Stane Dolanc; Yugoslav Leader

Stane Dolanc, a key figure in post-Tito Yugoslavia, died Monday in Ljubljana, Slovenia, of complications of a stroke. He was 74.

Dolanc, a Slovene, rose through the ranks of the Communist Party during the rule of the late President Josip Broz Tito. After Tito’s death in 1980, Dolanc served as interior minister and was elected in 1984 to the joint Yugoslav presidency that succeeded the longtime strongman. He remained in the post until he retired from politics in 1989 and returned to his native Slovenia.

Dolanc spent his early career as a Yugoslav army officer and Communist Party Central Committee member.

In June 1991, Slovenia and neighboring Croatia proclaimed independence from the Serb-led Yugoslavia. Another former Yugoslav republic, Bosnia, did so in 1992.