Yugoslav Ambassador to U.S. Is Fired for Criticizing Belgrade

Yugoslavia recalled its ambassador to the U.S., Milan Protic, on Thursday because he publicly criticized his bosses in Belgrade.

Protic, appointed earlier this year, “can no longer perform the important diplomatic duty after his recent statements and interviews,” Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said. The recall is effective immediately.

No decision had been made on who will replace Protic, a historian and prominent anti-communist who played a key role in ousting Slobodan Milosevic from the Yugoslav presidency last fall.

“It is obvious that I am being replaced not because I didn’t do my job well but because I openly spoke about things I disagree with,” Protic said in Belgrade, where he is vacationing. “That says a lot about freedom of expression” in the country.

Protic said President Vojislav Kostunica was behind the ouster, and he accused Kostunica of “making a full circle--from being a great opponent . . . to becoming the last defender of communism” in Yugoslavia.

In recent interviews, Protic accused the government of inefficiency and “lack of coordination” with its diplomatic missions. He caused a stir among those advocating the separation of church and state when he invited the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church to perform a religious ceremony in the embassy in Washington and bless the mission.

Despite warnings from the government not to act or work independently, Protic pledged to “ignore the leftists” and “communist prejudices that we need to be cured from.”

Protic alleged Thursday that “a large number” of officials who worked for Milosevic remained in the government even after he was ousted and that they “continue to obstruct democratic processes.”

“Considering all that,” he said, “it’s maybe for the best that I am not in Washington” anymore.