It’s Just Begun in Belgrade

Yugoslavia’s new president, Vojislav Kostunica, and his 18-party front, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia, acted with breathtaking speed last week in removing Slobodan Milosevic from power. Now Kostunica’s problems begin. He will have to deal decisively with Milosevic and his cronies, hold together a quarrelsome group of parties, each with its own political ambitions, and normalize relations with ethnic Kosovars and Serbia’s neighbors.

For a novice in politics, Kostunica has moved quickly and deftly since his inauguration Saturday, forcing the resignation of Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic and Serbia’s top cop, Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, who, along with Milosevic, has been indicted for war crimes springing from the Serbs’ war on Kosovo.

The parliament of Serbia, controlled by Milosevic’s Socialists and the ultranationalist Radical Party, has agreed to dissolve itself and tentatively set new elections for Dec. 17. But the process of dismantling Milosevic’s power base is far from over.

He still controls Serbia’s infamous secret service, and his allies, who continue to ignite Serbian nationalism, walked out of talks to form a transitional government when their demands were not met.

Kostunica is a constitutional lawyer, and he wants the overthrow of Milosevic to conform to law. That’s admirable, but he could lose it all if he chooses to placate Milosevic by allowing him and his cohorts into a governing coalition. Milosevic belongs before The Hague war crimes tribunal answering charges of atrocities that his government committed in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo; within Yugoslavia he should be held accountable for his years of corruption and looting of the state.

However, Serbia’s new president struck the right tone when he offered an olive branch to pro-Western Montenegro, Serbia’s junior partner in Yugoslavia. And despite his blistering criticism of NATO, Kostunica has acknowledged its military presence in Kosovo and pledged to resolve the province’s future through a dialogue between the Albanian majority and Serb minority.

The European Union was right to respond to Kostunica’s victory by lifting economic sanctions against Yugoslavia and pledging new aid. The United States should do the same. But the Yugoslavs themselves have the ultimate task, to bring Milosevic to book and dismantle his power base. That job is far from done.