9th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on 4–7 September 1989 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

SR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

was the conference of Heads of State or Government of the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

. Belgrade was the first city to host the Summit for the second time after it hosted the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961. Yugoslavia was unanimously selected as the host of the Summit at the

1988 Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference 1988 Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference was held in Nicosia, capital of Cyprus in September 1988. 92 foreign ministers participating in the conference discussed United States and the Soviet Union rapprochement, South Africa's occupation of ...

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. While the Federal Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia led by

Budimir Lončar Budimir Lončar (born 1 April 1924) is a Croatian retired diplomat who served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs of SFR Yugoslavia from 1987 until 1991. He served as Ambassador of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Indonesia, Germany a ...

was excited, the

Presidency of Yugoslavia The Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( sr, Председништво СФРЈ, Predsedništvo SFRJ, Bosnian and hr, Predsjedništvo SFRJ, sl, Predsedstvo SFRJ, mk, Председателство на СФРЈ, Preds ...

, Yugoslav collective head of state, was skeptical about the prospects of hosting the event but ultimately supported it by

Josip Vrhovec Josip Vrhovec (9 February 1926 – 14 February 2006) was a Croatian communist politician, best known for serving as Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1978 and 1982 and the Chairman of the League of Communists of Croatia (SKH, the Croa ...

in fear that rejection may show the level of the crisis in the country. The comparatively weak federal government organizers of the event ultimately hoped that the conference may convince leaders of the strong Yugoslav

federal republics A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected representatives ...

to resolve the early Yugoslav crisis in a constructive and peaceful way, yet it nevertheless escalated in 1991

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

. The event is therefore sometimes described as the swan song of the prominent Yugoslav

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

diplomacy. Summit took place at the

Sava Centar Sava Centar ( sr, Сава центар) is an international congress, cultural and business centre of various multi-functional activities located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is the largest audience hall in the country and entire forme ...

New Belgrade New Belgrade ( sr, / , ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. It is a planned city, built since 1948 in a previously uninhabited area on the left bank of the Sava river, opposite old Belgrade. In recent years, it has become the central bu ...

Janez Drnovšek Janez Drnovšek (; 17 May 1950 – 23 February 2008) was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1989–1990), Prime Minister of Slovenia (1992–2002, with a short break in 2000) and President of Slovenia (2 ...

held the opening remarks in Slovenian language. At the Summit, Yugoslavia succeeded in persuading members states to exclude

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

and anti-Western positions from the final document which also avoided harsh criticism of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

and for the first time explicitly included

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and freedom as well as

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

provisions. Yugoslavia nevertheless welcomed

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

as the President of Palestine and not as the head of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

. Unsatisfied with the host's anti-radicalism more radical members of the movement such as

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

sent lower-ranking officials at lead their delegations in Belgrade. Career diplomat and the last Yugoslav representative the United Nations Darko Šilović was responsible for the organization of the Summit.

Novi Sad Fair Novi Sad Fair ( sr, Новосадски сајам, Novosadski sajam) is an event management company located in Novi Sad, Serbia, which organizes one of the largest agricultural fairs in Southeast Europe. Taking place every May in Novi Sad, it ...

Belgrade Fair The Belgrade Fair ( sr, Београдски сајам, Beogradski sajam) is a large complex of three large domes and a dozen of smaller halls which is the location of the major trade fairs in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. It is located i ...

and

Zagreb Fair Zagreb Fair ( hr, Zagrebački velesajam) is a complex of exhibition pavilions in Zagreb, Croatia. The company which operates the venue carries the same name. The Zagreb Fair is the main venue in Zagreb for trade shows and fairs. Every year more t ...

all proposed exhibitions related to NAM during the event while the

Yugoslav Lexicographical Institute Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

proposed scientific and cultural symposium on the NAM with numerous other economic and cultural events taking place all around Yugoslavia. Delegates at the conference planted trees at the New Belgrade Park of Friendship.

References

See also