The people of Serbia are protesting in thousands in most of Serbia's main cities against this obvious violation of rule of law and their efforts at democratization. Students, workers, professionals, business people, the unemployed - members of different parties and different political positions are joining together in the streets and public spaces of their cities to demand that their voices for a politics of change, peace and progress be heard, that their votes for a plural and open society be recognized. Now the Milosevic government wants to invalidate their votes and hold another round of elections, firmly under his party's control.
We the undersigned support the call to recognize the will of the Serbian people as expressed in local election outcomes and the efforts to establish democratic politics in Serbia. We ask the United States Government to show its commitment to democratization and peace throughout the former Yugoslavia, by making clear that it expects the Milosevic government to respect the results of the local elections and the choice of the majority of voters. There is no long-term stability in the region, without democracy in Serbia.
Julie Mostov Drexel University Obrad Kesic Vice President Elect North American Society for Serbian Studies Washington, DC Paul Shoup University of Virginia Robert Hayden University of Pittsburgh Janusz Bugajski Center for Strategic International Studies Susan L. Woodward The Brookings Institution Jack Seymour The Atlantic Council Sabrina Ramet The University of Washington Jim Jatras Republican Policy Committee US Senate John Treadway University of Richmond Mary Ann Tetreault Iowa State University Philip Gillette Old Dominion University Sanya Popovic Columbia University Steven L. Burg Brandeis University Jovan Brkic University of North Dakota (retired) Maria Crassas University of Maryland Alexandra Brkic American Institute of Architects Ivan Nikolchev University of Maryland Alex Dragnich Vanderbilt University (retired) Zoran Bucalo Washington, DC Dejan Ristic Arlington, VA Marijana Kolak Hood College Vida Edmond University of Minnesota Milos Brkic University of Toronto