Serbia Research Paper
Serbia's strategic location between two continents has subjected it to invasions by many peoples. Belgrade is believed to have been leveled to the ground by 30 different armies in recorded history. Apart from being under nominal Serbian rule since the 7th century (having been allowed to settle in Byzantium by its emperor Heraclius), through history various parts of the territory of contemporary Serbia have been claimed or ruled by the Roman Empire (conquered the indigenous Celts and Illyrians); the Western- and the Eastern Roman Empires (challenged by the incursions of the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Gepidae, the Sarmatians, the Avars, the Serbs, the Frankish Kingdom, the Croats, the Great Moravia, the Bulgarians). Serbs formed their first unified state under the Vlastimirovic dynasty by 812, at times disrupted by the wars with the aforementioned states. At first heavily dependent on the Byzantine Empire as its tributary, in time the Serbian state would achieve full independence, evolving into the Serbian Kingdom in 1217, and the Serbian Empire in 1345 under the rule of the House of Nemanjić.
Serbia reached an apogee in economy, law, military, …show more content…
and religion during the rule of the House of Nemanjić, especially during Emperor Stefan Dušan. As a result of internal struggle between the rival noble families, and heavy losses inflicted by the Ottomans, the Serbian Empire has dissolved into many statelets by the beginning of the 15th century. Early modern period saw the loss of Serbia's independence to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, while Modern Times witnessed the rise of the Habsburg Monarchy (known as the Austrian Empire, later Austria-Hungary), that fought many wars against the Ottomans for the supremacy over Serbia.
Following the success of two national revolutions between 1804-1817, Serbia overthrew Ottoman rule, emerging as the semi-independent Principality of Serbia. De facto independence was secured after the withdrawal of the last Ottoman forces in 1867. Formal independence of the country was internationally recognized at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. In 1882, Serbia was proclaimed a Kingdom. In the 20th century, following its expansion, Serbia was a major component of the various South Slavic states, including the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to 1941 (renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006. After Montenegro voted for independence from the State Union, Serbia officially proclaimed its independence on June 7, 2006, as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Early history
The proto-Serbs settled much of what is now Serbia proper, Montenegro, Bosnia and southern Dalmatia by 630 AD, assimilating with earlier South Slavic tribes and indigenous Balkan populations. According to some theories, they had been invited by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius to drive out the Avars. They were fully converted to Christianity by 865 AD. The roots of the Serbian state date back to the 7th century and the House of Vlastimirović, postulated to be the first Veljiki Zhupan (Grand Prince) of the various medieval Serbian prinipalities - Raska, Duklja, Travunia, Zahumlje, Pagania and Bosnia. However, a unified Serbian kingdom (centered around Duklja) was not established until the 11th century. It lasted until the end of the 12th century.
] Medieval Serb kingdoms and the Empire
King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia, late 13th century
Serbs existed in three distinctly independent kingdoms by the 14th century — Dioclea, Rascia, Bosnia and Syrmia. After the decline of the Serb Kingdom of Duklja, a new Kingdom arose in Raška in the 12th century, led by the Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja. In 1220, under Stefan the First Crowned, Serbia became a kingdom. In 1346, Stefan Dušan established the Serbian Empire. The House of Nemanjić ruled over Serbia from 1166 to 1371.
Under Dušan's rule, Serbia reached its territorial peak, becoming one of the larger states in Europe. In 1349 and 1354, Dušan also made and enforced Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws. By nature a soldier and a conqueror, Dušan did not make any systematic effort to stabilize or administer his gains, and the Empire began to dissolve soon after his death.
Golubac fortress overlooking the Danube river
The Empire had disintegrated by the historic Battle of Kosovo in 1389. The northern Serbian territories (the Serbian Despotate) were conquered in 1459 following the siege of the "temporary" capital Smederevo. Bosnia fell a few years after Smederevo, and Herzegovina in 1482. Belgrade was the last major Balkan city to endure Ottoman onslaughts, as it joined Catholic Kingdom of Hungary, following heavy Turkish defeat in Siege of Belgrade of 1456. It held out for another 70 years, succumbing to the Ottomans in 1521, alongside the greater part of the Kingdom of Hungary that was soon conquered. Another short lasting incarnation of the Serbian state was the one of Emperor Jovan Nenad in the 16th-century Vojvodina, however it also collapsed and its territory was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, before finally passing to the Habsburg Empire, under which it would remain for about two centuries.
