1991 – 2000    The War and Post-War Years

As the wars of the 90s raged in the Serb homeland the Serbian people faced lack of preparedness, the incompetence of the Milosevic regime and general wartime challenges. The Diaspora had a paucity of organizations ready to tackle the challenge.  The Serbian Unity Congress responded in unparalleled ways with programs on anti-defamation, humanitarian aid, war crimes and promotion of democracy in Serbia:

• Belgrade and Washington, DC Representation,

The Serbian Unity Congress established a presence in Washington, DC and Belgrade to  enable the Serbian community have a voice in policies affecting their people. It was the only Diaspora organization with this type of presence.

• Humanitarian Aid  

Members spearheaded gathering and sending millions of dollars of aid including shipping over $20 million worth of medicine and medical supplies;

• Promoted Democracy in Serbia
  • Relationships - nurtured relationships with policy and opinion makers in Washington,
  • Support for opposition in Serbia - introduced opposition leaders in the US and sought US support for change in Serbia,
  • Council for Democratic Changes – created the Council in Serbia with leaders from Homeland and Diaspora, which became a medium for garnering US support for democratization in Serbia;
  • St. Andre Conference – members organized and participated in bringing together all opposition parties with representatives of Diaspora organizations around the world, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Royal Family and produced opposition agreement to work together and produce jointly one candidate

• Representing victims of war crimes who were Serbs – Correcting Misinformation

Serbian Unity Congress members worked with the International Crimes Tribunal for Yugoslavia and produced the first indictments, trial and convictions for crimes against Serbs in the Celebici case and helped with other investigations. LINK to case