Serbian Dawn: Reintegration and Renewal

Zoran Djindjic Speaks at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

CAMBRIDGE, MA (2002-09-20)
A Public Address By: ZORAN DJINDJIC
Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2002.
ARCO Forum of Public Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Zoran Djindjic, Biographical Information:

Zoran Djindjic is one of Serbia’s leading intellectuals and a former political activist. He became Prime Minister of Serbia in January 2001, following months of street protests that ultimately triggered the downfall of Slobadan Milosevic.

Djindjic’s run-in with political authorities began shortly following college, when he was jailed for several months by Yugoslav dictator Josep Tito for organizing student groups. After his release, he continued his studies and received a PhD in philosophy from the University of Frankfurt.

In 1989, he abandoned the Communists to co-found the reformist Democratic Party. Though championing a more democratic and Western oriented Yugoslavia, he remained a staunch Serbian nationalist and visited the headquarters of the Bosnian Serb forces during the siege of Sarajevo.

Djindic’s first political triumph came in 1997. The preceding year, he was a key organizer of a coalition of three opposition parties. The coalition won local elections in Belgrade and when the government’s attempt to annul the election failed in the face of mass protests, Djindjic was installed as mayor of the city in February 1997. His victory was short-lived however, a split in the coalition forced him from office just several months later.

In 1999, Djindjic was a key organizer of the anti-Milosevic uprising that gained momentum following NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. In September, Milosevic was driven from power when his Socialist party was trounced in Yugoslavian national elections. Djindjic led the Democratic Opposition to victory in Serbia elections in December and he was elected prime minister by the Serbian parliament the following January.

In perhaps his most controversial action since becoming prime minister, Djindjic defied a Serbia Supreme Court Ruling and handed over Slobodan Milosevic to an international tribunal in The Hague to face trial for war crimes. Djindjic has subsequently denounced the trial as a “circus,” and he has all but ruled out extraditing any more individuals wanted by The Hague.