Word: kostunica
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...what made Kostunica the perfect candidate now was what he was not. He was a humble, bookish scholar, not a brash firebrand pol. He was a vigorous nationalist, not an ethnic killer. He subscribed to multiparty democracy and market economics but never kowtowed to the West. He wanted to end confrontation with Europe and the U.S. but harshly condemned NATO's air war and slammed Washington's aggressive support for the Serbian opposition this past year as "the kiss of death." He vowed not to deliver Milosevic to the Hague, calling the war-crimes tribunal an illegitimate instrument...
...After years of courting military disasters, economic devastation and diplomatic isolation, Serbs were ready for a man decidedly lacking in charisma and historical ambition. Barred from broadcast media, Kostunica diligently drove from village to town, averaging five stops a day, speaking directly to the people. He wooed them with the prospect of being "normal" again, promising "a dull, average European country with an average economy, an average relationship with its neighbors, an average political life." When Milosevic's thugs pelted him with tomatoes and rocks at a campaign rally, he took a cut beneath the eye before retreating, then calmly...
...Even so, Washington and its European allies are patting themselves on the back for a good return on the $25 million they spent in Yugoslavia building up the opposition (except Kostunica's party, which received no foreign help) with direct grants, training and equipment. The U.S. is ready to deal with anyone but Milosevic, although it realizes President Kostunica could prove a handful. He's not the Serb devil Washington knows, but he's still a determined nationalist with contrary goals...
...American officials seem confident Kostunica would at least aim for stability and search for political solutions to Balkan conflicts rather than excite ethnic terror. They think he is making the right moves during this dicey period, pursuing legal appeals to confirm the vote as well as calling for peaceful civil disobedience to shut the country down and force a reckoning on Milosevic. While Kostunica insists that he won't stand in the regime's planned runoff, he remains reluctant to hand Milosevic an uncontested victory. The U.S. and Europe encouragingly promise to lift economic sanctions on Yugoslavia and dish...
...mounted three months of daily street demonstrations to try to make their defiant ruler concede defeat. But the drive to topple the tyrant lost all steam when egocentric opposition leaders turned on one another, then squandered public trust by cutting personal deals with the regime. Kostunica will need to display uncommon skill and perseverance just to keep his argumentative alliance intact...