The Serbian people have demonstrated, with considerable energy and in massive numbers, that they do not want Mr Slobodan Milosevic to run their country. His dictatorial rule has been a disaster for everyone but himself, his family and a circle of venal political friends. Elections have been rigged, illicit fortunes have been made and racial tensions have been used to advance his political aims.
It was for these reasons that, a little over a year ago, hundreds of thousands of Mr Milosevic's fellow citizens took to the streets of Belgrade in daily protests aimed at ousting him. But he survived by leaving the powerful presidency of Serbia and rebuilding his power base around the previously ceremonial presidency of Yugoslavia.
In the past, Mr Milosevic has shown that he has been prepared to engage in the most inflammatory actions for the sake of personal gain. He has excited racial tensions before in order to arouse Serbian atavism and his current actions in Kosovo seem designed to do the same again.
Although 90 per cent of its population is Albanian, the land of Kosovo has been linked for six centuries to the very heart of Serbian nationalism. The very word Kosovo excites the most basic patriotic urges in the Serbian people and no one knows this better than Mr Milosevic. He knows too that the western powers will not be foolish enough to become embroiled in a military intervention which could lead to a Balkan war far more savage in its intensity than any the peninsula has suffered in its bloody recent history.
He has felt able, therefore, to react to nationalist Albanian terrorism in the region by using his police force to raid villages and kill large numbers of innocent people in order to apprehend small numbers of terrorists. He has done this before, of course. He came to power by causing unrest in Kosovo and he intends to use the same means to hold on to the power and wealth he has amassed through nepotism and corruption.
On this occasion, however, he has taken a greater risk than usual. Almost exactly a year ago, Albania itself exploded into armed chaos. Its army, though hardly a match for Mr Milosevic's forces, is being moved towards the border with Kosovo. There are also large ethnic Albanian regions of Macedonia, which could be destabilised by the conflict. Bulgaria and Turkey claim their own interests in the region and so does Russia, an historical ally of the Serbs.
Diplomats in Belgrade have been quoted as believing the ferocity of Mr Milosevic's assault on Albanian villages presages his willingness to come to the table. He has, they say, been tough prior to concessions in the past. With military intervention unthinkable and increased sanctions likely to punish a people for the actions of a president it despises, a compromise seems inevitable. Lives, hopefully, will be saved but Mr Milosevic will cling to power once more and he will remain in power until his own people finally manage to rid themselves of Europe's most contemptible political leader.