Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges.
Josip Broz Tito: Leader of Yugoslavia's Early Decades
The role of president in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, often simply referred to as the president of the Republic, served as the nation's head of state for a significant period, spanning from January 14, 1953, until May 4, 1980. Throughout these decades, only one individual ever held this powerful position: Josip Broz Tito. His influence was further amplified by his concurrent leadership of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. Tito's profound impact on the country culminated in his declaration as president for life. Following his death in 1980, the singular office of president was dissolved, paving the way for a new, collective leadership structure known as the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia's political landscape was initially shaped by its 1946 constitution, which established a government led by a president – commonly understood as the prime minister – as the country's paramount administrative authority. Tito himself fulfilled the role of Prime Minister during this entire foundational period, until the landmark adoption of the 1953 constitution. This new legal framework dramatically transformed the state, proclaiming it a socialist republic and systematically removing all prior references to a traditional government or its various ministries. In their place, the 1953 constitution defined the new office of president and established the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to act as the primary governmental body. The president was tasked with a dual responsibility: serving as head of state and simultaneously presiding over the FEC, a substantial council comprising 30 to 40 members, some of whom would be designated as federal secretaries. On January 14, 1953, Tito transitioned smoothly from his prime ministerial duties to assume the presidency, a position to which he was subsequently re-elected on January 29, 1954, and again on April 19, 1958.
Further constitutional modifications in 1963 significantly strengthened Tito's hold on power by specifically granting him an unlimited number of terms. Interestingly, this constitution also introduced a separate office for the President of the Federal Executive Council, meaning that the FEC would now be headed by its own leader rather than the head of state. Despite this structural change, Tito’s authority remained largely undiminished; he retained the power to convene the Federal Executive Council, continued as the indisputable head of state, and commanded the Yugoslav People's Army as its commander-in-chief. His concurrent role as head of the communist party also persisted. Under this revised system, the Federal Assembly re-elected him to the presidency once more in 1963 and again in 1968.
The constitutional amendments of 1971 introduced another pivotal reform: the establishment of a new, collective presidency, composed of representatives from each of Yugoslavia's constituent republics. Crucially, the president of the Republic still held the presiding role over this new collective body. Then, in 1974, the constitution was amended yet again. This final amendment granted the then 82-year-old Tito an unprecedented unlimited mandate, formally cementing his status as president-for-life. Furthermore, the 1974 constitution foresightedly created a new, rotating office: the President of the Presidency, designed specifically to take effect upon Tito's eventual demise. In this scenario, the sitting vice president of the Presidency was constitutionally mandated to succeed him. This constitutional provision ultimately came into play on May 4, 1980, when Josip Broz Tito passed away. Lazar Koliševski subsequently assumed the role as the first President of the Presidency, marking a significant shift in Yugoslavia's leadership model.
Slobodan Milošević: From Serbian Leader to War Crimes Indictment
Slobodan Milošević (born August 20, 1941, in Požarevac; died March 11, 2006, in The Hague) emerged as a profoundly influential and deeply controversial Yugoslav and Serbian politician whose period in power directly coincided with the dramatic and violent dissolution of Yugoslavia. He served as president of Serbia within the broader Yugoslav federation from 1989 to 1997 – initially leading the Socialist Republic of Serbia as a constituent part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1989-1992), and later transitioning to lead the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia itself from 1997 to 2000. Before his presidential tenures, Milošević was a prominent member of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) during the 1980s. He later founded and steered the Socialist Party of Serbia from its inception in 1990 until 2003.
Milošević's formative years included studying law at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, where he was also active in the League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia. During the 1960s, he gained valuable experience as an advisor to Belgrade's mayor, Branko Pešić, before rising to the chairmanships of state-owned enterprises Tehnogas and Beobanka, positions he held into the 1980s. His political ascent truly gained momentum in 1987, largely driven by his embrace and promotion of populist and nationalist views. He fervently argued for diminishing the power of Serbia's autonomous provinces and advocating for greater centralism, skillfully tapping into simmering discontent and nationalistic sentiments. In 1989, he was elected president of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and became the driving force behind the "anti-bureaucratic revolution." Following this, he oversaw crucial reforms to Serbia's constitution, which facilitated a transition to a multi-party system and further reduced the autonomy of the provinces. After the 1990 general elections, Milošević effectively established a dominant-party rule, ensuring his party maintained tight control over key state economic resources.
As the constituent republics of Yugoslavia tragically fragmented amid the eruption of the Yugoslav Wars, Serbia and Montenegro came together to form the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Milošević played a central, and often criticized, role in these devastating conflicts. Notably, he negotiated the Dayton Agreement on behalf of Bosnian Serbs, which ultimately brought the Bosnian War to an end in 1995. His period in power was characterized by widespread anti-government and anti-war protests throughout Serbia. Troubling estimates suggest that a significant number of people, ranging from 50,000 to 200,000, deserted the Milošević-controlled Yugoslav People's Army, while between 100,000 and 150,000 people chose to emigrate from Serbia, refusing to participate in the wars. During the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Milošević was formally charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with war crimes, specifically in connection with the Bosnian War, the Croatian War of Independence, and the Kosovo War. This indictment made him the first sitting head of state in history to face such serious accusations. Political analysts and observers frequently described his complex political behavior as populist, eclectic, and opportunist.
Milošević's political career met its end with his resignation from the Yugoslav presidency amid widespread demonstrations that followed the disputed presidential election of September 24, 2000. He was subsequently arrested by Yugoslav federal authorities on March 31, 2001, on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement. However, the initial domestic investigation struggled due to a lack of evidence, prompting the then-Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić to make the controversial decision to extradite him to the ICTY to face trial for war crimes instead. From the very beginning of his five-year trial, Milošević vehemently rejected the Tribunal's legitimacy, arguing it was an illegal entity because it had not been established with the consent of the United Nations General Assembly. Consequently, he refused to appoint legal counsel, opting instead to conduct his own defense. The lengthy trial concluded without a definitive verdict when Milošević died in his prison cell in The Hague on March 11, 2006. He had a documented history of heart ailments and hypertension, and his death was officially attributed to a heart attack. The Tribunal, for its part, denied any responsibility for his death, stating that he had repeatedly refused to take prescribed medicines, choosing instead to medicate himself.
In the aftermath of Milošević's death, both the ICTY and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals later concluded that he had been an integral part of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at the forced removal of Croats and Bosniaks from significant territories in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Separately, in the Bosnian Genocide Case, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found no direct evidence directly linking him to the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces during the Bosnian War. However, the ICJ did determine that Milošević and other officials in Serbia had indeed violated the Genocide Convention. This violation stemmed from their failure to prevent the genocide from occurring, their lack of cooperation with the ICTY in bringing its perpetrators to justice (particularly General Ratko Mladić), and their disregard for the provisional measures ordered by the Court. Milošević's controversial rule has been widely characterized as authoritarian or autocratic, and often kleptocratic, marred by numerous accusations of electoral fraud, political assassinations, the suppression of press freedom, and pervasive police brutality.