Vojislav Kostunica

Prime Minister of Serbia

(Various sources)

Vojislav Kostunica was elected Prime Minister of Serbia on 3 March 2004, following early parliamentary elections on 28 December 2003, in which none of the competing parties won enough support to rule alone. The minority government, formed after weeks of coalition talks, is made up of members of Kostunica's conservative Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the liberal G17 Plus, and the Serbian Renewal Movement and New Serbia coalition. It is also supported by the Socialist Party of Serbia of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Born in Belgrade in 1944, Kostunica graduated from Belgrade Law School in 1966. In 1970, he earned a master's degree and started working as a junior lecturer. In 1974, he completed his Ph.D. Shortly thereafter, he lost his teaching position during a political purge of the university. Starting in 1974, he worked at the Institute for Social Science, and in 1981 he joined the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory.

Unlike many leading politicians in Serbia, Kostunica was never a member of the Communist Party. In 1989, he helped found the Democratic Party together with the late Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who was assassinated in March 2003. Kostunica left the party because he felt its platform was not sufficiently nationalistic. He set up the DSS in 1992, and has remained at its helm since. As a member of the Serbian Parliament from 1990 to 1997, he was a vociferous critic both of Milosevic and the international community, arguing that each had policies that were injurious to Serb interests.

Kostunica, who describes himself as a moderate nationalist, is considered one of the most controversial figures in the Balkans. A soft-spoken law professor who is reputed to stand by his principles regardless of political circumstances, he amazed the world on 24 September 2000, dethroning Milosevic in the country's presidential elections after 13 years of rule. Kostunica stepped down as president of Yugoslavia in February 2003. His resignation resulted from the EU-brokered Belgrade accord that set the stage for the abolition of the former Yugoslavia and the creation of the new loose union of Serbia-Montenegro.

As he presented his government's programme in the Serbian Parliament on 2 March 2004, Kostunica cited the status of Kosovo Serbs, Serbian-Montenegrin relations within the state union, institutional reform, anti-corruption efforts and the economy as key priorities. He pledged to lead the country towards EU membership, saying "there is no alternative for Serbia-Montenegro at the moment but to pursue the European path".

Kostunica is married.