Serbia

Slobodan Milosevic's re-election as president of Serbia was vote for ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bosnia, for rape and torture, for starvation and murder, for announcing a hundred cease-fires and disregarding every one.In all probability it was also a vote for ethnic cleansing of the majority Albanians from Kosovo Province. That could turn into a vote for a Balkan war, in which Albania would go to ethnic Albanians' rescue and Turkey to Albania's, and in which Mr. Milosevic would hope for aid from Greece and Russia as religious and historic allies.

TUESDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS MLB Toronto@Orioles MASN7 Washington@San Diego MASN210 White Sox@Oakland WGN-A10 NBA Cleveland@Memphis (T) NBANoon Oklahoma City@Clippers (T) NBA3 Miami@Boston TNT8 Phoenix@Utah TNT10:30 Bowling Women's USBC Queens ESPN27 Cycling La Flche Wallonne (T) NBCSP3:30 Tour de Romandie (T)

WASHINGTON -- Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has let the nationalist genie out of the bottle and may be unable to put it back anytime soon. This will have serious repercussions for Serbia's relations with the European Union and the United States, Montenegro's independence referendum, the future status of Kosovo and cooperation with The Hague war crimes tribunal. By providing Slobodan Milosevic with a state funeral in all but name, Mr. Kostunica disgraced Serbia and demonstrated his commitment to preserving Mr. Milosevic's legacy and interpretation of history.

John J. Hentschel, president of Hentschel Real Estate Services, an Abingdon-based real estate advisory and consulting firm, has been honored with the 2011 James Felt Creative Counseling Award. Hentschel received the honor for his work as a special advisor to the Urban Institute as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Municipal Economic Growth Activity, a program designed to promote economic development in the Republic of Serbia through commercialization of strategically located surplus military properties.

WASHINGTON - The assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic bore the marks of a political vendetta and a well-organized conspiracy. Even though the people who ordered his assassination Wednesday have not been identified, his enemies are widely known: the high officials in the military and security services during the blood-spattered rule of the former dictator Slobodan Milosevic. Mr. Djindjic has incurred their hatred for having organized the overthrow of the Milosevic regime and then sent him to The Hague to face war crimes charges.

WASHINGTON -- Two months after the popular uprising that forced dictator Slobodan Milosevic out of power in Serbia, a mood of uncertainty prevails. Posters put up by the student group Otpor (Resistance) capture the unease. Underneath a picture of a giant bulldozer, symbol of the revolution, is a warning to new Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and his entourage: "We are still watching." Will these new leaders, is the message's subtext, prove corrupt like the Milosevic regime? Or incompetent?

WASHINGTON -- The end of Slobodan Milosevic's 13-year rule dragged on for six months with all the elements of a Balkan farce. The man who no longer was president lived in the presidential mansion while the new president continued to reside in his two-bedroom apartment in downtown Belgrade. The new president, Vojislav Kostunica, was not informed when the Serbian police finally moved to arrest his predecessor. In fact, an army unit under Mr. Kostunica's control, blocked the first police attempt to serve an arrest warrant.

ZAGREB, Yugoslavia -- Serbia, Yugoslavia's largest republic, decided yesterday to accept a European Community peace plan to send foreign observers to monitor a cease-fire in Croatia and set up a commission to resolve the Yugoslav crisis."

Dog on a tire. That's how someone once described Helen Delich Bentley.And it is significant that he could have been either a friend or a foe.That description, in fact, comes pretty close to Bentley's own, which I asked her to provide yesterday."

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Packers began moving into ambassadors' residences in the up-market Belgrade suburb of Dedinje this week. And with them came a realization in Serbia's establishment that the first steps of international isolation were under way.In and of itself, the gesture of withdrawing the ambassadors of the European Community states, the United States and several other countries may not force Serbia to retreat from the bloodletting it is assisting...

Kevin Durant poured in 22 points as the United States recorded its second comfortable victory at the FIBA World Championships, beating Slovenia 99-77 in Istanbul. Rudy Gay (16 points), Russell Westbrook (11), Andre Iguodala (11) and Kevin Love (10 with 11 rebounds) also contributed in the Group B contest. "Coach told us that we wanted to disrupt their offense by pressuring them and getting into the passing lanes and I just tried to do that," said Durant, who hit 8 of 13 shots.

As Iranians continue to protest their lack of voice, Western publics, commentators and policymakers express growing sympathy with the demands for free and fair elections. Yet the romance and tragedy of these events should not blind us to the fact that electoral protests of this type seldom produce democratization. Research I conducted with graduate student Katya Kalandadze, soon to be published in Comparative Political Studies, shows that "electoral revolutions" similar to the one in Iran have occurred with some frequency worldwide since 1991 as authoritarian regimes have sought legitimacy by giving greater scope to elections - while avoiding full democracy.

Tomorrow, the United States, the European Union and Russia will report to the United Nations on the latest round of talks on the future of Kosovo. They will be tempted yet again to delay resolution of the Kosovo question - even after three years of talks. On its face, the new report will be largely meaningless. The most recent talks were no more than a sop to Serbia and Russia. Positions have not changed, compromise has not been reached, and agreement remains a fatuous hope. Kosovo is determined to exercise its political self-determination by pursuing internationally recognized sovereignty and independence.

Since the Kosovo problem began back in 1912, 1981, 1989 or 1998 (take your pick), no one would - or should - be foolish enough to predict that we are now entering the Kosovo endgame. However, it is clear that one chapter in this tortuous story is closing and a new one opening. Beginning today in the Austrian spa of Baden, Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders are meeting for one last time under the aegis of the Troika of mediators from the U.S., Russia and the European Union. No one expects any significant results.

This week's Security Council vote to strengthen sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro represents the latest diplomatic step toward ensuring that the Yugoslav disaster grows worse and spreads further.If the sanctions are intended to weaken the regime of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, they are counterproductive. It should have been obvious to those who fought the Cold War that international isolation is the best friend of tyrants. The sanctions amount to a new Iron Curtain, cutting off support for the progressive forces in Serbia.

WASHINGTON -- For 3 1/2 years, Shayna Lazarevich's obsession has been her children -- spirited to the former Yugoslavia by her ex-husband, a Serb whom she met and married in California.Despite promises from the Serbian government, despite court orders in the United States and Serbia, despite pressing her search daily in Belgrade, Mrs. Lazarevich has not gotten her children back.She believes they are still in Serbia, though she doesn't know where, and she is afraid her former husband, scheduled to complete a seven-month jail sentence for forgery, will flee the country with them when he is released from prison March 29.Her persistance attracted the assistance of then Secretary of State James A. Baker III who appealed to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic on a visit to Belgrade in June, 1991.