: On June 28 Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic announced that former dictator Slobodan. Milosevic had been turned over to the ICTY for trial. It was more than an announcement it was a long anticipated action. Milosevic was flown from Belgrade on a Serb helicopter to the US military base at Tuzla, Bosnia. From Tuzla a military aircraft took him to an airport near The Hague (where the UN war crimes tribunal is located). A helicopter then took Milosevic from the airport to an ICTY prison in The Hague. June 28 is a big day, for several reasons. On June 28, 1991, Serbia went to war with Slovenia and Croatia (Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991). On June 28, 1989, Milosevic promised Kosovar Serbs that he would defend their interests. That was the day Milosevic began his move to take power in Serbia. What else happened on June 28 (or at least in late June)? In June 1389, the Serbs lost Kosovo to the Turks. (In Serbia June 28 is St Vitus Day, also called Vidovdan. NOTE: Some sources give June 20, 1389 for the date of the Battle of Kosovo.) Milosevic is the first big time war criminal to reach the docks since Nuremburg. Expect the ICTY to explore Milosevic's involvement with ethnic cleansing in Bosnia (Spring 1992 through Fall 1995) with special attention paid to the Srebrenica massacre which occurred in July 1995. The shelling of Dubrovnik (Fall 1991) and alleged atrocities against Croat civilians around Vukovar (1991-1992) may also be examined. What about inside Serbia? Its dead certain there will be a stiff political scrap between angry Milosevic supporters and the Kostunica government. The Milosevic supporters will accuse Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica of a sell out of national interests and worse. Shortly after Milosevic was turned over, more than a billion dollars in aid was pledged by the US and EU to aid Belgrade. Kostunica will counter that Milosevic was an international problem for Serbia. Serbia needs capital to rebuild and retool its economy. Hell also point out Milosevic lost four wars. There is also some interesting spin out of the Kostunica government. The Serb government is saying that Kostunica wasnt informed of the decision to hand Milosevic over to the ICTY until after the transfer had been made. Sounds like a lot of double-speak to give Kostunica space for tactical political maneuvering inside Serbia. On June 29, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic made the case that handing Milosevic over to the ICTY will ultimately stabilize Yugoslavia. He meant both internal political stability (particularly in Serbia, but also in terms of Serbias and Montenegros relationship) and stabilization of international relations, particularly with other Balkan states. With the exception of Russia (no surprise), every major European nation issued a statement supporting the extradition of Milosevic. The handover certainly puts more pressure on Bosnian Serbs, Croats, and Muslims to hand over their own war crimes suspects. (Austin Bay)