Yugoslavia (21st Century Crisis)

The Federal Republics of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Федеративна Pепублике Југославијa, Federativna Republike Jugoslavija) is a country located in Central and Southeastern Europe that existed from its foundation in the aftermath of World War I, bordered by Italy to the west, Austria and Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east, and Albania and Greece to the south. The first such Yugoslav state was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, also known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, until it was invaded by the Axis, and a puppet government for Nazi Germany was established.

Between 1945 to 1989, it was a socialist state and a federation governed by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia with Belgrade as its capital. In addition, it included two autonomous provinces within Serbia: Kosovo and Vojvodina.

Yugoslavia maintained a quasi-neutrality during the Cold War, and despite being a Soviet ally, allowed for friendly relations with the West, and also imported military equipment from the West as part of its foreign policy. It was a founding member of CERN, the United Nations, Balkan Federation, OSCE, IFAD, WTO, Eutelsat and BTWC.

After the fall of communism, the six socialist republics transitioned into "federal republics".

Beginning in 2000, Yugoslavia entered into a partnership with the European Union, allowing it to prosper and experience an economic boom. It is because of this that Yugoslavia is considered a regional power, and the paramount regional power in the Balkans. Yugoslavia is currently a member of the CSTO, European Union Partnership, G10, Balkan Federation, GOF and CC.

History
During the Second World War, King Peter II led the Royal Yugoslav Forces against the Axis powers. Unfortunately, the RYF was rocked by constant warfare against Turkey, and then Nazi Germany and Italy. However, paramilitary and guerrilla warfare prevailed against the Axis forces, fought by a mix of monarchists, anti-monarchist republicans, communists and agrarianists.

During the Balkan Wars, the Soviets supported the Yugoslav military in putting down nationalists. Kosovo, home to a large Albanian population, was targeted by Yugoslav and Soviet forces, with Slobadan Milošević and Mikhail Gorbachev making it plain that the Albanians would side with NATO.

The Yugoslavs and Soviets reached all the way into the city of Priština.

Although securing a victory in the Balkan Wars, life in Yugoslavia after the collapse of communism deteriorated. Society fell under the rule of the oligarchs, who often accumulated wealth via illegal means. These gang-like groups were used by the government to intimidate separatists and pro-separatists, carrying out random killings and shootings of alleged pro-separatists.

Russian Mafia fleeing the Soviet Union saw Yugoslavia as a land of opportunity, and took no time exploiting Yugoslavia's weakness, often having ties with Yugoslav Mafias.

This caused many Yugoslavs to migrate elsewhere.

This caused many uprisings against the Milošević government, whom Yugoslav nationalists viewed as weak and ineffective. The overwhelming influence of Russian mafia in the weakened Yugoslavia frustrated many nationalists, to the point where many began to abandon Soviet influence, feeling that Moscow is simply using Yugoslavia for its own superpower status.

Yugoslav armed forces personnel such as Todor Bukejlović, Ivan Lokar, Andrej Vuković, Sergej Drazenović and Sojan Gaši eventually began establishing paramilitary groups, to go and target both Russian and Serbian mafia groups in Yugoslavia.

Alexander Rutskoy, the president of the Soviet Union stated, "'"We do not support any such mafia groups in Yugoslavia, as a matter of fact, they fought against us too, and wanted to overthrow us. Of course we don't blame the people of Yugoslavia for wanting to fight them' '."

In 1999, Slobodan Milošević stepped down as president, and was replaced by Ivan Lokar, who would, pave the way for the modernization and economic growth of Yugoslavia.

Ivan Lokar presidency - modernization
The modern era beginning with the presidency of Ivan Lazar Lokar began the "modernization" of Yugoslavia, everything from its economy, society and military. Lokar carried out the infamous "Yugoslav purge", targeting both Yugoslav and Russian Mafia groups throughout the country and siezed their assets. The 2000 Constitution of the Federal Republics of Yugoslavia became Yugoslavia's new constitution, which created a framework of constitutional freedom of speech, press and religion, as well as a People's Defensive Rights, similar to the Second Amendment of the United States' Bill of Rights.

Ivan Lokar's prime minister was Janez Drnovšek, from Slovenia, and despite being a proponent of Greater Serbia, wanted a united Yugoslavia, where all Yugoslavs were represented. While Drnovšek was a liberal centrist, he by no means, supported Yugoslav integration into the European Union or NATO, which Lokar viewed as being "perfect", as he wanted to harmonize conservative views with that of more progressive policies.

