Word: kosovo
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...doubted that the demoralized Serbs had the gumption to turn against him. He called the vote nine months before his term was up in order to trade on popular resentment of the West's endless sanctions and last year's NATO bombing campaign to drive Serb troops out of Kosovo, where they were persecuting ethnic Albanians. Milosevic expected his control of the media, the security apparatus and the electoral machinery to produce victory. He thought the opposition, torn by perpetual infighting, was a shambles. He never anticipated Vojislav Kostunica...
...doubted that the demoralized Serbs had the gumption to turn against him. He called the vote nine months before his term was up in order to trade on popular resentment of the West's endless sanctions and last year's NATO bombing campaign to drive Serb troops out of Kosovo, where they were persecuting ethnic Albanians. Milosevic expected his control of the media, the security apparatus and the electoral machinery to produce victory. He thought the opposition, torn by perpetual infighting, was a shambles. He never anticipated Vojislav Kostunica...
...against Milosevic, he ran for Serbia. Without that platform of patriotism, he never could have won, but it wasn't pandering. His nationalist sentiments run deep. He railed repeatedly against the West for bombing his homeland. He positioned himself as a firm advocate of Serbian interests in Kosovo, promising to negotiate the safe return of the thousands who fled Albanian retribution after the war. He said protecting Milosevic from international war-crimes prosecution was a matter of constitutional sovereignty. He made it clear his Yugoslavia would not become "anybody's protectorate...
...Western governments are trying to prod Milosevic into leaving, but after last year's bombings they don't exactly wield much influence in Belgrade. Their best bet for diplomatic leverage remains Moscow, which played the key role in persuading the Serb strongman to back down in Kosovo. Diplomatic efforts are reportedly afoot to coax Milosevic into leaving Serbia and seeking asylum either in Russia or Belarus to avoid prosecution in the Hague. But that may be overstating his immediate crisis - after all, Kostunica has stated that he's not interested in sending Milosevic for trial as a war criminal...
...most bellicose backers of Milosevic's military misadventures of the past decade - have jumped ship, proclaiming a Kostunica victory and urging that it be respected. Kostunica is no NATO shill - he even suggested the Western alliance may have committed war crimes during last year's bombing campaign during the Kosovo crisis - and it's far from inconceivable that the military would be comfortable with him in the presidency. If Milosevic plunges the country into a new wave of turmoil simply to cling to power, he may find his power base disappearing out from under...