Zoran Sokolović () was a prominent Serbian politician in the 1980s and 1990s. He was Secretary of the Presidency of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) from 1986 to 1989 and President of the National Assembly of Serbia from 1989 to 1990. A founding member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) in 1990, Sokolović later served as Serbian minister of the interior from 1991 to 1997 and as Yugoslavian minister of the interior from 1997 to 2000.
Sokolović was for many years one of Slobodan Milošević's closest allies and played a prominent role in facilitating Milošević's rise to power.Robert Thomas, Serbia Under Miloševic: Politics in the 1990s, (London: Hurst & Company), 1999, p. 342.Miloš Vasić, "Departure of the Most Faithful Friend", Vreme, 9 February 2001, accessed 4 July 2026.Borba, 9 February 2001, p. 12.
Early life and private career Sokolović was born and raised in the village of Lepena near Knjaževac. At the time of his birth, the community was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; after World War II, it was part of the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Sokolović graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Agriculture and worked afterward as production superintendent at the Vučje Agricultural Cooperative, becoming the cooperative's director in 1964.Vreme, 21 March 1994, pp. 12-14.
Politician League of Communists of Serbia Sokolović became a member of the League of Communists in 1960.Borba, 29 May 1986, p. 1. He was elected to the Organizational and Political Council of the Serbian parliament in the 1969 Serbian parliamentary electionBorba, 4 April 1969, p. 4.Borba, 25 April 1969, p. 4. and presumably served for the full term that followed, from 1969 to 1974. He was also secretary of the municipal committee of the League of Communists in Knjaževac during this period.Borba, 29 January 1973, p. 4.
By 1981, Sokolović had become a member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia.Borba, 3 February 1981, p. 3. He was re-elected to the Central Committee in the May 1982 party elections, and in June 1984 he was elected as a member of the Central Committee's presidency.Tanjug, 12:42 GMT on 29 May 1982.Tanjug, 13:17 GMT, 21 June 1984.Borba, 22 June 1984, p. 3.
Secretary of the SKS Presidency (1986–89) Slobodan Milošević was elected unanimously as president of the Central Committee's presidency in the May 1986 party elections, and Sokolović was elected unanimously as secretary of the presidency.Borba, 29 May 1986, p. 4. In an interview from this period, Sokolović stressed the need for ideological unity in the League of Communists, noting that "civil liberal" and "ultra-left" threats had both been growing in recent times.Borba, 27 May 1986, p. 3. In July 1986, he was given further responsibilities as head of the SKS's committee for personnel policy.Borba, 10 July 1986, p. 3. In December of that year, Sokolović criticized what he described as a "political blockade" on funding for development in Kosovo and urged the assemblies of Serbia, Vojvodina, and Kosovo to reach agreement on this matter. The Serbian media noted that this was usually direct criticism by the standards of the time.Borba, 24 December 1986, p. 8.
Sokolović delivered a speech on the situation in Kosovo at a July 1987 meeting of the Central Committee. He said that the emigration of Serbs and Montenegrins was "the most serious political consequence of the overall situation in the province," and added that if the emigration was not stopped, "the goal of the counter-revolution would be achieved - an ethnically pure Kosovo." In keeping with SKS policy, he condemned both Albanian nationalism and Serbian nationalism in his speech.Borba, 10 July 1987, p. 2. The following month, he delivered a speech in front of a hostile crowd in Kosovo Polje, where members of the predominantly Kosovo Serb audience interrupted him and accused Serbia's political leadership of ignoring their interests.Borba, 17 August 1987, p. 3.
Sokolović played a prominent role in facilitating Milošević's victory over Ivan Stambolić at the Central Committee meeting of 23–24 September 1987, which brought about Stambolić's political downfall and was a major event in Milošević's consolidation of power.Borba, 27 August 1991, p. 11.Vreme, 21 March 1994, pp. 12-14. He later took part in a media campaign that fabricated numerous "telegrams of support" for Milošević and increased the latter's stature across Serbia.Miloš Vasić, "Departure of the Most Faithful Friend", Vreme, 9 February 2001, accessed 4 July 2026.Borba, 9 February 2001, p. 12.
Milošević and Sokolović were both unanimously re-elected to their respective roles on the SKS presidency in May 1988.Borba, 20 May 1988, p. 1. In a speech to the presidency in July 1988, Sokolović identified "Albanian nationalism and separatism" as the "main causes of the counter-revolution" in Kosovo.Borba, 30 July 1988, p. 13.
Sokolović was subsequently a leading participant in the supposed "anti-bureaucratic revolution," by which Milošević further consolidated his control over Serbian political life. He was present for the October 1988 "yoghurt revolution" in Vojvodina, welcoming the resignations of the former provincial leadership (which had been opposed to Milošević) and saying that the new leadership would take a more appropriate line on Kosovo.Borba, 7 October 1988, p. 6. At a joint meeting of the SKS and League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ) presidencies later in the month, he called for Kolj Široka, Azem Vllasi, and Svetislav Dolašević, all of whom were leading members of the League of Communists of Kosovo (SKK), to be expelled from the SKJ Central Committee; this prompted a hostile response from both Vllasi and Croatian SKJ delegate Stipe Šuvar. In November 1988, Sokolović was present at the SKK meeting in which Vllasi and Kaqusha Jashari announced their resignations, under pressure from Milošević and his allies.Borba, 21 November 1988, p. 3.