Lokar shrunk the size of the military and began a partnership with the European Union, putting much emphasis on agricultural workers, subsidizing domestic livestock, grape and olive industry via loans from Germany, due to Yugoslav location to the Mediterranean.

The Lokar government also enacted serious and rigorous environmental laws, as President Lokar embarked on a serious attempt to invest in renewable energy, appointing Stepan Bratulić as the first head of the Environmental Bureau of Yugoslavia.

Via the partnership with the European Union, Lokar was successful in promoting Yugoslavia throughout Europe, causing a tourism boom in the country, in which th National Tourism Bureau was created, and headed by Vuk Ivanović.

In the years to come, although Yugoslavia never became a European Union member, it began to adopt European Union-style policies and customs, passing food laws similar to the European Union's food regulations to combat GMO food products. Free trade and free movement of people and goods was allowed with some neighboring countries, particularly that of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania. Austria and Hungary. However, Turkey and Albania were kept from enjoying these.

Yugoslav banks loaned heavily from German, American and Russian ones.

However, Ivan Lokar continued Yugoslavia's foreign policy of close military ties with Russia, as President Lokar continually refused to allow NATO military personnel access through Yugoslavia, and openly refused to open talks of any involvement with NATO. Lokar publicly opposed the United States invasion of Iraq. In 2003, Yugoslav military personnel shot down a NATO spy plane over Bosnia, as President Lokar had argued that it had illegally entered Yugoslav air space. President Vladimir Zhirinovsky of Russia backed the Yugoslav military's action.

President Lokar continued to espouse Yugoslav nationalism, carrying out anti-Albanian purges In Kosovo, and an estimated 4,600 Albanians deported from Kosovo. Lokar invested time funding paramilitary law enforcement and declaring martial law In areas of Kosovo not inhibited majority by Yugoslavs.

Lokar's second prime minister, Milo Čajkanović was even more radical proponent of Greater Serbia, and was accused of rigging local elections in Kosovo, and putting Serbs in power, to further spearhead the gradual displacement of Albanians and replace them with Serbs.

In 2004, American business magnate Donald Trump began to make investments and purchase property in Yugoslavia, particularly in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, where he would meet his future wife, and future First Lady of the United States, Melanija Knavs, later Anglicized to Melania Trump. This introduced the arrival of American-style casinos in Zagreb, Belgrade and Split, and the rise of casino moguls in Yugoslavia under Trump's guidance.

By 2007, Yugoslavia had received more tourists and investments than Greece as Yugoslavia had practically transitioned from a socialist government with a communist economy, to a fully Westernized economy and society.

In 2008, the West again criticized President Lokar for using military force to put down Croatian separatists. During a trip to Yugoslavia, President Bush was booed by bystanders, hoisting both Yugoslav and Russian flags. President Medvedev, however, was given a warm welcome as he visited Yugocosmos along with batches of Russian space exploration students. However, American space exploration students were able to take their trips to Yugocosmos unharmed.

Vuk Blagojević presidency, scandal 2009-2010

In the 2008 elections, Vuk Blagojević of the Yugoslavia Democratic Front became elected president. Not much was known about him.

Ivo Josipović presidency 2010-2016
In 2010, Ivo Josipović from Croatia of the Progressive Party of Yugoslavia became president. Josipović further continued the Westernization and liberalization of Yugoslavia.

Josipović made Albanian a co-official in Kosovo, and also made it easier for Albanians and Turks to migrate to Yugoslavia with lesser restrictions. He also embraced agrarian rights, and passed laws exempting the rural population from burdensome taxes.

In 2011, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece signed their agreement for the Balkan Railway. While Turkey wanted to become part it, Turkey stalled due to the exclusion of Albania, a major military ally. This held back the project for years.

In 2012, the Yugoslav National Department of Agriculture announced it would ban Monsanto, as per Yugoslavia's anti-GMO laws. Monsanto's offices in Belgrade, Zagreb and Skopje were shut down by federal authorities, and all companies that had contracts with Monsanto were forced to find other food distribution companies. On the bright side, this led to more revenue for Balkan Processing, one of Yugoslavia's largest food distributors.

In 2014, Josipović's actions had finally began to conflict with the interests of the Yugoslav people, and Yugoslavia's paramount military ally, Russia. Josipović stated the idea and possibility of Yugoslavia joining NATO and the European Union, openly criticizing Russia and China of human rights violations.

At the request of the Western powers, Josipović put many of Yugoslavia's largest petrochemical companies under federal investigation, for alleged abuse of petrochemical products to produce chemical weapons used on innocent citizens in the Middle East, via secret links and conspiracies with Russian petrochemical companies.

