ABSTRACT
The defeat of the Slobodan Milosˇevic´ regime in October 2000 marked the official start of EU-Serbia political relations. During the 1990s, EU attention towards Serbia, and the other Balkan countries, was mainly focused on conflict containment through joint actions with other international actors. The isolation of the country, the economic crisis in the late 1990s and the military conflict with NATO contributed to a drastic reduction in public support for Milosˇevic´ and his government. Meanwhile, the opposition parties were able to organize an effective electoral campaign, choosing Vojislav Kosˇtunica of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) as a suitable candidate to defeat Milosˇevic´. As a consequence, the Serbian Democratic Opposition (DOS)1 coalition won the 2000 elections.
