DEMOCRACY COMES TO YUGOSLAVIA.

A popular uprising has forced Europe's last dictator to step down. Can Yugoslavia's new President make democracy work?

In Belgrade, Yugoslavia's capital, tens of thousands of angry protesters broke through metal barricades and set fire to the Yugoslav Federal Parliament building. As smoke engulfed the building, demonstrators waved Yugoslavia's flag through broken windows.

Other protesters seized control of the state-run television station. At city hall, opposition leaders unloaded a truck filled with machine guns. Many of the police sent to put down the demonstrations instead joined the protests.

What they all wanted was an end to the reign of terror in Yugoslavia by President Slobodan Milosevic (SLO-buh-dahn mih-LOW-suh-vich). "I was prepared to give everything, to give my life, to see Milosevic go," said one protester.

Thirty-six hours later, they got what they wanted. On October 7, Vojislav Kostunica (kosh-TOON-eet-zah) was sworn in as Yugoslavia's new President.

Milosevic stepped down 10 days after he lost a presidential election he though would cement his hold on power. The man whom many people hold responsible for years of violence and bloodshed in the Balkan region was gone.

A Nationalist Dictator

Milosevic came to power in 1989, when he was elected President of Serbia, Yugoslavia's most powerful republic (see map, p. 19). He won widespread support by appealing to Serbian nationalism (the belief that one's own nation is above all others).

Milosevic was a dictator, controling Serbia's parliament, courts, army, police, and media. Powerful business leaders also supported him.

When Milosevic came to power, Yugoslavia was still a Communist country and much larger than it is today. But after the Communists lost power in 1990, Yugoslavia began to break apart. Largely because Serbia was so dominating, four of Yugoslavia's six republics declared independence: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia.

Wars broke out in Croatia and Bosnia between Serbs and non-Serbs. The Yugoslav Army fought on the side of the Serbs in both countries. In Bosnia, Serbs carried out "ethnic cleansing"--killing or driving out non-Serbs from all areas that Serbs claimed.

The wars devastated Serbia's once-prosperous economy and isolated its people from the rest of Europe. Today, only the republics of Serbia and Montenegro remain part of Yugoslavia.

U.S. Troops Go to Kosovo

In 1997, Milosevic was elected President of Yugoslavia, and more bloodshed followed--this time in Kosovo, a Serbian province (see map). Milosevic sent Serbian forces to attack Albanian rebels who wanted independence. Only a minority of Kosovo's people are Serbs. Most are ethnic Albanian Muslims. The Serbian attacks forced hundreds of thousands of Muslims to flee Kosovo.

The U.S. demanded that Milosevic pull back his forces. When he refused, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) launched an air war against Serbia in 1999. The attacks forced Milosevic to pull his troops out of Kosovo. Thousands of Muslim refugees returned to Kosovo, which is now patrolled by troops from the U.S. and other UN countries.

After the war ended, the United States and several European countries imposed economic sanctions (penalties) on Yugoslavia. Last year, an international court charged Milosevic with crimes against humanity.

A Popular Uprising

How long could such a ruler stay in power? Many Serbs became fed up with Milosevic's lies about the wars and a miserable economy in which more than 30 percent of working-age people had no jobs.

But Milosevic was determined to stay in power. Last July, he called a presidential election for September 24. He was confident he would win re-election.

He was wrong. Despite attempts at election fraud by Milosevic supporters, opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica won the election.

Milosevic refused to recognize his opponent's victory. Opponents called, a general strike. Garbage piled up on streets. Stores closed. The public transit system shut down. Then a court controlled by Milosevic ruled that a new election must be held.

Protests erupted throughout Yugoslavia. Half a million angry people marched on Belgrade for a rally at the Federal Parliament building. Milena Nikolic, 13, was there. "It was awesome. We went because we don't want sanctions. Now everything will be changed." Her friend, Marija Krsteski, 13, agreed. "We were making a protest. Milosevic was a very bad president, and we hope Kostunica will be better."

The rally ended with people storming the Federal Parliament building. Finally, Milosevic agreed to step down. Despite the outpouring of anger and rage, only two people died and fewer than 100 were injured.

On October 7, Kostunica took the oath of office as Yugoslavia's President. He declared this "a great moment for our country. After all the suffering, this may bring us peace."

Challenges Ahead

International leaders were quick to support Kostunica's election. The European Union lifted some economic sanctions and offered $2 billion in aid to help rebuild the country.

Kostunica faces many challenges in the days ahead. He ran as the candidate of 18 different opposition parties. Now he must create a democratic government from these parties, even though most of these parties have never run anything larger than a city. One of the biggest dangers: He will have to deal with government and military officials who remain loyal to Milosevic.

But unlike Milosevic, Kostunica is a democrat. For that reason, many people have hope for Yugoslavia's future. "The people of Serbia have spoken with their ballots," said President Bill Clinton. "I hope ... we can welcome them to democracy, to Europe, to the world's community."

Vojislav Kostunica

When a pro-Milosevic newspaper ran a profile of Vojislav Kostunica, they described him as "hair-splitting, stub-born, a stickler, and boring." These are words that Kostunica, a married, 56-year-old constitutional lawyer, might consider as praise.

Kostunica has made a career out of sticking to his principles. He has never been suspected of corruption. Most important, he has no political or social ties to Yogoslavia's former dictator, Slobodan Milosevic.

Kostunica is a staunch democrat who puts his trust in the law. But he is also a nationalist who does not want independence for Kosovo. He has said he will not turn Milosevic over to a United Nations court to stand trail for crimes against humanity.

YUGOSLAVIA

Yugoslavia is a word meaning land of the South Slays. While almost all its people are Slays, they are divided by differences in history, language, and religion.

Many times, these differences have led to violence and war. See the main article on pp. 16-18 and the captions in the map above.

FACTS TO KNOW

AREA: 39,448 sq. mi., about the size of Kentucky.

POPULATION: 10,700,000. Ethnic makeup: Serb, 62.6%; Albanian, 16.5%; Montenegrin, 5%; Hungarian, 3.3%; Mixed and other, 12.6%

GOVERNMENT: Transition to presidential-parliamentary democracy. Vojislav Kostunica is the new President.

ECONOMY: Unemployment is more than 30%. Yugoslavia has made little progress in changing from a state--run economy to a free--enterprise system. Corruption and war have devastated the economy.

PER-CAPITA GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: $2,300 (U.S.: $31,500.)

LIFE EXPECTANCY: 70 years, males; 75 years, females.

The Balkans

The Powder Keg of Europe. That is the name given to the Balkans, a peninsula in southeastern Europe that includes Yugoslavia.

The region got that name because so many wars have started there, including World War I (1914-1918).

The name could also be given to Yugoslavia itself, where three wars were fought in the 1990s. Today's Yugoslavia is shown in red on the map. Countries shown in orange and gold were part of Yugoslavia until 1991.