SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC - SERBIA

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06569672
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: March 16, 2022
• Document Release Date: June 15, 2016
• Case Number: F-2016-01087
• Publication Date: January 15, 1993

Approved for Release: 2016/06/10 C06569672
SERBIA
Slobodan MILOSEVIC
(Phonetic: meeLOshehveech)
President (since 1989)
Slobodan Milosevic's aura of invincibility was tarnished by the December 1992 campaign
for reelertion apainst "Federal Renuhlie of Yugoslavia" Prime Minister Milan Panic
He is still revered by many Serbs and will continue to challenge his constituents'
pride by urging them to endure sanctions and achieve Serbia's national goals
hroughout the weeks before the election, Serbian state television
ran long segments on Milosevic's campaign, even preempting programming on the last
evening of the campaign to present a one-hour report on his tour of southern Serbia.
Pension
payments and tax breaks for workers and farmers were announced right before the election.
While Milosevic remains preeminent, cracks in his support are emerging as Serbia's
economic and political situation worsens. He is facing criticism from within his
own party, from members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences--once a stronghold of Milosevic
supporters--and from the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Milosevic has put aside his slogan of "all Serbs in one state" and is concentrating
instead on legitimizing a rump Yugoslavia composed only of Serbia and its ally, Montenegro.
He has been cultivating strong ties to Serb leaders outside Serbia and Montenegro,
probably to enable him to eventually attach Serb-dominated areas to his evolving state.
Although Milosevic cannot always control Serb leaders outside Serbia, he is largely
responsible for their rise to power and is in close contact with them.
How Milosevic Operates
the primary motive underlying Milosevic's political behavior is
a strong drive to exercise power and control.
Approved for Release: 2016/06/10 C06569672
Approved for Release: 2016/06/10 C06569672
Milosevic, in our view, sincerely identifies with his ethnic heritage, but his appeals
to the intense nationalism of Serbs and their desire to redress past wrongs are primarily
means to his personal ends. He uses emotional appeals to avoid being outflanked by
those who criticize him for abandoning Serb brethren in other republics.
In 1989, he forced his longtime
mentor out of the Serbian presidency and was subsequently elected to the post in December
1990 with 65 percent of the vote. Since then, he has acted as if he considers himself
unbeatable and as if he has few restraints on his actions within Serbia.
Milosevic's closest confidant is his
wife, a hardline university professor, assertive Communist Party ideologue, and niece
of a onetime party chief.
One on One
In face-to-face meetings Milosevic is impressively articulate, self-confident, and
in command of his brief. Capable of being affable, relaxed, and charming, he is a
master at thinking and acting under pressure
Milosevic has been to Beijing and Moscow once and has visited the United States
more than a dozen times, mostly as a banker. Since returning to politics, he has
made private trips to Western Europe about once a year--most recently to Greece because
he is on good terms with Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis.
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
Milosevic speaks excellent, accented
English. He and his wile have a daughter and a son.
The Drive to Power
Milosevic was born in Pozarevac on 20 August 1941.
Milosevic joined the Communist Party at 18. After graduating from the Law Faculty
of the University of Belgrade in 1964, he held a series of economics-related party
positions. Milosevic joined the Belgrade firm Technogas in 1968 and became its director
in 1973. In 1978 he took up the post of president of the Bank of Belgrade, one of
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(3)
� (b)(1)
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2016/06/10 C06569672
Approved for Release: 2016/06/10 C06569672
Yugoslavia's largest financial institutions. He returned to full-time politics as
Belgrade party chief in 1984 under the tutelage of his mentor, then Serbian Communist
Party chief Ivan Stambolic. Milosevic took over as head of the Serbian party in 1986,
In April 1987, he captured international attention with his dramatic appearance at
a protest meeting of Kosovo Serbs, where he initiated an inflammatory campaign to
"right the wrongs" they were suffering and demanded rapid progress toward full democracy
and a market economy. On 8 May 1989 he became President of Serbia.
LDA M 93-10046
15 January 1993
Approved for Release: 2016/06/10 C06569672