The Socialist Alliance of Working People (SSRN) of Serbia nominated Sokolović as a candidate for Serbia's seat on the Presidency of Yugoslavia in February 1989. He declined the nomination.Borba, 21 February 1989, p. 5. Borisav Jović was elected for the role.
President of the Serbian parliament (1989–90) In early April 1989, Sokolović was nominated as one of three candidates in a by-election to fill two recently vacated seats in the SKS's delegation to the Social-Political Council of the Serbian parliament. At the same time, the SSRN nominated Slobodan Milošević to become President of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and Sokolović to succeed Jović as president of the full Serbian parliament, comprising its three constituent councils (i.e., the Social-Political Council, the Council of Associated Labour, and the Council of Municipalities).Borba, 4 April 1989, p. 4.
Not surprisingly under these circumstances, Sokolović was one of the successful candidates in the by-election.Borba, 4 May 1989, p. 3. On 8 May 1989, he was elected as assembly president in a meeting of the full parliament, receiving 216 votes as against fifty-five for Božidar Manić and twenty-one for Miodrag Veljković. At the same parliamentary session, Milošević was elected as president of the Serbian presidency.Borba, 9 May 1989, p. 3. Sokolović stood down as secretary of the SKS presidency at this time and was replaced by Milomir Minić. In June 1989, he received additional responsibilities as chair of the assembly committee for constitutional affairs.Borba, 22 June 1989, p. 3.
Sokolović delivered a speech in July 1989 supporting the Serbian SSRN's initiative for more competitive elections, to be held by secret ballot with multiple candidates for the same positions.Borba, 28 July 1989, p. 5. In October of the same year, during the buildup to the 1989 Serbian general election, the SSRN brought forward a list of 108 candidates to fill ninety positions on the Social-Political Council. Sokolović was nominated as one of twenty candidates for sixteen available positions on the SKS's delegation to the councilBorba, 28 October 1989, p. 15. and was subsequently re-elected. When the new Serbian assembly held its constitutive session on 5 December 1989, Milošević was re-elected as president of the Serbian presidency, and Sokolović was re-elected as president of the full parliament, this time receiving 245 votes as against sixty-three for his only opponent, Radivoje Marinković.Borba, 6 December 1989, p. 3. Later in the same month, Sokolović was also re-elected to another term on the SKS Central Committee.Borba, 18 December 1989, p. 5.
Sokolović led the assembly in voting to suspend the work of Kosovo's assembly and executive council on 5 July 1990.Borba, 6 July 1990, p. 1. After this time, most members of Kosovo's majority Albanian community began a boycott of Serbian state institutions.
Socialist Party of Serbia Last months as president of the Serbian parliament (1990) Serbia transitioned from a one-party socialist republic to a (nominally) multi-party democracy in 1990. On 17 June 1990, the SKS merged with the Serbian SSRN to create the Socialist Party of Serbia. Sokolović was a founding member of the new party and was elected to its inaugural main board.Borba, 18 July 1990, p. 3.
On 26 July 1990, Sokolović presided over the assembly as it approved a new draft republican constitution that established a sovereign and united Serbian state, reducing the autonomy previously granted to the provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo. He defended the document as establishing the proper legal foundations for the state and as guaranteeing the equality of all citizens.Borba, 27 July 1990, p. 3. He subsequently promoted the draft constitution at a series of public meetings ("consultations") throughout the country.Borba, 9 August 1990, p. 11. In September 1990, he met with representatives of Serbia's newly formed opposition parties to discuss the new constitution. Several opposition leaders later expressed their dissatisfaction with the meeting, with Vojislav Koštunica of the Democratic Party (DS) saying that Sokolović had responded to their proposals with ultimatums.Borba, 20 September 1990, p. 5.
The final version of the constitution was approved by parliament and became law on 28 September 1990. On the same day, Sokolović announced that Serbia's first general election under the new constitution would take place on 9 December.Borba, 29 September 1990, p. 1. Under the constitution, Serbia had a unicameral parliament whose 250 members were elected for individual constituencies over two rounds of voting.
Sokolović ran as the SPS's candidate for the Kosovo constituency of Leposavić, Titova Mitrovica, and Podujevo in the 1990 election. During the campaign, he called on Kosovo Albanians to reject what he described as the "blinded nationalist movement led by the separatists and their allies" and participate in the vote;Borba, 24 November 1990, p. 5. mostly, however, this did not happen. He was elected in the first round for his constituency, which was predominantly Serb, with over seventy per cent support.Borba, 11 December 1990, p. 3.Borba, 26 December 1990, p. 2.
SPS parliamentary leader (1991) The SPS won a landslide victory overall in the 1990 parliamentary election with 194 out of 250 seats; in the concurrent presidential vote, Slobodan Milošević was elected as Serbian president. Sokolović took his seat when the new assembly convened in January 1991. It was rumoured that he would be appointed as minister of the interior in Dragutin Zelenović's cabinet,Borba, 8 January 1991, p. 3. but this did not initially happen. Instead, he was chosen as leader of the SPS's parliamentary group.Borba, 11 January 1991, p. 1.