Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Flag of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

States of former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY highlighted in red)

## Nation Details

### Government

Federal parliamentary constitutional republic

### People

Serbians, Bosnians, Albanians, Croatians, Hungarians, Montenegrins

### Currency

Yugoslav Dinar (YUM)

The **Federal Republic of Yugoslavia** (**FR Yugoslavia** or **FRY**; Савезна Република Југославија / *Savezna Republika Jugoslavija*) is a country located in Southeast Europe, created from the three federal republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina) after its breakup in 1992.

## History

### Post-Tito period, breakup of Yugoslavia

Though Yugoslavia prospered under the rule of the President For Life, Josip Broz Tito, his death in 4 May 1980 left the nation in a power vacuum. Ethnic tensions and nationalism was on the rise, and the nation was plunged into economic hardships. The 'Anti-Bureaucratic Revolution' of 1988 was the final nail in the coffin: Serbia was now seen as an antagonist by many nations within the Yugoslavia as an aggressor, and war was inevitable.

### Yugoslav Wars

1992 saw the secession of Slovenia and Macedonia. This would lead to the Slovenian War of Independence (often called 'Ten-Day War' due to how short it was), which saw a resounding victory for the Slovenes. Though this war is often seen as a 'David versus Goliath' scenario, Slovenian forces were well-prepared and well-armed and in full readiness. This would lead to reforms and revisions in the tactics of JNA.

Macedonia's secession was more uneventful in comparison, as their constitution would guarantee future participation with former Yugoslav states.

Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War would not be decided so easily however, as the bloody wars would continue for many more years. War crimes the likes of which hadn't been seen until World War II would emerge, and the United Nations soon found itself forced to act. The VNB (Verenigde Naties-Beschermingsmacht, United Nations Protection Force) was formed, and while initially opposed by USSR and FRY, its first contingent would be sent in February 1993. Led by East German and Italian forces and supported by Turkey and Hungary, any and all use of force was permitted in preventing war crimes and bringing war criminals to justice.

Bosnian War would end in 1994 with the Bosniak forces defeated, and would lead to the Fall of Sarajevo. While explicit orders were given to spare the civilians in the city, these orders were ignored in the field and chaos ensued. This would give way to the 'Library Incident', due to its proximity to the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An Italian VNB squad, when attempting to arrest a Serbian soldier for sexually assaulting a woman, came under fire from the nearby Serbian forces. This would lead to a five-day long siege of the VNB contingent in the area, ending with the President Zoran Lilić personally stepping in to re-establish order.

War in Croatia would drag on however, and would reach a stalemate in 1995. Negotiations would last a full year, but by 1996, Croatia would have her independence as well.

This would not be the end of war however, as the Kosovo War would start in 1998. Once again the war would prove to be bloody, with accusations of war crimes from both sides. While UN threatened to intervene once again, the war would close down before that came to be.

### Growing Dissent

Dissent against Slobodan Milošević's regime grew, both from outside and within. The Bosniak strikes and protests of 1998 would turn into riots, and in 1999; civil unrest. The threat of another war appeared, and UN once again threatened to intervene. The regime, which had been planning to crack down even harder on the unrest, was left in a state of crisis and forced to seek non-violent ways to end the violence.

2000 would see Milošević's regime being overthrown in what would be called the 'Bulldozer Revolution'. This was achieved swiftly and quickly, and without much blood. Ratko Kačić, the current president of FRY, would be elected soon in the same year. These events would soon be followed by many extraditions and arrests of politicians that served with the Milošević regime.

Today, FRY stands on shaky ground: Its Bosniak population is rumored to be gearing for an insurgency, its Albanian population is restless as always, and Montenegro seeks to distance itself from Belgrade. Despite this, Kačić's regime has thus far been able to establish better trust in Belgrade. FRY retains its non-aligned sentiment of the SFRY days, but at the same time seeks foreign investment and assistance to re-establish and modernize her economy.

## Politics

The Federal Assembly of FRY is composed of two chambers: the Council of Citizens and the Council of Republics. Whereas the Council of Citizens serves as an ordinary assembly, representing the people of FRY, the Council of Republics is made equally by representatives from each of the federation's republics, to ensure federal equality.

FRY is composed of four states: The republics of Serbia (encompassing the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina), Montenegro, Bosnia and Kosovo (gaining its status in 2003). Each state and Vojvodina get equal amounts of representation in terms of voting power, varying degrees of freedom to lead their internal policies, and retroactively participate in Serbian decision-making as states of the FRY.

Throughout the 90s, leadership of the FRY president was unstable with no president lasting more than four years in office. The rule of Slobodan Milošević, who was a prominent figure in FRY's politics, was characterized by abuse of power, with his party dominating the governing coalitions and holding all the key administrative posts despite being wildly unpopular.

The presidential election in 2000 was accused of being the result of vote fraud. Yugoslav citizens took to the streets and engaged in riots in Belgrade demanding that Milošević be removed from power. Shortly afterwards Milošević resigned and Ratko Kačić, who remains president to this day, took over.

On March 12, 2002, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated. Yugoslavia reacted swiftly by calling a state of emergency and undertaking an unprecedented crackdown on organized crime which led to the arrest of more than 6,000 people. It would also lead to the arrest and extradition of Milošević and many infamous criminal leaders such as Željko 'Arkan' Ražnatović to the ICTY. This would have the side effect of eliminating much of the corruption within the state, paving the way for radical reforms.

