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Ante Marković
	Ante Marković
	;
	9th Prime Minister of SFR Yugoslavia; President of the Federal Executive Council
	In office; 16 March 1989 – 20 December 1991
President	Raif Dizdarević; Janez Drnovšek; Borisav Jović; Sejdo Bajramović (Acting); Stipe Mesić; Branko Kostić (Acting); (Office subsequently dissolved)
Deputy	Aleksandar Mitrović; Živko Pregl
Preceded by	Branko Mikulić
Succeeded by	Aleksandar Mitrović (Acting); (Office subsequently dissolved)
	15th President of SR Croatia; President of the Presidency of SR Croatia
	In office; 10 May 1986 – May 1988
Prime Minister	Antun Milović
Preceded by	Ema Derosi-Bjelajac
Succeeded by	Ivo Latin
	10th Prime Minister of SR Croatia; President of the Executive Council of SR Croatia
	In office; July 1980 – 20 November 1985
President	Jakov Blažević; Marijan Cvetković; Milutin Baltić; Jakša Petrić; Pero Car
Preceded by	Petar Fleković
Succeeded by	Ema Derosi-Bjelajac
Born	November 25, 1924 (age 85); Konjic, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Nationality	Croatian
Political party	League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ),; Union of Reform Forces (SRSJ)
Religion	None (Atheist)[citation needed]

Ante Marković (born November 25, 1924) is a Yugoslav statesman. He was the last prime minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

[edit] Early life

Marković, who is a Bosnian Croat, was born in Konjic (at the time Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, now Bosnia and Herzegovina). He graduated from the Electrotechnical Department of the Technical Faculty of the University of Zagreb in 1954.^[1]

[edit] Political career

[edit] President of Croatia

In 1986. he became president of the Presidency of Socialist Republic of Croatia (thus becoming 7th Croatian president) replacing Ema Derosi-Bjelajac. He held that position until 1988. when he was replaced by Ivo Latin.

[edit] Prime Minister of Yugoslavia

He became prime minister in March 1989 following the resignation of Branko Mikulić. After decision has become public U.S. had anticipated cooperation because Marković is known "to favor market-oriented reforms" ^[2] and BBC will declare that he is "Washington's best ally in Yugoslavia" ^[3]. At the end of the year, Marković launched a new and ambitious program of unprecedented economic reforms, including stabilization of currency and privatization, as well as a program of limited trade liberalization. The result of his monetary reform was a temporary halt to inflation leading to a short-lived rise in Yugoslavia's otherwise plummeting standard of living. Nonetheless, the short-term effect of economic reforms undertaken by Marković lead to a decline in Yugoslavia's industrial sector. Numerous bankruptcies occurred as the bloated state-owned ("self-managed") enterprises struggled to compete in a more free market environment, a fact later wielded against Marković by his many ethnic nationalist political opponents. By 1990, the annual rate of growth in GDP had declined to -7.5%. In 1991, GDP declined by a further 15 percent and industrial output decreased by 21 percent.

Marković owed his popularity to his image of a new, modern Western-styled politician. As such, he quickly became the darling of liberal circles who wanted Yugoslavia to be transformed into a modern, democratic federation. Marković also maintained popularity by staying out of increasingly virulent quarrels within the leadership of Yugoslav Communist Party or trying to act as mediator between various republics.

When CPY broke up in January 1990, Marković had only his popularity and the apparent success of his programme on his side. In July 1990, he formed the Union of Reform Forces (Savez reformskih snaga), a political party supporting a reformed Yugoslavian federation. According to a poll conducted by the Federal Executive Council (SIV), this party had support of 14% of the people in Bosnia, and less than 5% in other republics^[4].

This decision was not well received. Borisav Jović, then the President of Yugoslavia, commented

The general conclusion is that Ante Markovic is no longer acceptable or reliable to us. No one has any doubts in their mind any longer that he's the extended arm of the United States in terms of overthrowing anyone who ever thinks of socialism, and it is through our votes that we appointed him Prime Minister in the Assembly. He is playing the most dangerous game of treason.[1]

Jovic's conclusion on Markovic's role

He was no doubt the most active creator of the destruction of our economy, and to a large extent a significant participant in the break-up of Yugoslavia. Others, when boasted of having broken up Yugoslavia wanted to take this infamous role upon themselves but in all these respects they never came close to what Markovic did, who had declared himself as the protagonist of Yugoslavia's survival[2]

Later, his programme was sabotaged by Slobodan Milošević who

had virtually sealed Markovic's failure by December 1990 by secretly securing an illegal loan woth $1.7 billion from Serbia's main bank in order to ease his reelection that month. The loan undermined Markovic's economic austerity program, undoing the progress that had been made toward controlling the country's inflation rate.^[5]

Or, as Christopher Bennet tells it in Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse^[6]:

Quite simply, the bank printed whatever money Milošević felt he needed to get himself reelected and the size of the 'loan' became clear a few weeks later when inflation took off again throughout the country. As the economy resumed its downward slide, Marković knew his enterprise had failed [...]

