To celebrate Vojislav Kostunica’s “resignation”, I thought a timeline illustrating Vojo's rhetoric vs. achievements might be in order.

2000: Vojo says that Milosevic will not be sent to the Hague tribunal.

2001: Milosevic is extradited to the Hague tribunal.

2001: Vojo says he will preserve the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

2002: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is dissolved

2000: Vojo says that the security services will be transformed

2003 Transformed state security service lieutenant colonel Zvezdan Jovanovic murders prime minister Zoran Djindjic; other members of transformed security services are implicated. Vojo’s security adviser spends 70+ days in prison.

2004: Vojo’s security adviser becomes head of transformed security service. Kostunica says indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic is “not in Serbia”.

2006 Kostunica cabinet minister Rasim Ljajic says that Mladic was in Serbia between 2003 and late 2005

2005 Vojo says Serbia should integrate into the EU

2006 EU suspends integration process due to failure of Kostunica’s transformed police and state security service to hand over Mladic.

2005 Vojo acts to preserve the State Union of Serbia & Montenegro.

2006 State Union of Serbia & Montenegro is dissolved

2007 Vojo says that Kosovo will never become an independent state

2008 Kosovo becomes independent state.

2008 Kostunica’s government calls for peaceful protests

2008 Protestors trash shops, restaurants, embassies etc.

From B92

Most politicians promise one thing and do otherwise. They sell out. So Kostunica was not able to beat back the aggressors against Yugoslavia. But he did not sell out to the world powers.

As for integration into the EU, it is now easier to do business in Belgrade than in Paris, much less red tape. Certain things he had to promise to the West, in exchange for dropping sanctions. Not doing that is not a failure. But what NATO wanted was not Mladic, they wanted sellout on Kosovo, and they did not get it. Kosovo, is as independent as the Free Territory of Trieste was in 1945-1956, occupied by three armies.

And by the way, what's so bad about spending 70 days in prison? I remember that when Djindjic got it, many people were rounded up and kept without charges.

Seems that some liberals love their foreign patrons more than they love themselves.