Koštunica, Vojislav (1944– )

Serbian nationalist politician and president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (the separate countries of Montenegro and Serbia from 2006) from 2000 to 2003 after a disputed poll victory. A wave of demonstrations was required before the election result was recognized by outgoing president Slobodan Milošević. An economic liberal and advocate of Serbia establishing peace with its neighbours and joining Europe and European institutions, Koštunica also had strong anti-NATO views and initially pledged not to hand Milošević over to the International War Crimes Tribunal. That he eventually did so cost him some popularity.

A former professor in constitutional law who refused to join the Serbian communist party, Koštunica was dismissed from his post at Belgrade University in 1974 for criticizing Yugoslav communist president Tito's reshaping of Yugoslavia into a loose-knit federation. A founding member of the Demokratska Stranka (DS, Democratic Party) when multi-party politics were introduced in 1989, he left in 1992 to form the more nationalist Demokratska Stranka Srbije (DSS, Democratic Party of Serbia). A critic of the Dayton peace accord for Bosnia, which he saw as a sell-out of Serb interests, he remained aloof from anti-Milošević public protests 1996–97. However, his refusal to cut deals with Milošević won him respect. Despite lacking charisma, he succeeded in gathering support, in the shape of the coalition Demokratska Opozicija Srbije (DOS, Democratic Opposition of Serbia) party, in September 2000 as a result of the broad backing he received from opposition forces and the impact that defeat in Kosovo had on Milošević's popular appeal.