Despite receiving positive views from the beginning of his presidency, Josipović had a low approval rating, and many Yugoslavs considered him a traitor.

Vladimir Birčević presidency 2016-present
During the 2015 Federal Elections, he lost a landslide against Vladimir Birčević of the pro-Russia leaning Patriotic Front. Birčević agreed to continue the investigations, but in 2016, Dobroslav Paraga, the parliamentary spokesperson for the Birčević Administration stated in a public hearing that no such chemical weapons were found, and that while the companies do have ties to Russian companies, they were not used for any illegal or inhumane purposes, and only for necessary purposes.

Turkey finally inked its agreement with the Balkan Railway, agreeing to exclude Albania from the project. Construction began in August of 2018, in which Presidents Vladimir Birčević, Krasimir Karakachanov of Bulgaria, Prokopis Pavlopoulos of Greece and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey attended the joint summit in Belgrade which laid out the first steel beams. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump attended the event as guests.

During this time, Jetlir Rexha in Albania overthrew the established government, exited out of the European Union and NATO, and into the China-led SCO. Rexha, who was one of the few Albanians to support Yugoslavia's claim on Kosovo, gave up all Albanian involvement in Kosovo, which President Vladimir Birčević claimed was the key to renewing relations between Yugoslavia and Albania.

Military
The armed forces of Yugoslavia is one of the modernized, and is considered one of the most powerful armed forces in Southern Europe, and is considered the most powerful in the Balkans.

It consists of the Ground Forces (army), the Aerial Forces & Air Defence (air force), the Maritime Forces (navy) and the Home Guard, the paramilitary.

Yugoslavia contains an indigenous arms industry, with military equipment being mostly domestically produced by Zastava Arms, SOKO and Ðuro Ðaković.

Some of Yugoslavia's most well known include the Soko J-22 Orao, J-25 Orao and J-27s. Thanks to Ivan Lokar and Ivo Josipović's modernization, Yugoslavia continues to build well-recieved and well-renowned aircraft, with the most recent procurements being the LJ-1 "Flying Jerusalem" built jointly with Israel and the Soko J-35 single-seat twin engine air defense fighter.

Yugoslavia also produces its own AFVs, including the BOV-7 "Punisher", BOV-10 "Sweeper". Both AFVs have been exported to other countries. During the Iraq War, Yugoslavia sold the BOV-7 to the Iraqi military, which proved to complicate Coalition ground operations. The BOV-10 saw its first foreign use in 2008, when Israel purchased five battalions of BOV-10s, which have the Israelis impressive decisive victories over Hezbollah. The BOV-10s were again, exported to South Syria, where they were useful in whiping out entire towns of rebels.

Arms exports for Yugoslavia total of $6.8 billion, the world's fifth largest, above the United Kingdom.

Yugoslavia also imports supplies, having imported the Russian S-400 as part of its Aerial Forces & Air Defence. The German Leopard-2 and Russian BMPT Terminator have also been imported as part of Yugoslavia's diverse arsenal.

The Home Guard is the paramilitary force, consisting of 1,300,000 personnel. They retain much of the old JNA's Soviet-influenced doctrine, they use much older equipment. Only their leaders are considered armed forces personnel proper.

Yugoslavia is a member of the CSTO and is very active in global affairs, performing joint-drills with Israel, Assyria, Italy, Poland, Scandinavia and Germany, as well as stationing contingents in U.N. missions worldwide.

News
3/3/18 - Today, Yugoslavia marked the anniversary of the War of 1877, in which a Russian-led coalition of Orthodox states, including that of Serbia, fought the Ottomans for independence.

Yugoslavs held up signs reading "9-3". Russia and the Ottoman Empire were the fiercest of rivals, fighting 13 total wars, or those wars, Russia won the overwhelming majority, winning nine wars and losing three, and one ended in a draw.

Russia often sided with its Orthodox allies.

Many yelled, "Slava", which in Slavic languages, means "glory".

March 3 is a national holiday in Yugoslavia.

Prime Minister Boško Obradović delivered a speech at the Saint Sava Cathedral, "Today, every year, we remember and celebrate the lives that were lost, from our very own Yugoslavia, to our big brother Russia, and our Balkan brothers and sisters of Bulgaria and Romania, all Orthodox brothers We will forever cherish that moment, despite pathetic attempts by traitors to erase it from our history. It marked the independence of Serbia from the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Slava!"

The celebration was marked by music, food, and the traditional "bread and salt" ceremony found in many Slavic nations.

