the Democratic Party Executive Board and in January
1994, he was elected the party’s president;
•HRES 149 EH
Whereas Djindjic became a member of the Serbian Par-
liament in 1990, serving as the party’s parliamentary
group whip and a member of the Republic’s Council at
the Federal Parliament 3 years later;
Whereas following 88 days of mass protests over electoral
manipulation during local elections in 1996, Zoran
Djindjic was elected Belgrade’s first noncommunist
mayor since World War II;
Whereas Djindjic is widely believed to be the chief strategist
and main organizer behind the Yugoslav presidential elec-
tions of September 24, 2000, and the uprising of October
5, 2000, that resulted in the overthrow and delivery of
former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugo-
slavia (ICTY), that was investigating atrocities com-
mitted during the tragic and violent breakup of Yugo-
slavia;
Whereas subsequent cooperation with the ICTY has been
judged to be less than optimal, but in recent months
Prime Minister Djindjic moved forcefully to fight the or-
ganized criminal structures that Serbia inherited from
the Milosevic era and to arrest war criminals who have
remained at large;
Whereas Djindjic is also credited with masterminding the
Serbian elections of December 2000, in which the Demo-
cratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a coalition of 18 par-
ties spanning a broad range of the political spectrum,
won 65 percent of the popular vote;
Whereas the DOS elected Djindjic to be Prime Minister of
Serbia on January 25, 2001;
•HRES 149 EH
Whereas during his 2-year tenure as Prime Minister, Zoran
Djindjic sought to advance democracy, human rights, free
market reforms, and the rule of law;
Whereas Djindjic’s leadership raised desperately low living
standards and advanced the integration of Serbia into
Europe; and
Whereas Prime Minister Djindjic managed to maintain a dis-
parate 17-party coalition government with a narrow ma-
jority in order to achieve these urgently needed reforms:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That—
(1) the House of Representatives offers its condo-
lences and deepest sympathy to the people of Serbia and
the family of Zoran Djindjic following the assassination
of Prime Minister Djindjic;
(2) the House of Representatives understands that
organized criminal groups within Serbian society con-
tinue to threaten the free and democratic government of
Serbia and Montenegro;
(3) the House of Representatives recognizes that
while implementing necessary reforms and cooperating
with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia may carry significant risks for the leadership
of Serbia and Montenegro, these reforms and this co-
operation are necessary and must continue; and
(4) it is the sense of the House of Representatives
that the United States should support continued demo-
•HRES 149 EH
cratic reforms initiated by Zoran Djindjic, should urge
his successors to dedicate themselves to continue to sup-
port his road to reform, and should pledge to assist Ser-
bia and its new leadership in accomplishing these nec-
essary reforms, including efforts to fight organized crime
and corruption.
Attest:
Clerk.