### Foreign Relations

Despite earning considerable ire from almost all of her neighbors due to the wars, FRY has made substantial efforts to make up for the past bloodshed, best exemplified by the recent extradition of infamous criminal leaders. She enjoys an especially warm state of affairs with the USSR, though this is not a sign of FRY leaning to the WP side: To the contrary, its non-aligned sentiment is stronger than ever. Her non-aligned sentiment is exactly why she's considered a 'loose cannon' by USA and some within WP. Despite this, she enjoys warm relations with both the East and West.

Its relations with former Yugoslav states is much more complicated: Slovenia and Croatia both wish to distance themselves from FRY and maintain a 'strictly trade' relationship, yet many of these efforts have proved unsuccessful. Republic of Macedonia is allied with the FRY, both military and economically.

## Economy

Yugoslavia's economy suffered greatly during the war, and the botched privatization attempts only made the existing issues worse. Economic aid from USSR, and the reforms of 2001 and 2002 helped greatly to alleviate some issues, but efforts at rebuilding and recovery are still ongoing.

### Industry

FRY is perhaps most known for its highly diverse industry, outputting a wide variety of products such as automobiles, military equipment, industrial equipment, pumps and motors. While a good bit of its industry is lacking behind in terms of production methods, production is much more economical than in most Western countries. This also means the costs of tooling up and setting up production lower, therefore it's relatively cheap to diversify.

While her industry is not at all centralized, it's dominated by a handful of 'big companies'. The reason for this is because of the botched privatization efforts of the late 90s, which very few manufacturers managed to survive. This however led to certain manufacturers becoming world-famous.

* Zastava (HQ: Kragujevac, Serbia): Military equipment, armament and artillery
* Zastava Automobiles (HQ: Kragujevac, Serbia): Cars, buses and trucks
* ZRAK DD (HQ: Sarajevo, Bosnia): Optoelectronics, precision equipment and tools
* SOKO (HQ: Mostar, Bosnia): Military aviation
* UTVA (HQ: Pančevo, Serbia): General aviation
* Prvi Partizan (HQ: Užice, Serbia): Ammunition and handloading equipment

It also has a massive agricultural industry that exports a variety of goods, from medicinal supplies to foodstuffs like bakery and fruits.

### Infrastructure and Energy

The energy sector is one of the largest and most important sectors to the country's economy. Serbia is a net exporter of electricity and importer of key fuels (such as oil and gas).

Serbia has an abundance of coal, and significant reserves of oil and gas. While the amount it exports is small on the world scale, its energy resources are highly important in the regional scale as they are the largest in the former Yugoslav countries. Much of the electricity it produces comes from hydroelectric plants. It is heavily dependent on foreign sources of natural gas (such as those that come from Hungarian and Ukrainian pipelines).

Its infrastructure suffered greatly from the devastation of the war as well as the mismanagement of economy during the late 90s. Much of its railway lines in Bosnia and around the Croatian-Serbian border are in dire need of repairs and modernization. Most of its existing lines are, while functional, in need of repairs with its locomotives in bad shape. Because of this, much of its land transportation is done by trucks and automobiles around these areas. The ongoing railway modernization efforts are sought to change this state of affairs, though these efforts will certainly take time.

### Tourism

While FRY suffered from the trade embargoes of the late 90s, ever since these have been lifted FRY retains a massive and booming tourism economy. Perhaps ironically, places that were badly destroyed by the war such as Mostar and Sarajevo have heavily benefited from tourism. Montenegro is particularly dependent on its tourism economy, and its narrow coasts host many popular holiday resorts. Serbia herself has many popular touristic spots like Belgrade and Novi Sad (almost two-thirds of all foreign visits to Serbia are made to these two cities), many mountain resorts and Orthodox monasteries.

## Military

The Yugoslav National Army (*Jugoslovenska Nacionalna Armija*, **JNA**) is divided to three branches: Yugoslav Ground Forces (*Jugoslovenska Kopnena Vojska*, **JKV**), Yugoslav Air Force (*Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo,* **JRV**) and Yugoslav Navy (*Jugoslavenska Mornarica,* **JM**). The JKV is by far the biggest branch, estimated to have 100,000 personnel. The JRV comes second, with an estimated 14,000 personnel. The JM is the smallest branch, estimated to have 3,500 personnel, 900 of which are marines. The JNA is currently undergoing a modernization and re-organization process, dubbed *Armija Milenijum* (en: Millennium Army) for the JKV and *Vedro Nebo* (en: Clear Skies) for the JRV and JM. While the JNA is currently a conscript force (with the military age starting at 19), these re-organization efforts seek to partially professionalize the Yugoslav forces.

The **VTI** (Military Technical Institute Belgrade, HQ: Belgrade, Serbia) and **VTI Žarkovo** (Aeronautical Technical Institute, HQ: Žarkovo, Serbia) handles acquisition of military equipment for the JKV and JRV, respectively. Acquisition of equipment for the JM is handled jointly by VTI and VTI Žarkovo. These Institutes are responsible for the design, R&D, testing and upgrades of military equipment, though private companies are free to submit their own designs for evaluation.

### National Guard

The recently-established **Yugoslav National Guard** (*Jugoslovenska Nacionalna Garda*, **JGA**) is composed of some 1000 personnel. They are formally not a part of the JNA, answering directly to the Ministry of the Internal Affairs instead. They're largely an honor guard unit, but they may be subordinated to the JNA's command in the event of war. They can also function as an emergency first-response unit if needed.

With them being an honor guard unit as said, their equipment is rather lackluster, though their training standards are unusually high, and the unit is entirely composed of volunteers.