A mini-parade was held, attended by not only Yugoslav troops, but also that of Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian and even Greek overseas contingents. Greek contingents were there under permission from the Yugoslav government, as Greece is a NATO state and the former three are all CSTO states.

The previous president, Ivo Josipović, attempted to end the nationalizing of the holiday, stating that he felt it espoused Serbian and Eastern Orthodox supremacy, although Yugoslavia is 70% Eastern Orthodox, mostly Serbian Orthodox, followed by Macedonian and Montengrin Orthodox.

11/19/18 - Today, the parliaments of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Greece allowed for the admission of Romania into the Balkan Federation.

President Krasimir Karakachanov of Bulgaria, stated, "It has been a long-time in the making, ever since the days of  Comrade Tito and Comrade Dmitrov, we always have wanted some kind of union with Romania, a Balkan brother."

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan also attended the event, hoping for Turkey to become a member of the Balkan Federation.

Erdogan stated, "The [Balkan] Federation has grown, I wish to enter my nation into it some day."

12/6/18 - Today, NATO leaders have been alarmed when Greek president Prokopis Pavlopoulus stated, "Greece has become practically an ally of Russia and Yugoslavia, just look how close we've gotten."

These mirrored the words of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he said, "Turkey and Russia has basically become unseen allies".

This is when Turkey was still a NATO state.

As of right now, Greece and Russia are both Orthodox nations, to which Greece views Russia as the successor to the Byzantine Empire, and Russia supports the Greek Constantinople idea.

In addition, Yugoslavia and Russia are Greece's trading partners, via the Balkan Federation, to which Greece became the first non-CSTO state to become a member.

Greece also purchases military aircraft from Russia and Yugoslavia, and has plans to increase military imports from both nations.

The Greek military currently uses the Russian Sukhoi Su-27, Sukhoi Su-35 and the Yugoslav Soko J-30 aircraft, and the Russian S-300 and S-400 air defense systems.

12/26/18 - Jetlir Rexha has done it, under his lead, Albania is giving up its claims over Kosovo.

Rexha, in a phone call to President Vladimir Birčević of Yugoslavia, stated, "Kosovo is yours, we give up our claims, so do what you want with it."

Yugoslav, Russian and Turkish military personnel are now being put on high alert, to quell uprisings, to which the three countries now will happen.

Rexha told reporters, "I'm just sick of being a state of constant war and conflict, while the people with in our borders continue to live well below the poverty line. I can't say we'll ever really so-called 'allies' with Yugoslavia, but we can sure cooperate  and be cordial with Yugoslavia."

​​​​​​12/​27/18 - Today, Yugoslav president Vladimir Birčević made a public hearing in front of Yugoslav Parliament about Albanian Jetlir Rexha's phone call to him, in which Albania was giving up  its claims to Kosovo.

President Birčević stated, "I am very shocked, we are very shocked, we simply didn't expect the Albanian government to throw in the towel [on Kosovo] like that. But I commend President Rexha, he is a true leader, and I promise, I will help and do my part in normalizing relations with the Republic of Albania and funding a good solution for Yugoslav-Albanian relations. President Rexha has provided us the seed."

As expected, mass protests and attempted attacks against Serbian Orthodox monasteries have begun. So the Yugoslav military and paramilitary, as well as CSTO allies, have been busy.

In addition, Albanian president Jetlir Rexha is also scheduled to meet in Moscow with leaders of major nations, Yugoslavia, and its bigger Russian ally, as well as Albania's traditional ally Turkey.

1/3/19 - Today, Yugoslav president Vladimir Birčević laid out the plans for Kosovo, after the Albanian government under president Jetlir Rexha gave away Albania's claims to Kosovo.

According to the new plan, Kosovo will be allowed to become an Autonomous Region, much like has been done with the ethnic Bulgarian community under the rule of King Peter II.

An Autonomous Region has almost the same powers as a republic, however they are governed by Heads just like republics, but they are represented at the federal and parliamentary level by what is known as a Regional Representative, whereas Heads of Republics themselves represent the republic on a national level.

In addition, while the heads of republics are the commanders in chiefs of republic-level police, Autonomous Regions do not get their own police paramilitary, and instead, must rely on federal police, the Home Guard, or those of neighboring republics, who are given authority according to the 2000 Constitution to perform duties onon Autonomous Regions. In addition, the authority to call upon the Home Guard, or federal police units is also to the duty of a Regional Representative.

However, with the current rioting and protesting by the Kosovar community, President Birčević has made it clear, that an Interim Head and Interim Regional Representative will be chosen by the Yugoslav Parliament.

Martial law has been declared in Kosovo.