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"We will not go down this road": the tragic Serbian politician who tried to stop Milošević

"We will not go down this road": the tragic Serbian politician who tried to stop Milošević

Broadcaster Misha Glenny chooses Ivan Stambolić (1936–2000) as his history hero

York Membery

Published: July 24, 2026 at 3:30 PM

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Ivan Stambolić was a Serbian politician who served as president of the League of Communists of Serbia from 1984–86, prime minster of Serbia from 1978–82 and president of Serbia from 1986–87. In 2000 he was set to run against Slobodan Milošević, president of Serbia and then Yugoslavia (and the first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes), in the 2000 Yugoslav general election. However he disappeared, aged 63; it was later revealed that he had been assassinated.

When did you first hear about Stambolić?

In the 1980s when I began reporting from Yugoslavia. After the war had begun I met him a few times and had two or three delightful conversations with him, mainly about Milošević and his wife, Mira.

What kind of man was he?

Stambolić was one of the most impressive political figures to emerge in the former Yugoslavia in the late postwar period. Born into an important communist family in Serbia, his uncle was close to Tito. He worked as an engineer before going into politics, which gave him some working-class ‘cred’. Stambolić was a likeable, convivial person who believed in Yugoslav communism but was also a pragmatist.

Read more | Yugoslavia: why shared Slavic identity couldn’t save an idealised nation from fracture and bloodshed

What made Stambolić a hero?

First and foremost, because he did what he could to try to prevent the rise of Milošević, and though he failed, his conscience was clear at the start of the Yugoslav wars. Ironically, the two were once incredibly close. But after embracing a hardline Serbian nationalist position in 1987, Milošević – egged on by his treacherous Lady Macbeth-like wife, Mira – stabbed Stambolić in the back politically. Thirteen years later, when Stambolić was set to challenge Milošević in the 2000 election, he was kidnapped and murdered by Milošević’s henchmen. A few years later the truth emerged, Stambolić’s body was found in a national park some 40 miles from Belgrade, and the killers were found guilty and sent to prison.

What was Stambolić’s finest hour?

I think it was in 1987 when he began to understand that something really bad was happening. Together with his allies, he said: “We will not go down this road.” And that was when Milošević, and his wife, turned on him politically. Stambolić made a principled stand against Serbian nationalism, knowing where it would go.

Read more | The Srebrenica massacre: the worst atrocity committed on European soil since the Second World War

Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about him?

Yes, his failure to speak out against Tito’s crackdown in 1971 following the Croatian Spring, when Croats began demanding a greater say in the governance of Yugoslavia. And when Tito expelled a group of communist ‘liberals’ from the Serbian communist party, Stambolić again kept quiet.

Can you see any parallels between Stambolić’s life and your own?

Only in the sense that I thought him a thoroughly decent guy, and think I’m a relatively decent chap too. I still believe that the violent collapse of Yugoslavia was not inevitable – Stambolić was one of only a few people who could have stopped it happening, and he did at least try. What would you ask Stambolić if you could meet him? Had you become president in 2000, what would you have done?

Misha Glenny is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time. His latest documentary, The Invention of… the Balkans, is available on BBC Sounds

This article was first published in the July 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine

Authors

York MemberyJournalist

York Membery is a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine, the Daily Mail and Sunday Times among other publications. York, who lives in London, worked on the Mirror, Express and Times before turning freelance. He studied history at Cardiff University and the Institute of Historical Research, and has a History PhD from Maastricht University.