] Ottoman/Austrian rule
Medieval fortress of Bač, Vojvodina
Following the collapse of the Serbian Empire following the Battle of Kosovo, most of Serbia was under Ottoman occupation between 1459 and 1804, despite three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions (such as the Banat Uprising). Islam was in a period of expansion during this time, especially in Raška, Kosovo and Bosnia. The Ottoman period was a defining one in the history of the country; Slavic, Byzantine, Arabic and Turkish cultures suffused. Many contemporary cultural traits can be traced back to the Ottoman period. Most Serbs managed to keep their culture and religion through the long period of Ottoman rule, however. The northern third of the modern country, Vojvodina, endured a century long Ottoman occupation before passing to Habsburg Empire in the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century, only to proclaim secession from Austria-Hungary in 1918.
Karađorđe Petrović, leader of the First Serbian uprising in 1804
[edit] Principality of Serbia/Crownland of Vojvodina
The First Serbian Uprising of 1804–13, led by Đorđe Petrović (also known as Karađorđe or "Black George"), and the Second Serbian Uprising of 1815 resulted in autonomy and self-governance of the new Principality of Serbia (previously Pashaluk of Belgrade) from the Porte. As it was semi-independent from the Ottoman Empire, it is considered to be the precursor of the formation of modern Serbia. After the Ottomans were definitely expelled in 1867, Serbia de facto secured its sovereignty, which was formally recognized internationally at the Congress of Berlin in 1878.
From 1815 to 1903, the Serbian state was ruled by the House of Obrenović, except from 1842 to 1858, when Serbia was ruled by Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In 1903, the House of Obrenović was replaced by the House of Karađorđević, who were descendants of Đorđe Petrović.
Austrian and Ottoman Serbia in 1849
In 1848, Serbs in the northern part of present-day Serbia, which was ruled by the Austrian Empire, established an autonomous region known as the Serbian Vojvodina. As of 1849, the region was transformed into a new Austrian crown land known as the Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. Although the crown land was abolished in 1860, the Serbs from the Vojvodina region gained another opportunity to achieve their political demands in 1918.
[edit] Independent kingdom
The struggle for liberty, modern society and a nation-state in Serbia lasted almost three decades and was completed with the adoption of the constitution on 15 February 1835. In 1876, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia declared war against the Ottoman Empire and proclaimed their unification. However, the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, which was signed at the Congress of Berlin by the Great Powers, granted complete independence only to Serbia and Montenegro, leaving Bosnia and Sanjak of Novi Pazar to Austria-Hungary, who blocked their unification until the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 and World War I.
King Petar I Karađorđević, Serbian leader in the First World War
Serbian casualties in WWI were 8%
On 28 June 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo in Austria-Hungary by Gavrilo Princip, a South Slav unionist, Austrian citizen and member of Young Bosnia, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. The Russian Empire started to mobilize its troops in defense of its ally Serbia, which resulted in the German Empire declaring war on Russia in support of its ally Austria-Hungary. However, as German military planners wished to avoid a war on two fronts against both Russia and France, they attacked France first. This eventually culminated in all the major European Powers being drawn into the war. The Serbian Army won several major victories against Austria-Hungary at the beginning of World War I, but it was overpowered by the joint forces of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in 1915. Most of its army and some people went to exile to Greece and Corfu where it healed, regrouped and returned to Macedonian front (World War I) to lead a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, freeing Serbia again and ending the World War I on 11 November. In World War I, Serbia had 1,264,000 casualties — 28% of its total population, and 58% of its male population.
] First Yugoslavia/WWII and the Serbian genocide
On December 1st 1918, Serbia became the founding member of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
During World War II, Serbia was a German-occupied puppet state that included present-day Central Serbia and Banat, popularly called Nedić's Serbia. However, parts of the present-day territory of Serbia were occupied by Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Albanian, and Italian armies. During that period, Serbs, Jews and Roma in the Nazi- sponsored Independent State of Croatia have been subjected to a large-scale genocide, particularly in the infamous Jasenovac concentration camp, for not complying with the Nazi and Ustaše racial policies. Between 300,000 and 700,000 people, predominately of Serbian origin, have perished during this genocide. Around 32,000 Jews added to the victim
count.
