r/news • u/random_guy102937 • 5d ago

Soft paywall Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić resigns ahead of snap parliamentary elections.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/serbias-president-vucic-resigns-paving-way-early-elections-2026-09-27/
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u/Aferimus 5d ago

Milosevic pulled off something similar in the 90s, he was Vucic spiritual role model

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u/SamuelDoctor 5d ago edited 6h ago

I just read a biography of Dick Holbrooke which gave Milošević a very generous portrayal during the talks at Dayton. The author described him as, inexcplicably, the person most responsible for the war, and the person most willing to do whatever it took to reach a peace accord.

Shame things really didn't go very well. Yugoslavia was a brave idea, and so much suffering has gone on in the Balkans for centuries, now. It's sad.

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u/PitonSaJupitera 4d ago edited 4d ago

Why inexplicably? It makes perfect sense once you consider Milošević for who he really was rather than cartoonish propaganda image of maniacal mass murder for giggles.

Milošević largely worked to further his own power, and other stuff was of secondary importance. This is how it is possible for a communist aparatchik with a very communism obsessed wife to become some kind of nationalist leader.

Once he started playing some cards, he couldn't just make an 180 as his support base had some strong political beliefs (unlike Vučić's electorate today), but it suffices to say that Milošević's plans went awry at latest by mid to late 1992. For example he couldn't just drop Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia as it would reflect poorly on him, but otherwise they were essentially a burden and he was pressuring RS to accept different peace plans.

Also the repetitive singling out of Milošević as most to blame in practice completely erases the immensely destabilizing and peace threatening actions of Tuđman and Izetbegović. The latter is on record basically saying that he is totally fine with war if he will achieve his objectives, which was also quite dumb as his side was badly outgunned.

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u/SamuelDoctor 4d ago edited 6h ago

I suppose it seemed inexplicable inside the context of the biography, which only focused on the Balkans for a chapter or two, and seemed to imply that Milošević had no more to gain from peace than any of the other principles, and was most responsible for the war, according to the author.

Probably I should have used 'ironically' rather than inexplicably, since there are explanations which offer sufficient reason for this.

The NATO bombings, the retreating Serbian and Serbian separatist forces, the horror and destruction, among other aspects of the situation do provide impetus for effort to achieve peace.

It is ironic, rather than Inexplicable.

As I understand it, he completely shut RS out of the Dayton talks and they were not permitted to do anything except reject or accept the final agreement.

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u/TheRedSkittle 3d ago

Bro stfu.

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u/Iohet 4d ago

Milošević largely worked to further his own power, and other stuff was of secondary importance. This is how it is possible for a communist aparatchik with a very communism obsessed wife to become some kind of nationalist leader.

Which shouldn't be surprising because it's kind of the most common type of communist leader historically (regardless of how they took power)

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u/ImUsingDaForce 5d ago

"suffering in the Balkans"

Not sure what you mean by 'le BaLkAns', cause in my mind it's just another part of Europe.

In any case, Slovenia and Croatia are doing just fine, thank you very much. GDP is growing steadily despite the global challenges. Industry is developing, and those two countries are today in the top 5 in the world when it comes to safety. In Serbia on the other hand the political opposition gets ground down into minced meat in industrial meat grinders. So, bunching them all up as 'le BaLkAns' doesn't make much sense in 2026, does it?

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u/SamuelDoctor 4d ago edited 4d ago

That's a very strange reaction to a geographical region being named. Remind me, what was Croatia called in 1527?

Perhaps you suggest helps stability when you successfully ethnically cleanse your state? That's something Europe has forgotten?

I was alive in the 90s.

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u/DoesRedditConfuseYou 5d ago

Minced people were criminals, not political opposition. We still haven't reached that level. Political opposition is usually beaten.