Prime Minister for Peace: My Struggle for Serbian Democracy Hardcover - 2015

From the rear cover

In this remarkable memoir, Milan Panic tells the previously untold story of his attempts to oust Slobodan Milosevic and his battles with the U.S. State Department in an effort to bring peace to the Balkans during the Yugoslav Wars. A young cycling champion who fought the Nazi occupation in Yugoslavia with Tito's partisans, Panic defected after World War II from his now-Communist country to start a new life in the United States. Only a few years later, as the founder and president of ICN Pharmaceuticals, he had become a wealthy businessman. But his greatest challenge still lay ahead. When the opportunity arose in 1992 to serve as prime minister of Yugoslavia, Panic accepted, eager to bring the success he had enjoyed back to his homeland. But in Belgrade, ancient enmities and suspicions festered, threatening to explode into bloody ethnic conflict. And even as Panic implored the West for support, he would have to outwit the machinations of a wily Serbian dictator, Slobodan Milosevic. Including behind-the-scenes details of his rivalry with Milosevic, this book is a compelling chronicle of the road to peace in the Balkans. Milan Panic, who was born in Belgrade in 1929, served as prime minister of Yugoslavia from 1992-1993. During his tenure, he became an important figure on the world stage with his pivotal participation in the London Conference on Yugoslavia in August 1992, his address to the United Nations General Assembly (the "Speech of Peace") the following month, and his appearance before the parliament of the European Union in Brussels. In December 1992, the Wall Street Journal named him one of the "Europeans of the Year." After his tenure as prime minister ended, Panic continued to play an active role in the democratization of Serbia and former Yugoslav republics. In 1995, he was instrumental in initiating and organizing the Dayton Peace Agreement. Panic is chairman and CEO of MP Biomedicals, formerly ICN Biomedicals. He was founder and former chairman of ICN Pharmaceuticals, now known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, a multibillion-dollar company he launched in 1959 with $200. Mr. Panic's ongoing philanthropic contributions support various universities, research programs, museums, political causes, and charities, as well as international relief organizations for humanitarian aid in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and other parts of the world.