POLICY OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Isolated by the international community during the war in Bosnia, Slobodon Milo_evi_ was hailed by some as a peacemaker when he signed the Dayton Peace Agreement in December 1995. Since then, the international community has complained but taken no serious action against Milo_evi_ for his continued persecution of ethnic minorites in Serbia, harassment of the independent media (as documented in this report), and failure to hand over indicted war criminals, as required under the Dayton accords that he signed.

Conversely, Milo_evi_ has largely been rewarded for his actions. After Milo_evi_ signed the Dayton accords, most European countries reestablished full diplomatic relations and, on October 2, 1996, the United Nations lifted sanctions on Yugoslavia that had been in place for the previous four years due to the country's role in the war.65 An outer wall of sanctions remains in place, which keeps Yugoslavia out of the international lending institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, but this is mostly due to the unilateral resolve of the United States (which has also not reestablished full diplomatic ties with Belgrade).66

The one period of condemnation and action by the international community against human rights violations in Yugoslavia occurred during the demonstrations after the 1996 elections, albeit once foreign governments realized that the demonstrations were gaining momentum and Milo_evi_ had resorted to threats of violent suppression and bans on the independent media. An OSCE delegation to Serbia, headed by Spain's Prime Minister Filipe Gonzalez, confirmed that electoral fraud had occurred and presented Milo_evi_ with a list of recommendations to rectify the situation and promote respect for human rights, known as the "Gonzalez report." The U.S. and European governments appropriately condemned the arrest of demonstrators, police violence and restrictions on the independent media. When Radio B-92 was closed, the U.S. government offered temporary use of the Voice of America frequency.

As soon as the election results were recognized, however, European governments resumed welcoming Milo_evi_ and the abusive Yugoslav government back into the international community. In April 1997, the E.U. granted Yugoslavia preferential trade status,67 although the agreement will "be reviewed" if there is no progress in a number of human rightsrelated areas, such as improvements in Serbia's media laws, reform of the judicial system and improvements in Kosovo.68 The E.U.'s decision to grant the preferential status was originally made in November 1996, but was postponed when the Yugoslav government's electoral fraud and the subsequent demonstrations became headline news. On May 15, 1997, the European Commission granted Yugoslavia $115 million in foreign aid.