Opinion ID: 2996780
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background on the Federal Republic

Text: of Yugoslavia From approximately 1989 to 1992, following the death of then Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito, Serbians, under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, asserted direct rule over all of Yugoslavia, including the formerly autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Consequently, between 1991 and 1992 Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovenia, and Macedonia all seceded from Yugoslavia. On April 27, 1992, the remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro formally joined to form the FRY, led by President Milosevic. Milsosevic and his party, the Serbian Socialist Party, continued to rule the FRY until September 2000, when he was defeated in a federal election (though he did not concede defeat until October). Although formally unified with Serbia in 1992, the government and people of Montenegro retained a distinct identity. Specifically, Montenegrins were very critical of Milosevic’s brutal police and military campaign against ethnic Albanians, many of whom were separatist insurgents. Milosevic’s campaign focused in the southern FRY province of Kosovo, located within Serbia, and lasted from approximately late 1997 until June 1999. Interna- 4 No. 02-3172 tional response to this ethnic cleansing campaign included NATO bombings of Serbia and the stationing of NATO, Russian, and other peacekeepers in Kosovo. In June of 1999, Kosovo was formally declared a United Nations protectorate. In 2000, Vojislav Kostunica was elected President of the FRY in the federal election that removed Milosevic from power. Partisan differences between nationalist President Kostunica and Zoran Djinjic, Prime Minister of Serbia and Democratic Party member, followed the election. Finally, in 2002, Serbian and Montenegrin political leaders began negotiations aiming to forge a more relaxed relationship between the two republics. These talks led to the formal creation of a loose federation called Serbia and Montenegro on February 4, 2003, legally replacing the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As of November 2003, Milosevic is on trial for war crimes, genocide, and ethnic cleansing at the Hague. See United States Department of State, Consular Information Sheet: Serbia and Montenegro (Mar. 20, 2003), available at http://travel.state.gov/serbia_montenegro.html; United States Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Serbia and Montenegro (Jan. 1, 2003), available at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/yi.html; United States Department of State, Background Note: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Aug. 2002), available at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5388.htm.