[ALBSA-Info] Milosevic Concedes Election Defeat

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Milosevic Concedes Election Defeat

By KATARINA KRATOVAC

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - Slobodan Milosevic conceded defeat Friday in 
Yugoslavia's presidential elections, a day after protesters angry at him for 
clinging to power stormed parliament and ended his 13-year autocratic regime. 
His concession to Vojislav Kostunica triggered a huge celebration in the 
streets, with firecrackers exploding and horns honking throughout the 
capital. 

``I congratulate Mr. Kostunica on his electoral victory and I wish much 
success to all citizens of Yugoslavia,'' Milosevic said in the television 
address as he stood, hands folded, before a Yugoslav flag. ``I intend to rest 
a bit and spend some more time with my family and especially with my grandson 
Marko and after that to help my party gain force and contribute to future 
prosperity.'' 

The speech was one of several developments Friday that completed the 
stunningly swift downfall of Milosevic, one of the last Cold War-style 
communist dictators left in Europe. 

Earlier in the day, Yugoslavia's high court named Kostunica the election 
winner, powerful Yugoslav ally Russia offered its support and the army 
indicated to the president-elect that it would obey the new political 
authority. 

Army chief of staff Nebojsa Pavkovic, a former Milosevic crony, expressed 
confidence that Kostunica will help ``overcome all the remaining problems in 
a civilized way and return the country to normalcy,'' Tanjug news agency 
reported. He also pledged that the army will carry out its duties according 
to the constitution. 

Milosevic's concession signaled that he has abandoned hopes of blocking 
Kostunica from taking his oath of office, possibly Saturday, and instead will 
try to carve out a role for himself in Yugoslav political life. As an 
indicted war criminal, Milosevic has little chance of seeking asylum abroad 
and has no choice but to try to reach an accommodation with the new 
government. 

During his speech, Milosevic appeared thinner, paler and clearly tired after 
weeks of political turmoil. 

There were celebrations across the capital after he spoke. Serbs flooded the 
streets honking horns and exploding fireworks. Some celebratory gunfire rang 
out. 

Milosevic started and lost four wars in the Balkans during his years in 
power, and sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the United States and 
Europe have left much of Yugoslavia impoverished and isolated. When Milosevic 
denied losing last month's election, public fury with him grew. 

On Thursday, as hundreds of thousands of people converged on Belgrade in 
protest, parts of the crowd stormed parliament. They set fires, tossed 
portraits of Milosevic out of broken windows and chased the feared riot 
police away. 

Soon the state television building was on fire, too, and within hours it and 
two police stations had fallen to the protesters. Faced with the mob's fury, 
many police tossed away their clubs and shields, absorbed by joyous 
flag-waving crowds. Tanjug said two people were killed and 65 injured in the 
rioting. 

When the violence subsided, it was clear that control belonged to Kostunica, 
a 56-year-old law professor. Wild celebrations stretched well into Friday. 

Kostunica said Friday that he had spoken to Milosevic, though he offered no 
details. And Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov met with Milosevic at a 
government villa in Belgrade. 

Milosevic ``said he intends to play a prominent role in the political life of 
the country,'' Ivanov said. During the meeting, Milosevic ``stressed the 
importance of solving the crisis through peaceful ways and that the use of 
force should be avoided,'' Ivanov told reporters. 

Ivanov carried a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin that 
``congratulated Mr. Kostunica on his victory in the presidential elections.'' 
The act removed the last possibility of any important international backing 
for the fading Milosevic: Russia was the last major European nation to 
withhold support for Kostunica. 

``This is great news,'' said U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who 
called it ``very, very important.'' 

Later, in another significant boost, the nation's Constitutional Court 
notified the anti-Milosevic coalition that it had declared Kostunica the new 
president-elect. The court, once considered a puppet of Milosevic, killed any 
legal claim by the former strongman. 

The speaker of the Serbian parliament, Dragan Tomic, addressed Kostunica as 
president in a letter. It was the first such recognition by a high official 
from the Socialist Party of Serbia led by Milosevic. 

With state media already calling Kostunica ``president'' and his supporters 
ferreting out Milosevic cronies in state institutions, all that's left is a 
formal inauguration. Kostunica's aides say that could come as early as 
Saturday. 

About 200,000 people gathered in front of the charred parliament Friday. One 
of their posters read: ``Slobodan, are you counting your last minutes.'' 

``We are gradually getting back to normal and I believe the crisis is behind 
us,'' Kostunica said. 

Milosevic is blamed by the West for starting - and then losing - the four 
Balkan wars which broke out in the last decade when parts of Yugoslavia began 
to seek independence. Those conflicts were marked by horrific acts of 
violence against civilians, which prompted Western governments to impose 
sanctions and isolate Belgrade. 

Some of those controls were eased after Milosevic signed the 1995 agreement 
to end the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, other sanctions were imposed 
again in 1998 after Milosevic launched a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanians 
in Serbia's Kosovo province. 

In the last day, though, both the United States and the European Union have 
said they will begin to lift sanctions as the new democratic administration 
takes the reins. 

U.S. and European sanctions on Serbia - which along with Montenegro, makes up 
what's left of Yugoslavia - include an oil embargo, a ban on commerce with 
Yugoslav firms believed controlled by the Milosevic government, and full 
rights in the United Nations and with international lenders. The Clinton 
administration said it intends to move quickly in concert with European 
allies to remove those economic handcuffs. 

``Now is the time to stay the course and stick with people who have won their 
freedom, the time to build the economic and civil institutions that will 
allow democracy to endure, reconciliation and cooperation to develop, and the 
economy to grow,'' President Clinton said Friday. 

Albright said the administration was consulting with the Europeans on how to 
proceed. But if Milosevic somehow managed to carve out a role for himself in 
the new government, she said, lifting sanctions might be reconsidered. 

``We have made clear that it has to be a fully democratic government, and 
that Milosevic should not have a role in it,'' Albright said. 

But returning Yugoslavia to normal footing may pose its own dilemmas. The 
sanctions and years of Balkan warfare has left the economy in ruins, and last 
year's 78-day NATO bombardment in response to the Kosovo crackdown hammered 
an already creaky transportation and utility network. 

Kostunica was putting together a stopgap crisis committee to try to stabilize 
the country. Somehow he will also have to work with close Milosevic allies, 
such as powerful Serbian President Milan Milutinovic. 

Like Milosevic, Milutinovic was indicted by the international war crimes 
tribunal for the offensive in Kosovo. Kostunica could come under strong 
Western pressure to turn over indicted war criminals. 

Despite the details left to be played out, Western leaders were rejoicing 
Friday. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it appeared ``the era of 
Milosevic is over.'' 

``This is the day of real rejoicing in the world and Europe and, most of all, 
in Serbia,'' he said.