Jasenovac concentration camp, a WWII memorial in present-day Croatia, 60 years on. Republican era
In 1945, Serbia was established as one of the federal units of the second Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, led by Josip Broz Tito until his death in 1980. In 1989, the League of Communists of Serbia selected Slobodan Milošević to become the republic's President. Milošević was controversial in Yugoslavia because he opposed Kosovo's autonomy and that his rise to power through the Anti-bureaucratic revolution was done through mass protests which pushed out the leadership of the autonomous provinces and also the republic of Montenegro. He also aggravated the situation in post-Tito Yugoslavia by alleging that certain politicians in Yugoslavia were anti-Serb. Milošević's nationalist stand on Kosovo and desire to strengthen Serbia's position in Yugoslavia. The republics of Yugoslavia including Serbia all adopted multi-party systems in 1990. Milosevic and the Communist establishment were elected under the Socialist Party of Serbia. In the other republics, except for Montenegro, secessionist governments were elected.
By 1992, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina had all declared independence from Yugoslavia, resulting in the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic and the outbreak of war. Serbia, together with Montenegro, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. The Serbian government supported Croatian and Bosnian Serbs in the Yugoslav wars from 1991 to 1995. As a result, sanctions were imposed by the UN, which led to political isolation and economic decline.
Serbia's official peace was broken between 1998 and 1999, when the situation in Kosovo worsened with continued clashes in Kosovo between the Serbian and Yugoslav security forces and the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The Serbian actions in Kosovo prompted a NATO aerial bombardment which lasted for 78 days. The attacks were ended following a negotiation on the Republic of Macedonia-FR Yugoslav border between NATO spokesperson Mike Jackson and officials on behalf of Milošević, in which Milošević would withdraw all security forces, including the military and the police, and have them replaced by a body of international police. The agreement upheld Yugoslav (later Serbian) sovereignty over Kosovo but replaced Serbian government of the province with a UN administration (See: Kosovo War and UNMIK). NATO also surrendered its bid to station NATO troops across the whole Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which had been one of its demands at the Rambouillet negotiations prior to the bombing campaign.
In September 2000, opposition parties claimed that Milošević committed fraud in routine federal elections. Street protests and rallies throughout Serbia eventually forced Milošević to concede and hand over power to the recently formed Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. The fall of Milošević led to end of the international isolation Serbia suffered during the Milošević years. Serbia's new leaders announced that Serbia would seek to join the European Union. In October 2005, the EU opened negotiations with Serbia for a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), a preliminary step towards joining the EU.Negotiations were continued after short break. Serbia and Montenegro
From 2003 to 2006, Serbia was part of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, into which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been transformed. On 21 May 2006 Montenegro held a referendum to determine whether or not to end the union with Serbia. The next day, state-certified results showed 55.5% of voters in favor of independence, which was just above the 55% required by the referendum. The BBC has referred to this breakup as the"Balkan Divorce". Republic of Serbia
On 5 June 2006 National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia the legal successor to the State Union, following the decision of the people of Montenegro expressed at the independence referendum.
Government and politics
National Assembly of Serbia
Main article: Politics of Serbia
See also: Politics of Vojvodina, Elections in Serbia, Human rights in Serbia, and Constitutional status of Kosovo
On 4 February 2003 the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia agreed to a weaker form of cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro within a confederal state called Serbia and Montenegro. The Union ceased to exist following Montenegrin and Serbian declarations of independence in June 2006.
After the ousting of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the country was governed by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. Tensions gradually increased within the coalition until the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) left the government, leaving the Democratic Party (DS) in overall control. Nevertheless, in March 2004 the DSS gathered enough support to form the new Government of Serbia, together with G17 Plus and coalition SPO–NS, and the support of the Socialist Party of Serbia, who do not take part in the government, but in exchange for the support hold minor government and justice positions and influence policies. The Prime Minister of Serbia is Vojislav Koštunica, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia.
The current President of Serbia is Boris Tadić, leader of the Democratic Party (DS). He was elected with 53% of the vote in the second round of the Serbian presidential election held on 27 June 2004, following several unsuccessful elections since 2002.
Serbia held a two-day referendum on October 28 and October 29, 2006, that ratified a new constitution to replace the Milošević-era constitution.