The authority of the federal government was further diminished by secessionist moves in Slovenia and Croatia. In the last months of his tenure Marković tried to find compromise between secessionists and those demanding that Yugoslavia remain a single entity. His efforts, although favoured by new democratic governments in Bosnia and Macedonia, ultimately failed, because the army - which was supposed to be his greatest ally - sided with Milošević and Serb nationalists. Frustrated and politically impotent, Marković told his cabinet in September 1991 what he had gleaned from a wiretap that had come into his possession^[7]:

The line has been clearly established [between the Serbian government, the army and Serb politicians in Bosnia]. I know because I heard Milošević give the order to Karadžić to get in contact with General Uzelac and to order, following the decisions of the meeting of the military hierarchy, that arms should be distributed and that the TO of Krajina and Bosnia be armed and utilised in the realisation of the RAM plan.^[8]

Marković remained in office even after the start of the war, only to resign in December 1991, isolated and without any authority.

[edit] Life after 1991

After that, Marković disappeared from the public eye. In 1993 he was rumoured to be Tuđman's choice for Croatian prime minister, apparently due to his economic expertise. The post ultimately fell to Nikica Valentić, who had used some of Marković's recipes to halt inflation^{[citation needed]}.

Marković instead dedicated himself to a business career. In the early 2000s he worked as an economic advisor to the Macedonian government.

He appeared as a witness at Milošević's trial at the ICTY in 2003. This appearance broke his 12 years of silence; after that testimony, he gave an interview to the Zagreb-based Globus news magazine. In his testimony he stated that both Milošević and Tuđman confirmed to him that in March 1991 in Karađorđevo they made an agreement to get him out of politics.^[9]

[edit] References

^ (Croatian) Kristijan Zimmer (2004). "Dodijeljene Zlatne diplome i priznanja "Josip Lončar"". http://www.fer.hr/zivot/proslave?@=1g9.
^ Facts on File, January 27, 1989
^ Misha Glenny, "The Massacre of Yugoslavia," New York Review of Books, January 30, 1992
^ (Serbian) Danas.co.yu article on Yugoslav breakup
^ Rogel, Carole (1998). The Breakup of Yugoslavia and the War in Bosnia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 92. ISBN 0313299188, 9780313299186.
^ Bennet, Christopher (1995). Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 121. ISBN 9781850652328.
^ Judah, Tim (1997). The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
^ Magazine Vreme, No. 48, 23 September 1991
^ Croatian News Agency (2003). "Report on Marković's testimony on ICTY". http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/report_format.cfm?articleid=1020&reportid=162.

[edit] External links

(Serbo-Croatian) Comprehensive article on Ante Marković^{[dead link]}

Political offices
Preceded by Branko Mikulić	President of the Federal Executive Council of SFR Yugoslavia 16 March 1989 – 20 December 1991	Succeeded by Aleksandar Mitrović
Preceded by Ema Derosi-Bjelajac	President of the Presidency of SR Croatia 10 May 1986 – May 1988	Succeeded by Ivo Latin
Preceded by Petar Fleković	President of the Executive Council of SR Croatia July 1980 – 20 November 1985	Succeeded by Ema Derosi-Bjelajac

[golden_plaque-0] (Croatian) Kristijan Zimmer (2004). "Dodijeljene Zlatne diplome i priznanja "Josip Lončar"". http://www.fer.hr/zivot/proslave?@=1g9.

[1] Facts on File, January 27, 1989

[2] Misha Glenny, "The Massacre of Yugoslavia," New York Review of Books, January 30, 1992

[SRS-3] (Serbian) Danas.co.yu article on Yugoslav breakup

[4] Rogel, Carole (1998). The Breakup of Yugoslavia and the War in Bosnia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 92. ISBN 0313299188, 9780313299186.

[5] Bennet, Christopher (1995). Yugoslavia's Bloody Collapse. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 121. ISBN 9781850652328.

[6] Judah, Tim (1997). The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

[7] Magazine Vreme, No. 48, 23 September 1991

[testimony-8] Croatian News Agency (2003). "Report on Marković's testimony on ICTY". http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/report_format.cfm?articleid=1020&reportid=162.

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