Serbia Foreign Relations Yugoslavia

Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic suffered a serious blow to his already waning power and prestige Friday when Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic, the ideological godfather of Serbs, called on him to resign for the good of the nation.

The prime minister of Yugoslavia's dominant republic will sever all cooperation with Yugoslavia's president for not firing a general involved in an alleged U.S. spying affair, a senior official said Saturday. The comments by Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic represent a further escalation in the rivalries between Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica.

The enemy of your enemy may be your friend in most countries, but in Yugoslavia even animosity defies convention. Serbia on Tuesday tried to push through the federal Parliament a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Ante Markovic, whose efforts at preserving Yugoslavia as a united federation are opposed with equal fervor by both Communist and non-Communist republics.

International mediators moved Thursday to have Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, a key figure in the Yugoslav crisis, attend peace talks on Bosnia this weekend. Fred Eckhard, spokesman for mediators Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen, said that the mediators are asking President Dobrica Cosic of the rump Yugoslavia if he would "consider it appropriate" to include Milosevic in his delegation.

Federal leaders ordered the army to restore peace in Croatia after ethnic violence that has killed 20 people, but republic President Franjo Tudjman made clear Thursday that he has no intention of disarming or withdrawing his militia.

In the conspiracy-laden world of wartime Balkan politics, the only version of perplexing events that can usually be discounted is the one being publicly touted. Few believe the official line in the case of Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic, who, according to state-run media, deftly deflected a no-confidence vote by Serbian nationalists in Parliament last week with convincing arguments that they were risking further international isolation.

An army push to impose martial law in Yugoslavia failed to win the leadership's endorsement, but the Serbian head of the federal presidency on Wednesday appeared to encourage loyal Communist generals to take matters into their own hands. Belgrade has been paralyzed for five days by tens of thousands of anti-Communist demonstrators blocking major thoroughfares and refusing to go to work or school until the Serbian regime is ousted from power.

The republic of Croatia on Thursday joined Slovenia's move to secede from Yugoslavia, stepping up the pressure at crisis talks scheduled for today in Sarajevo that seek an alternative to a violent national breakup. The Croatian Parliament nullified all federal laws in the republic and declared that federal officials in Belgrade have no right to proclaim a state of emergency without Croatia's consent. In addition, lawmakers in Zagreb bestowed immunity from arrest on Croatian government ministers.

International mediators moved Thursday to have Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, a key figure in the Yugoslav crisis, attend peace talks on Bosnia this weekend. Fred Eckhard, spokesman for mediators Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen, said that the mediators are asking President Dobrica Cosic of the rump Yugoslavia if he would "consider it appropriate" to include Milosevic in his delegation.

The virtually powerless federal government appealed for peace among war-mongering radicals in Serbia and Croatia on Wednesday, but there were no signs that nationalist leaders would heed the call and halt Yugoslavia's slide into anarchy and civil war. After a third night of crisis talks, the eight-member state presidency remained deadlocked over whether to impose martial law. The Serbian-dominated federal army has deployed tanks and combat-ready troops to ethnically troubled areas.

Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic suffered a serious blow to his already waning power and prestige Friday when Yugoslav President Dobrica Cosic, the ideological godfather of Serbs, called on him to resign for the good of the nation.

In the conspiracy-laden world of wartime Balkan politics, the only version of perplexing events that can usually be discounted is the one being publicly touted. Few believe the official line in the case of Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic, who, according to state-run media, deftly deflected a no-confidence vote by Serbian nationalists in Parliament last week with convincing arguments that they were risking further international isolation.

The enemy of your enemy may be your friend in most countries, but in Yugoslavia even animosity defies convention. Serbia on Tuesday tried to push through the federal Parliament a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Ante Markovic, whose efforts at preserving Yugoslavia as a united federation are opposed with equal fervor by both Communist and non-Communist republics.

Federal leaders ordered the army to restore peace in Croatia after ethnic violence that has killed 20 people, but republic President Franjo Tudjman made clear Thursday that he has no intention of disarming or withdrawing his militia.

The virtually powerless federal government appealed for peace among war-mongering radicals in Serbia and Croatia on Wednesday, but there were no signs that nationalist leaders would heed the call and halt Yugoslavia's slide into anarchy and civil war. After a third night of crisis talks, the eight-member state presidency remained deadlocked over whether to impose martial law. The Serbian-dominated federal army has deployed tanks and combat-ready troops to ethnically troubled areas.

The renegade republic of Serbia backed down Wednesday from its campaign to paralyze the Yugoslav presidency by restoring its quorum and agreeing to take part in an emergency meeting. While Serbia's moves bring the leadership crisis full circle after two weeks of chaos, the republic's presidential delegate leveled a harsh attack on the federal prime minister and his market reforms, indicating that Yugoslavia's political turmoil is far from over.

The renegade republic of Serbia backed down Wednesday from its campaign to paralyze the Yugoslav presidency by restoring its quorum and agreeing to take part in an emergency meeting. While Serbia's moves bring the leadership crisis full circle after two weeks of chaos, the republic's presidential delegate leveled a harsh attack on the federal prime minister and his market reforms, indicating that Yugoslavia's political turmoil is far from over.

The prime minister of Yugoslavia's dominant republic will sever all cooperation with Yugoslavia's president for not firing a general involved in an alleged U.S. spying affair, a senior official said Saturday. The comments by Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic represent a further escalation in the rivalries between Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica.

This country's largest republics moved onto a war footing Saturday, with Serbia and Croatia mobilizing police and reservists in the wake of a federal leadership crisis that has heightened the likelihood of a military coup. Serbia's hard-line Communist president, Slobodan Milosevic, declared that his republic will no longer recognize the authority of the federal presidency and said the disintegrating federation of Yugoslavia has "entered the final stage of its agony."

An army push to impose martial law in Yugoslavia failed to win the leadership's endorsement, but the Serbian head of the federal presidency on Wednesday appeared to encourage loyal Communist generals to take matters into their own hands. Belgrade has been paralyzed for five days by tens of thousands of anti-Communist demonstrators blocking major thoroughfares and refusing to go to work or school until the Serbian regime is ousted from power.