Serbia held Parliamentary elections on 21 January 2007. The Serbian Radical Party claimed victory, but no party has won an absolute majority.
On 8 May 2007, Tomislav Nikolić was elected Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, which sparked a great deal of speculation about Serbia's political future, particularly from the European Union, the United States and international media. Following last-minute negotiations on the part of the DS and DSS political parties, an agreement was reached on the make-up of the country's new government on 11 May 2007 between DS, DSS and G17 Plus. This led to Nikolić's resignation two days later on 13 May 2007.
Serbia reached an apogee in economy, law, military, …show more content…
and religion during the rule of the House of Nemanjić, especially during Emperor Stefan Dušan. As a result of internal struggle between the rival noble families, and heavy losses inflicted by the Ottomans, the Serbian Empire has dissolved into many statelets by the beginning of the 15th century. Early modern period saw the loss of Serbia's independence to the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, while Modern Times witnessed the rise of the Habsburg Monarchy (known as the Austrian Empire, later Austria-Hungary), that fought many wars against the Ottomans for the supremacy over Serbia.
Following the success of two national revolutions between 1804-1817, Serbia overthrew Ottoman rule, emerging as the semi-independent Principality of Serbia. De facto independence was secured after the withdrawal of the last Ottoman forces in 1867. Formal independence of the country was internationally recognized at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. In 1882, Serbia was proclaimed a Kingdom. In the 20th century, following its expansion, Serbia was a major component of the various South Slavic states, including the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1918 to 1941 (renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1992 to 2003, and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006. After Montenegro voted for independence from the State Union, Serbia officially proclaimed its independence on June 7, 2006, as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Early history
The proto-Serbs settled much of what is now Serbia proper, Montenegro, Bosnia and southern Dalmatia by 630 AD, assimilating with earlier South Slavic tribes and indigenous Balkan populations. According to some theories, they had been invited by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius to drive out the Avars. They were fully converted to Christianity by 865 AD. The roots of the Serbian state date back to the 7th century and the House of Vlastimirović, postulated to be the first Veljiki Zhupan (Grand Prince) of the various medieval Serbian prinipalities - Raska, Duklja, Travunia, Zahumlje, Pagania and Bosnia. However, a unified Serbian kingdom (centered around Duklja) was not established until the 11th century. It lasted until the end of the 12th century.
] Medieval Serb kingdoms and the Empire
King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia, late 13th century
Serbs existed in three distinctly independent kingdoms by the 14th century — Dioclea, Rascia, Bosnia and Syrmia. After the decline of the Serb Kingdom of Duklja, a new Kingdom arose in Raška in the 12th century, led by the Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja. In 1220, under Stefan the First Crowned, Serbia became a kingdom. In 1346, Stefan Dušan established the Serbian Empire. The House of Nemanjić ruled over Serbia from 1166 to 1371.
Under Dušan's rule, Serbia reached its territorial peak, becoming one of the larger states in Europe. In 1349 and 1354, Dušan also made and enforced Dušan's Code, a universal system of laws. By nature a soldier and a conqueror, Dušan did not make any systematic effort to stabilize or administer his gains, and the Empire began to dissolve soon after his death.
Golubac fortress overlooking the Danube river
The Empire had disintegrated by the historic Battle of Kosovo in 1389. The northern Serbian territories (the Serbian Despotate) were conquered in 1459 following the siege of the "temporary" capital Smederevo. Bosnia fell a few years after Smederevo, and Herzegovina in 1482. Belgrade was the last major Balkan city to endure Ottoman onslaughts, as it joined Catholic Kingdom of Hungary, following heavy Turkish defeat in Siege of Belgrade of 1456. It held out for another 70 years, succumbing to the Ottomans in 1521, alongside the greater part of the Kingdom of Hungary that was soon conquered. Another short lasting incarnation of the Serbian state was the one of Emperor Jovan Nenad in the 16th-century Vojvodina, however it also collapsed and its territory was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, before finally passing to the Habsburg Empire, under which it would remain for about two centuries.
