Milutin Stojković (; born 19 August 1942) is a retired Serbian academic and politician. He was a deputy prime minister of Serbia from 1997 to 1998 and has held leading positions in the parliaments of Vojvodina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Stojković is a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).
Early life and academic career Stojković was born in the village of Mijatovac in the municipality of Ćuprija, in what was then the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia during the Axis occupation of Serbia in World War II. He grew up in the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Novi Sad's Faculty of Economics in Subotica in 1979 and a master's degree and Ph.D. from the same institution in 1985.Dušan Bogdanović and Biljana Kovačević Vučo, Institutions Abused: Who Was Who in Serbia, 1987–2000, (Belgrade: Biljana Kovačević Vučo Fund), 2011, p. 263. A specialist in mathematics and statistics, he has taught at several universities, including in Subotica."Partnerstvo za mir", NIN, 15 March 2001, accessed 5 August 2023. He has published several books on statistics.
Stojković was one of the founding members of the higher medical school in Ćuprija and lectured there until 2014. In 2017, he was appointed to its board of directors.Z. Gligorijević and Z. Rašić, "Pismo, pa ostavke", Novosti, 8 February 2017, accessed 5 August 2023.
Politician Stojković became politically prominent in the early-to-mid 1990s, when the political life of Serbia and Yugoslavia was dominated by the authoritarian rule of SPS leader and Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. During this time, Stojković was a Milošević loyalist.
President of the Vojvodina assembly Stojković was elected to the Assembly of Vojvodina for Ruma's second division in the May 1992 provincial election, the first to be held after the return of multi-party democracy in 1990.Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине 31. маја и 14. јуна 1992. године, Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 July 2021. The SPS won a majority victory, and Stojković served as a government supporter. He was re-elected in the December 1992 provincial election, which was again won by the SPS, and served president of the assembly in the term that followed, from 1993 to 1997.Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине на превременим изборима одржаним 20. децембра 1992. године, Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 29 July 2021.Dušan Bogdanović and Biljana Kovačević Vučo, Institutions Abused: Who Was Who in Serbia, 1987–2000, (Belgrade: Biljana Kovačević Vučo Fund), 2011, p. 264.
Stojković also appeared in the twenty-sixth position (out of twenty-eight) on the SPS's electoral list for the Novi Sad division in the 1992 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 20. и 27. децембра 1992. године и 3. јануара 1993. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6 Нови Сад), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021. The list won nine seats in the division, and he was not given a mandate.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 20. и 27. децембра 1992. године и 3. јануара 1993. године – РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 20. и 27. децембра 1992. године и 3. јануара 1993. године), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 2 July 2021. (From 1992 to 2000, Serbia's electoral law stipulated that one-third of parliamentary mandates would be awarded to candidates from successful lists in numerical order while the remaining two-thirds would be distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or alliances.Guide to the Early Election , Ministry of Information of the Republic of Serbia, December 1992, made available by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, accessed 14 July 2017. It was common practice for the latter mandates to be assigned out of order. Stojković could have been awarded a seat despite his list position, but this did not happen.)Službeni Glasnik (Republike Srbije), Volume 49 Number 7 (25 January 1993), p. 194.
In 1993, facing complaints from farmers who received inadequate compensation for grain shipments, he argued that provincial authorities could not override harmful purchasing policy decisions made at the republic level in Belgrade. He was quoted as saying, "Although we are in power, we are practically powerless."Dimitrije Boarov, "To Sow but not to Reap", Vreme, 12 July 1993, accessed 5 August 2023.
Federal parliamentarian and deputy prime minister 1996–98 Stojković was elected to the Yugoslavian assembly's Council of Citizens (i.e., the lower house of parliament) in the 1996 Yugoslavian election, presumably for the Sremska Mitrovica division, which included Ruma and where a political alliance led by the SPS won two out of four seats.ИЗБОРИ '96: ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (1996), p. 45. The SPS's alliance won the election, and Stojković was chosen as leader of the party's caucus in the Council of Citizens.Dušan Stojanović, "Serbia's Milosevic hastily elected Yugoslav president," Associated Press Newswires, 15 July 1997. In December 1996, he was named as chair of the committee for defence and security.Yugoslav Daily Survey, 96-12-27, Hellenic Resources Network, accessed 5 August 2023.
He was appointed as one of Serbia's five deputy prime ministers in a cabinet shuffle on 11 February 1997, replacing fellow SPS member Slobodan Babić.Michael Roddy, "Serbian parliament approves new government," Reuters News, 11 February 1997.
