Vojislav Koštunica

Vojislav Koštunica (born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the prime minister of Serbia from 2004 to 2008.

Koštunica won the 2000 Yugoslav presidential election as a candidate of a broad alliance Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), which led to overthrow of Slobodan Milošević and the withdrawal of international sanctions against Yugoslavia. He strictly opposed cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and his party left the coalition government in protest at the decision to extradite Slobodan Milošević to the ICTY. After the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election, the first elections after the dissolution of DOS and assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, Koštunica formed a minority government with the support of Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia and became the head of government. He was one of the crucial figures in the adoption of the first constitution of an independent Serbia, as well as for declaring Serbia a neutral country. During his second government (2007–2008), he opposed signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, leading to the fall of the government after a year and the early elections won by pro-European parties.

He was one of the founders and the first president of the Democratic Party of Serbia from its creation in 1992 until 19 March 2014, when he resigned as party president and retired from active politics after his party failed to reach the 5% threshold to enter the Parliament on March 16 elections for the first time in its history. In October 2014, he left the party after disagreements with the new party leadership over what he saw as their abandonment of the policy of political neutrality. In November 2014, he was one of the founders of the right-wing eurosceptic "Statehood Movement of Serbia".

Early life and education Koštunica was born on 24 March 1944 in his family home in Belgrade, at the time the capital of German-occupied Serbia. As a youth he went by the nickname 'Voja'. Koštunica received 50.2 percent of the vote in the first round of voting, He was the last president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Koštunica opposed the extradition of his predecessor, to the Hague Tribunal, and voiced opposition to the court.

Prime Minister of Serbia (2004–08)

Koštunica became prime minister in March 2004 as the head of the new minority government, albeit with the support of the Socialist Party of Serbia.

On 8 March 2008, Koštunica called for new elections on 11 May, after the collapse of his party's coalition with the Democratic Party over relations with the European Union and Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. Pro-EU candidate Boris Tadić and his Democratic Party wound up winning the parliamentary elections and on July 7, a coalition between the Democrats and the Socialist Party was formed with Mirko Cvetković succeeding Koštunica as Prime Minister.

Political positions

Koštunica is a conservative politician with strong anti-communist views but also critical of the West, namely the United States and the European Union. In an interview with German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, Koštunica stated he is "fairly close to de Gaulle", in his views.

Since his retirement, Koštunica has kept most of his personal life private, rarely making public appearances. However, on March 15, 2025, he was seen attending the largest protest in Serbia's history.

On Kosovo On 21 February 2008, following Kosovo's declaration of independence, Koštunica made an emotional speech in Belgrade, which included the following: Buses took thousands of supporters to the rally; some protestors then attacked embassies and looted shops.

On 25 February 2008, Koštunica demanded that the United States rescind its recognition of Kosovo, warning that "there will be no stability until the fake state" is annulled.

On the European Union

On 4 April 2008, Koštunica stated that European Union membership was no longer on the agenda for Serbia. He stated that before EU integration could continue, Serbia and the EU must discuss the matter of Serbia's territorial integrity.

He stated that Serbia must not by any means sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which he referred to as "Solana's agreement".

On 21 April 2008, Koštunica said that the SAA was in the interests of Olli Rehn and Javier Solana and not in Serbia's national interests. He also said that "the NATO pact cannot claim that Serbia recognised Kosovo's independence with that signature." and that "the only thing the NATO pact will be able to claim is that individual parties signed Solana's agreement."

On 27 April 2008, he said that anyone who signed the SAA on behalf of Serbia would become an accomplice to tearing Serbia apart. He also implied there is a cover-up of something in the agreement by saying: "I am convinced every Serbian sees that things are being covered up, and that there is something seriously amiss with the Solana agreement." and he asked "who in Serbia dares to ignore these facts and conceal the real goal of Solana's agreement."

On 28 April 2008, he said that "the signature will not be valid for Serbia and whoever signs the SAA will have to assume responsibility for such an act".

On 1 May 2008, Koštunica said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was right when he said that the SAA should have been signed before Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence and its recognition by 18 EU member states at the time. One day later on 2 May 2008 he vowed to annul the agreement after the election, calling it "a trick", "Solana's agreement" and "the Tadić-Đelić SAA signature". He said he refers to the act of signing of the SAA as anti-Constitutional and anti-state that leads to the breakup of Serbia. A spokesperson of Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia stated that Tadić was putting a seal of Judas of his party coalition to the Solana Agreement by signing it. On 4 May he called the document "a forgery and a trick".

Awards

Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 2002 Order of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, 2005 Order of the Republika Srpska, 2012