] Ottoman/Austrian rule
Medieval fortress of Bač, Vojvodina
Following the collapse of the Serbian Empire following the Battle of Kosovo, most of Serbia was under Ottoman occupation between 1459 and 1804, despite three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions (such as the Banat Uprising). Islam was in a period of expansion during this time, especially in Raška, Kosovo and Bosnia. The Ottoman period was a defining one in the history of the country; Slavic, Byzantine, Arabic and Turkish cultures suffused. Many contemporary cultural traits can be traced back to the Ottoman period. Most Serbs managed to keep their culture and religion through the long period of Ottoman rule, however. The northern third of the modern country, Vojvodina, endured a century long Ottoman occupation before passing to Habsburg Empire in the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century, only to proclaim secession from Austria-Hungary in 1918.
Karađorđe Petrović, leader of the First Serbian uprising in 1804
[edit] Principality of Serbia/Crownland of Vojvodina
The First Serbian Uprising of 1804–13, led by Đorđe Petrović (also known as Karađorđe or "Black George"), and the Second Serbian Uprising of 1815 resulted in autonomy and self-governance of the new Principality of Serbia (previously Pashaluk of Belgrade) from the Porte. As it was semi-independent from the Ottoman Empire, it is considered to be the precursor of the formation of modern Serbia. After the Ottomans were definitely expelled in 1867, Serbia de facto secured its sovereignty, which was formally recognized internationally at the Congress of Berlin in 1878.
From 1815 to 1903, the Serbian state was ruled by the House of Obrenović, except from 1842 to 1858, when Serbia was ruled by Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In 1903, the House of Obrenović was replaced by the House of Karađorđević, who were descendants of Đorđe Petrović.
Austrian and Ottoman Serbia in 1849
In 1848, Serbs in the northern part of present-day Serbia, which was ruled by the Austrian Empire, established an autonomous region known as the Serbian Vojvodina. As of 1849, the region was transformed into a new Austrian crown land known as the Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. Although the crown land was abolished in 1860, the Serbs from the Vojvodina region gained another opportunity to achieve their political demands in 1918.
[edit] Independent kingdom
The struggle for liberty, modern society and a nation-state in Serbia lasted almost three decades and was completed with the adoption of the constitution on 15 February 1835. In 1876, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia declared war against the Ottoman Empire and proclaimed their unification. However, the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, which was signed at the Congress of Berlin by the Great Powers, granted complete independence only to Serbia and Montenegro, leaving Bosnia and Sanjak of Novi Pazar to Austria-Hungary, who blocked their unification until the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 and World War I.
King Petar I Karađorđević, Serbian leader in the First World War
Serbian casualties in WWI were 8%
On 28 June 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo in Austria-Hungary by Gavrilo Princip, a South Slav unionist, Austrian citizen and member of Young Bosnia, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. The Russian Empire started to mobilize its troops in defense of its ally Serbia, which resulted in the German Empire declaring war on Russia in support of its ally Austria-Hungary. However, as German military planners wished to avoid a war on two fronts against both Russia and France, they attacked France first. This eventually culminated in all the major European Powers being drawn into the war. The Serbian Army won several major victories against Austria-Hungary at the beginning of World War I, but it was overpowered by the joint forces of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in 1915. Most of its army and some people went to exile to Greece and Corfu where it healed, regrouped and returned to Macedonian front (World War I) to lead a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, freeing Serbia again and ending the World War I on 11 November. In World War I, Serbia had 1,264,000 casualties — 28% of its total population, and 58% of its male population.
] First Yugoslavia/WWII and the Serbian genocide
On December 1st 1918, Serbia became the founding member of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
During World War II, Serbia was a German-occupied puppet state that included present-day Central Serbia and Banat, popularly called Nedić's Serbia. However, parts of the present-day territory of Serbia were occupied by Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Albanian, and Italian armies. During that period, Serbs, Jews and Roma in the Nazi- sponsored Independent State of Croatia have been subjected to a large-scale genocide, particularly in the infamous Jasenovac concentration camp, for not complying with the Nazi and Ustaše racial policies. Between 300,000 and 700,000 people, predominately of Serbian origin, have perished during this genocide. Around 32,000 Jews added to the victim
count.
