(On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of his birth and 15 years of his murder at The Hague)
If the historical role of President Slobodan Milošević is considered today, it may be, conditionally speaking, seen in two segments: a) his role and importance in Serbian and Yugoslav history and b) his role and importance in the world history.
In terms of Serbian history:
a) it is indisputable that Slobodan Milošević gave his greatest contribution to rescuing Serbia from the self-destruction trap prepared for it as early as before World War Two, and definitely set by the Constitution of Yugoslavia from 1974. That Constitution completely disempowered Serbia in its two autonomous provinces – Vojvodina, and Kosovo and Metohija – so that it remained only an empty shell seemingly incorporating these provinces. Of course, other Yugoslav republics did not have such provinces, although there were conditions for their establishment (e.g. Dalmatia and Krajina in Croatia). Milošević introduced – both in compliance with the applicable procedure and the consent of the SFRY Presidency – changes in the Constitution of Serbia that returned its competences over the provinces, while leaving them all the pertaining rights in line with the comparative practice;
b) Milošević was the first Yugoslav politician who initiated broad social reforms, including the transition to market economy. He did that at the famous 8th Session of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia in 1987. The new Serbian Constitution from 1990 fully sanctioned the modern civil society founded on equality of all forms of property, market economy, political pluralism and the principle of power division. The radical transitional changes in Serbia were not performed by his successors – Koštunica and Đinđić. They were initiated by Milošević, and the reason why he did not go further in privatization – for which he is sometimes criticized – were unfair economic sanctions imposed on Serbia by the United Nations;
c) Milošević tried his best to save Yugoslavia in all possible ways and in the end he achieved it in the form of a joint state composed of Serbia and Montenegro. Symbolically, Montenegro declared its independence two months after his death, which put a definite end to the Yugoslav state;
d) Milošević protected Serbian national interests. His was guided by the following logic: if all Yugoslav nations were entitled to self-determination, then Serbs were entitled to it too. Those nations that wanted to leave Yugoslavia could do it, but if Serbs wanted to stay – they should be enabled to do it. Throughout the history of Yugoslavia, all Serbs lived in the same state and it is not proper to deprive them of such obtained right. However, great powers took the same position as the Comintern used to have in the past: that Serbs were a hegemonic nation in Yugoslavia, that Yugoslavia was an artificial creation, and that, accordingly, Yugoslavia should be broken up and at the same time Serbia’s influence should be reduced to a minimum.
e) By protecting the Serbian national interest, Milošević naturally helped Serbs living outside Serbia. Moreover, the Yugoslav Army never waged war in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, unlike the regular Croatian army that fought in the territory of Bosnia, on the side of Croats living there. However, it did not stop the powerful ones to continue accusing Serbia and Milošević;
f) Republic Srpska was established as an internationally recognized entity solely due to Milošević’s merit and skilful diplomacy. He succeeded in it through the Dayton Agreement. It is certainly one of his two greatest political accomplishments during the 1990s crisis;
g) Milošević did not manage to stop the 1999 NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia because he did not want to agree to relinquish Kosovo and Metohija as a part of Serbia. Nevertheless, even in the impossible conditions and resisting the force whose proportions could not even be imagined in relation to Yugoslavia, he managed to negotiate the adoption of the Resolution 1244 that guarantees the sovereignty of our country over Kosovo. In the very text of the Resolution it is mentioned three times. Therefore, during the so-called Rambouillet Agreement, Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo was not mentioned at all, but the guarantee was requested from Serbia for future Kosovo independence. Owing to the decisive resistance of the people led by Milošević, Serbia received a title over Kosovo and Metohija, and the creators of that fake state do not now even nowadays how to ensure its international recognition, apart from finding someone in Serbia to recognize it.
In terms of the world history:
a) it is evident that one of his outstanding accomplishments is his contribution to stopping the civil and religious war in Bosnia and Herzegovina by signing the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement;
b) Slobodan Milošević ensured his place in the world history by opposing the NATO aggression against the country in which he was the president at the time. Renowned Russian historian Elena Yuryevna Guskova has stated that Serbia rescued Russia because Russia could use the example of Serbia to see what was in store for it in case it remained weak and did not recover its strength.
c) Finally, by not recognizing the illegitimate “Hague Tribunal”, Milošević showed that no fake courts could issue a judgment against the entire nation and revise its history. In the Hague, he did not defend himself – he defended Serbia and Serbs. More precisely, he defended universal values of humanity, such as freedom, peace, justice, and international law. In that respect, Milošević fought against American “new world order” and attempts of its imposition on freedom-loving nations of the world. In the end, Milošević was killed because his arguments could not be denied! And the whole world had the opportunity to hear those arguments.
To sum up, we can say that President Slobodan Milošević is the greatest Serbian statesman in the second half of the twentieth century and, at the same time, one of the most important world leaders, the figurehead of resistance to American hegemony and global dictatorship.
Long live the memory of President Slobodan Milošević!
Uroš Šuvaković
(Speech at the International Conference MILOŠEVIĆ – AGAINST NATO CRIMES, FOR A NEW WORLD)