In July 1997, the Yugoslavian parliament hastily elected Slobodan Milošević as Yugoslavian president. Stojković welcomed the outcome, saying that Milošević would "further contribute to the country's respect in the world."Dušan Stojanović, "Serbia's Milosevic hastily elected Yugoslav president," Associated Press Newswires, 15 July 1997.
The SPS formed a new Serbian coalition government with the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and the Yugoslav Left (JUL) in March 1998, and Stojković was dropped from cabinet."Serbia government list," Reuters News, 24 March 1998.
Stojković supported the election of Momir Bulatović and Yugoslavian prime minister in May 1998, predicting he would be "a fighter against crime and corruption.""Momir Bulatovic izabran za saveznog premijera", Naša borba, 21 May 1998, accessed 5 August 2023.
In November 1998, Stojković led a delegation of the Yugoslavian assembly to the international secretariat of the European Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy."Yugoslav news agency Tanjug schedule of events for 1 Nov 98," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 1 November 1998 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1051 gmt 1 Nov 98). Two months later, he led a delegation to a meeting of the interparliamentary assembly in Odesa on the Orthodox creed and post-industrial society."Yugoslav news agency Tanjug schedule of events for 22 Jan 99," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 22 January 1999 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 0928 gmt 22 Jan 99).
Kosovo War and NATO bombing of Yugoslavia In December 1998, during the Kosovo War and in the buildup to the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Stojković introduced a motion in the Chamber of Citizens condemning the United States of America for supporting "terrorists and separatists" seeking to create a Greater Albania."Yugoslav parliament condemns US 'interference' and its support for 'terrorism'," British Broadcast Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 3 December 1998 (Source: Serbian Radio, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 2000 gmt 3 Dec 98). On the day before the NATO bombing campaign began, he said, "I am convinced the Western power-wielders have finally realized that they cannot play with our country, because we will form a front to defend our sacred Kosovo-Metohija [...] We are prepared to defend what is ours at any cost. NATO will break its teeth on us. Serbia has never attacked anyone in its history, but those who attack her will certainly lose the war.""Yugoslav official says 'NATO will break its teeth' on Serbia if it attacks," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 23 March 1999 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1049 gmt 23 Mar 99). In April 1999, he responded to threats of a NATO ground invasion by saying, "Should NATO decide for this option, it will have to expect that thousands of people will be killed. They will then be sent back to NATO countries in coffins.""Yugoslav official warns against NATO troop deployment - Slovak report," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 14 April 1999 (Source: Radio Twist, Bratislava, in Slovak 1000 gmt 14 Apr 99).
On 10 June 1999, Stojković spoke at a conference on Slavic integration in Kyiv that was mostly attended by representatives of left-wing parties in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. He was described as receiving the loudest cheers at the event. Stojković described the entry of international peacekeeping forces into Kosovo as a moral victory for the Serbian people at the end of the Kosovo War."Russian, Ukrainian speakers call for Slavic integration in Kyiv," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Former Soviet Union – Political, 10 June 1999 (Source: Ukrainian Television Third Programme, Kyiv, in Russian 1700 gmt 10 Jun 99).
After the conflict Stojković represented the SPS in multi-party discussions on the future of the Yugoslavian federation at the end of the Kosovo conflict. In mid-July 1999, he accused the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro of not presenting a platform on redefining relations within the federation."Serbian ruling party says Montenegrin ruling party presented no specific policy," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 14 July 1999 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1608 gmt 14 Jul 99). In the same month, he represented the Yugoslavian parliament in discussions to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus."Yugoslavia, Russia, Belarus to create joint commission," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Newsfile, 31 July 1999 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 31 Jul 99)."Yugoslav delegation attends Union of Russia and Belarus parliament meeting," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 4 November 1999 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 2036 gmt 3 Nov 99).
Somewhat unexpectedly, Stojković criticized Russian foreign affairs minister Igor Ivanov in March 2000, describing him as a "meddler" whose diplomacy threatened Yugoslavia's sovereignty. "We have not – nor shall in the future – authorize anyone to negotiate on behalf of our interests," he was quoted as saying. "If the diplomacy of Mr. Ivanov consists of fawning over the Americans, he may do so at the expense of Russian – not Serbian – national interests.""Yugoslav Official Blasts Russia's Foreign Minister," Dow Jones International News, 14 March 2000. This notwithstanding, he took part in a Yugoslavian delegation to monitor the 2000 Russian presidential election later in the same month."Yugoslav delegation leaves to observe Russian presidential elections," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 25 March 2000 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1428 gmt 25 Mar 00).