Borisav Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Борисав Јовић, ; 19 October 1928 – 13 September 2021) was a Serbian economist, diplomat and politician who served as the
President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia
The office of the President of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjednik Predsjedništva SFRJ, separator=" / ", Председник Председништва СФРЈ, mk, Претседател ...
from 1990 to 1991.
He was Yugoslavia's ambassador to Italy from the mid to late 1970s, was the Serbian representative of the collective
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 ...
during the late 1980s and early 1990s, was the President of the Presidency and was a leading figure in the
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia ( sr, Социјалистичка партија Србије, Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS) is a political party in Serbia. It is led by Ivica Dačić.
It was founded in 1990 as the direct successor to ...
in the 1990s. Jović received his PhD in economics from the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...
in 1965. He was a fluent speaker of
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
.
Career
Jović was a close ally and advisor of Serbian official
Slobodan Milošević and helped Milošević attain power during the
anti-bureaucratic revolution. He served as chairman of the presidency of Yugoslavia from May 1990 to May 1991. In his book, ''Poslednji dani SFRJ'' (Belgrade, 1995), Joviċ describes how in late June 1990, following the electoral victory in
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
and
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
of pro-independence forces, he proposed to Milošević and federal defense minister
Veljko Kadijević
Veljko Kadijević ( sr-Cyrl, Вељко Кадијевић; 21 November 1925 – 2 November 2014) was a Serbian general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). He was the Minister of Defence in the Yugoslav government from 1988 until his resignatio ...
that they "throw Slovenia and Croatia out of Yugoslavia" through the use of force, while retaining hold of Serb-populated sections of Croatia, to which Milošević agreed. Shortly after that meeting Jović began implementing the strategy that led to the end of the federal Yugoslav state. Jović is known for helping to negotiate the
Brioni Accord in early July 1991, which gave Slovenia its independence after the
Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...
.
Near the end of his mandate in the rotating presidency, his successor,
Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the fir ...
, a
Croat
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...
, was blocked from taking the presidency by four out of eight members of the presidency who thus violated the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
al arrangement for rotation. In mid-1991, with the tensions leading to the
Croatian War of Independence rising in Croatia, Jović attempted to enact
emergency powers
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
which would effectively enable the army to take control of the country and reverse the effects of the first free democratic elections which had elected independence-advocating governments in the republics of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
and
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
. A vote of 5 out of 8 members of the Presidency was required, and Serbia had under its political control votes of Serbia,
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
,
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
and
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, and presumed that the Serb delegate representing Bosnia and Herzegovina would vote for the plan. The plan backfired when the Bosnian Serb delegate,
Bogić Bogićević
Bogić Bogićević ( sr-cyr, Богић Богићевић; born 15 May 1953) is a Bosnian politician. He served as the 5th Bosnian member of the Yugoslav Presidency from 1989 until its abolishment in 1992.
Bogićević was also a member of the ...
, refused to vote for the plan.
In the 1995
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', Jović described to interviewers his perception of the events that took place that eventually resulted in the breakup of the
. During this interview (Part 4, "The Gates of Hell–"), as well as in his testimony before the
, Jović described the actions of the Yugoslav leadership that led up to the formation of the
. Jović claimed these actions were decided in a private discussion he held with
Milošević. According to Jović, he realized that if Bosnia and Herzegovina ended up being recognized by the international community, the presence of the
(JNA) troops on Bosnian territory could have led to the Yugoslav government being accused of aggression. To avoid this, he and Milošević decided to move all JNA soldiers from Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to their countries of origin with the Yugoslav government covering the cost. In this way, every Bosnian Serb was transferred from the Yugoslav army to what became the newly created Bosnian Serb Army.
Jović viewed the reformist former Yugoslav Prime Minister
, a Bosnian Croat, as responsible for destroying the country and of being a puppet of the capitalist west. Jović, while
but was not indicted, with the prosecutorial team deciding to focus on preparing cases against major figures like Milošević. Jović was instead called as a witness and gave testimony on Milošević's activities during the war.
at the age of 92.