Jasenovac concentration camp, a WWII memorial in present-day Croatia, 60 years on. Republican era
In 1945, Serbia was established as one of the federal units of the second Yugoslavia, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, led by Josip Broz Tito until his death in 1980. In 1989, the League of Communists of Serbia selected Slobodan Milošević to become the republic's President. Milošević was controversial in Yugoslavia because he opposed Kosovo's autonomy and that his rise to power through the Anti-bureaucratic revolution was done through mass protests which pushed out the leadership of the autonomous provinces and also the republic of Montenegro. He also aggravated the situation in post-Tito Yugoslavia by alleging that certain politicians in Yugoslavia were anti-Serb. Milošević's nationalist stand on Kosovo and desire to strengthen Serbia's position in Yugoslavia. The republics of Yugoslavia including Serbia all adopted multi-party systems in 1990. Milosevic and the Communist establishment were elected under the Socialist Party of Serbia. In the other republics, except for Montenegro, secessionist governments were elected.
By 1992, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina had all declared independence from Yugoslavia, resulting in the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic and the outbreak of war. Serbia, together with Montenegro, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. The Serbian government supported Croatian and Bosnian Serbs in the Yugoslav wars from 1991 to 1995. As a result, sanctions were imposed by the UN, which led to political isolation and economic decline.
Serbia's official peace was broken between 1998 and 1999, when the situation in Kosovo worsened with continued clashes in Kosovo between the Serbian and Yugoslav security forces and the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The Serbian actions in Kosovo prompted a NATO aerial bombardment which lasted for 78 days. The attacks were ended following a negotiation on the Republic of Macedonia-FR Yugoslav border between NATO spokesperson Mike Jackson and officials on behalf of Milošević, in which Milošević would withdraw all security forces, including the military and the police, and have them replaced by a body of international police. The agreement upheld Yugoslav (later Serbian) sovereignty over Kosovo but replaced Serbian government of the province with a UN administration (See: Kosovo War and UNMIK). NATO also surrendered its bid to station NATO troops across the whole Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which had been one of its demands at the Rambouillet negotiations prior to the bombing campaign.
In September 2000, opposition parties claimed that Milošević committed fraud in routine federal elections. Street protests and rallies throughout Serbia eventually forced Milošević to concede and hand over power to the recently formed Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. The fall of Milošević led to end of the international isolation Serbia suffered during the Milošević years. Serbia's new leaders announced that Serbia would seek to join the European Union. In October 2005, the EU opened negotiations with Serbia for a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), a preliminary step towards joining the EU.Negotiations were continued after short break. Serbia and Montenegro
From 2003 to 2006, Serbia was part of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, into which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had been transformed. On 21 May 2006 Montenegro held a referendum to determine whether or not to end the union with Serbia. The next day, state-certified results showed 55.5% of voters in favor of independence, which was just above the 55% required by the referendum. The BBC has referred to this breakup as the"Balkan Divorce". Republic of Serbia
On 5 June 2006 National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia the legal successor to the State Union, following the decision of the people of Montenegro expressed at the independence referendum.
Government and politics
National Assembly of Serbia
Main article: Politics of Serbia
See also: Politics of Vojvodina, Elections in Serbia, Human rights in Serbia, and Constitutional status of Kosovo
On 4 February 2003 the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia agreed to a weaker form of cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro within a confederal state called Serbia and Montenegro. The Union ceased to exist following Montenegrin and Serbian declarations of independence in June 2006.
After the ousting of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the country was governed by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. Tensions gradually increased within the coalition until the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) left the government, leaving the Democratic Party (DS) in overall control. Nevertheless, in March 2004 the DSS gathered enough support to form the new Government of Serbia, together with G17 Plus and coalition SPO–NS, and the support of the Socialist Party of Serbia, who do not take part in the government, but in exchange for the support hold minor government and justice positions and influence policies. The Prime Minister of Serbia is Vojislav Koštunica, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia.
The current President of Serbia is Boris Tadić, leader of the Democratic Party (DS). He was elected with 53% of the vote in the second round of the Serbian presidential election held on 27 June 2004, following several unsuccessful elections since 2002.
Serbia held a two-day referendum on October 28 and October 29, 2006, that ratified a new constitution to replace the Milošević-era constitution.
Serbia held Parliamentary elections on 21 January 2007. The Serbian Radical Party claimed victory, but no party has won an absolute majority.
On 8 May 2007, Tomislav Nikolić was elected Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, which sparked a great deal of speculation about Serbia's political future, particularly from the European Union, the United States and international media. Following last-minute negotiations on the part of the DS and DSS political parties, an agreement was reached on the make-up of the country's new government on 11 May 2007 between DS, DSS and G17 Plus. This led to Nikolić's resignation two days later on 13 May 2007.