Profile: Vladislav Jovanovic, FR Yugoslavia Foreign Minister

Place and date of birth: 9 June 1933 in Zitni Potok, near Prokuplje. He grew up in Smederevo with his mother Dragica, a teacher.

Marital status: Married to Mirjana who works as a translator with the Foreign Ministry. He put off marriage for some fifty years: "I took half a century to get ready, I think I deserve a master's diploma now". His son Darko, was born in 1985.

How he became a diplomat: After graduating from the Belgrade School of Law (1955), he spent two years looking for a job. His applications were turned down about fifty times because he wasn't considered fit, not being a member of the League of Communists at the time. After passing his traineeship, he was taken on by the Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs. "My first job was to put the archives in the cellar into order. After two months of sifting through dusty documents, I developed an allergy on the tips of my fingers, but got a positive mark. I was greatly disappointed: Is this the way one starts a career?"

Diplomatic and political career: Jovanovic was a clerk dealing with consular questions at the Embassy in Brussels, First Secretary for consular affairs at the Embassy in Ankara, and independent advisor with GAP, assistant head of the Department for analysis and planning, and advisor at the Embassy in London (1975-1979, where he had a special task - purchasing paper for Jovanka Broz's personal letters), head of the Western Europe Department, Ambassador to Turkey (1985-1989) and Ambassador-at-large. Since 1991 he has been the Serbian Foreign Minister. Malicious gossip has it that he accepted the ministerial post after having been given a bigger apartment. At the May 1992 elections he was elected Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) deputy to the Yugoslav Assembly. For a while (until 10.9.1992) he was both Serbian Foreign Minister and Federal Foreign Minister in Milan Panic's Government.

What does he have to say about his term in office under Panic: "I was a loyal cabinet member from the beginning and loyally supported Panic and explained his policy. In the beginning I was surprised by some of his ignorance, above all of problems, and later his courage to take a categorical stand on problems he wasn't acquainted with."

What kind of impression does he leave: A very private man, a bit stiff, melancholic, speaks calmly but with resignation; is inclined to outbursts of ideological intolerance when necessary.

What will he be remembered by: As the minister who assured Serbian Assembly deputies that the resolution introducing the sanctions was a "document of routine character". As a foreign minister with more ambassadors sitting at home than in foreign capitals. As a minister for whom the denial of his own statements has become second nature. Admitting to having chased Turkish ladies in Ankara in order take revenge for the battle of Kosovo. As the ranking SPS official who fell on his knees before an opposition member (Maja Gojkovic, Serbian Radical Party deputy).

What does he think of the bilateral recognition of the former Yugoslav republics: "It's not just a question of mutual recognition, but of recognizing what they have achieved, and that they, again, accept what we wanted and where we stopped."

His views on a single B-H: "Those Serbs who urge the preservation of Bosnia's territorial integrity and multiethnic character are either 'small-time collaborationists' or 'people who have no choice in face of the Muslim authorities' stand'. Fortunately, they are few and represent a marginal phenomenon."

What are his expectations of the Non-aligned Movement: "That they will reconsider their stand with regard to Yugoslavia and help us win our legitimate place in the Movement once again."

Business credo: "With time, the whole picture will change to Serbia's advantage."

Hobbies: Chess and poetry. He has played chess since childhood, and was the Belgrade City Champion and a Master's candidate. Jovanovic has published two collections of poetry: "In Search of Searching" and "The Butterfly and Light".

What kind of poetry does he write: According to publisher Slobodan Masic "rather depressing, even terribly depressing". Literary critic Cedomir Mirkovic put his poems alongside "Slovom ljubve" and "Santa Maria de la Salute" (famous Serbian poems). If Djoko Stojicic, another minister-poet who claims that poetry is Vladislav Jovanovic's spiritual biography, is to be believed, then it is worth quoting the following lines: "The places I go, the hopeless things I do", and those in which he asks himself: "Oh, how to withdraw without trace and be silent".