yugoslavias implosion

its head today and that is why it will be responsible for the far-reaching
consequences that this violence will have on the European and
world order. This act has above all humiliated the eu, not Serbia. Serbia
refused to be humiliated, respecting firmly the law and refusing to
bow to force. 474
Koštunica tried to declare the January presidential elections
results null and void. However, the March 2008 rally did not accomplish
what he hoped. The majority of Belgrade’s citizens stayed at
home and the rally created no impetus for further large-scale protests
and street violence. Koštunica’s effort to provoke protests and
incidents did not succeed. The behind-the-scenes political drama
led to the resignation of Koštunica and the scheduling of early parliamentary
elections in May 2008. Backed by almost all the media,
Koštunica made Serbia’s right to Kosovo a central plank of his campaign,
expecting thereby to mobilize popular support. But he miscalculated.
The Kosovo myth had finally lost its mobilizing potential;
people were tired of violence, and most of the citizens of Serbia
voted for the “Coalition for Europe,” a group of parties including
Tadic’s Democratic Party and the Socialist Party in favor of Serbia’s
accession to the eu, a move that many Serbian voters believed might
help the country overcome its economic woes. 475
Independence was expected by everyone, and the elite’s response
to it was predictable. Koštunica acted like Milošević, like a man
divorced from reality and disinclined to look for political compromise.
At play was his intention to “extort” the partition of Kosovo. In
the face of Kosovo’s independence, many Serbian analysts continued
to insist on the resumption of negotiations. A kind of rectification of
474 http://www6.b92.net/info/vesti/index.
php?yyyy=2008&mm=02&dd=17&nav_category=640&nav_id=285213
475 The Coalition for Europe consists of The Democratic Party (Tadić), G17 plus (Dinkić),
Democratic Party of Sandžak (Ugljanin), Party of Democratic Action Sandžak (Ljajić), Serbian
Renewal Movement (Drašković) and League of Vojvodina Social Democrats (Čanak)
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