Slobodan Milosevic was a deeply complex man. I first met him in Belgrade in September 1992, when I was the European Union's negotiator on the former Yugoslavia and he was president of Serbia.
He was above all a pragmatist, ruthless in the pursuit of power, but ready to spend hours negotiating during which he could be flexible, understanding and even, in a strange way, helpful.
You cannot like someone who is bully, as he was, but as a negotiator you have to sit down with him just the same - and I did so endless times over the next three years.
I did not find any charm but at least he had one quality: at various times I made representations to him - seeking the release of hostages, or requesting safe passage for a humanitarian convoy - and I think he did influence that.
The one issue on which he was obdurate was Kosovo. He believed that it was in the Serb interest to get a settlement first in Croatia and then later in Bosnia Herzegovina. But Kosovo inside Serbia was the issue on which he had risen to power. He had played the nationalist card and almost felt ashamed of it.
He knew that he had exploited Serb grievances against the Kosovo Albanians, and he was implacable that he would not restore Kosovo's autonomy. This was Serb business, in which neither the United Nations or the EU in his mind had any part.
Was he a racist? Probably not. He only once made a racist remark in my presence and then apologised for it - whereas Gen Ratko Mladic was an undoubted racist. I doubt whether Milosevic was really even a nationalist. He just used the nationalist element within Serbia.
In the end he was the great loser in the break-up of Yugoslavia. Serbs were swept out of Krajina - now in Croatia. Serbs lost ground to the Croats in Bosnia and if Kosovo becomes independent, as I think inevitable, the jewel in Serb history will in their eyes be taken from them. The person whom Serb historians will blame will be Slobodan Milosevic.
His trial was potentially very important. It was the first time that a head of state had ever been brought before an international court. Previously leaders thought they were immune from prosecution. Now, because of Milosevic's death, we will never know the verdict.......
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Tags:Slobodan Milosevic , Milosevic, Serbia-Montenegro, Yugoslavia
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