Yugoslavs’ President Cosic Ousted

President Dobrica Cosic, perceived as too moderate by extremist Serbs, was ousted early today after the national Parliament voted that he had breached the constitution.

Cosic, once a close ally of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, was accused by ultranationalists of violating the constitution by dallying over the appointment of a premier and Supreme Court judges last year.

The technicalities were a clear maneuver by the ultranationalist Radical Party, the No. 2 political force in Yugoslavia, to oust Cosic.

Cosic became president of Yugoslavia, made up of Serbia and Montenegro, last June. He is widely credited with having provided the intellectual blueprint for the creation of a Greater Serbia that sparked the Balkan conflict.

Recently, however, he had appealed to the Bosnian Serbs to accept an international plan to end the war in Bosnia, echoing an appeal by Milosevic.

The powerful Serbian president, the most important politician in Yugoslavia, now appears to have ditched Cosic under increasing pressure from the Radical Party.

Cosic’s ouster further aggravates mounting tensions in Serbia between those who favor ending the war in Bosnia and supporters of the Bosnian Serbs who are fighting on with hopes of creating a Greater Serbia.