Party chief and president of Serbia from 1986; re-elected Dec 1990 in multiparty elections and again Dec 1992. Milosevic wielded considerable influence over the Serb-dominated Yugoslav federal army during the 1991-92 civil war and continued to back Serbian militia in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-94, although publicly disclaiming any intention to carve up the newly independent republic. Widely believed to be the instigator of the conflict, Milosevic changed tactics from 1993, adopting the public persona of peacemaker and putting pressure on his allies, the Bosnian Serbs, to accept negotiated peace terms; this contributed to the Dayton peace accord for Bosnia-Herzegovina Nov 1995. Milosevic was educated at Belgrade University and rapidly rose through the ranks of the Yugoslavian Communist Party (LCY) in his home republic of Serbia, helped by his close political and business links to Ivan Stambolic, his predecessor as local party leader. He won popular support within Serbia for his assertive nationalist stance, encouraging street demonstrations in favour of the reintegration of Kosovo and Vojvodina autonomous provinces into a greater Serbia. Serbia's formal annexation of Kosovo Sept 1990 gave him a landslide majority in multiparty elections Dec 1990, but in March 1991 there were 30,000-strong riots in Belgrade, calling for his resignation. Despite this, in Dec 1992 he won a 55{percnt} share of the vote in a direct presidential election, defeating the Serbian-born US businessman Milan Panic. In Oct 1994 Milosevic imposed a border blockade of the Bosnian Serbs, as a result of which international sanctions against Yugoslavia were eased.
