Boris Tadić
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| Boris Tadić Борис Тадић |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 11 July 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Predrag Marković (acting) |
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Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro
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| In office 17 March 2003 – 11 July 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Velimir Radojević |
| Succeeded by | Prvoslav Davinić |
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Federal Minister of Telecommunications of Yugoslavia
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| In office November 2000 – 17 March 2003 |
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| Born | 15 January 1958 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia |
| Political party | DS |
| Spouse | Tatjana Tadić |
| Religion | Serbian Orthodox |
| Signature |  |
| Website | www.predsednik.yu/ |
Boris Tadić (Serbian: Борис Тадић; born January 15, 1958) is the current President of Serbia. A psychologist by profession, he is a member and the current president of the Democratic Party. Tadić was elected to a five-year term on June 27, 2004, and was sworn into office on July 11, 2004. He was reelected for a de facto second term on February 3, 2008 and was sworn in on February 15. It is his de jure first term as Tadić was elected under previous constitution for the first term. Prior to Presidency, he served as the Minister of Telecommunications of FR Yugoslavia and as the Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro.
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[edit] Early life
Boris Tadić was born on January 15, 1958 in Sarajevo, the capital of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, then a constituent republic of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. His father, Ljubomir Tadić, a philosopher of renown descent from Montenegro from the Pivans Herzegovinian clan who is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. His mother Nevenka Tadić is a psychologist.
His parents were often moving between various cities and had moved to Sarajevo from Paris, where they were pursuing their doctoral studies, only a few days prior to his birth. The Tadić family moved to Belgrade when Boris was three years old, and his father got a job at the "Liberation" newspaper. Boris was rebellious even as a child, as he once ran away from home wishing to join a circus.[1][2]
His grandparents were killed by the Ustaše in World War II.
Boris Tadić graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. Tadić was arrested during his studies for opposition activities. He worked as a journalist, military clinical psychologist and as a teacher of psychology at the First Belgrade Gymnasium.
Until 2003, Boris Tadić worked at the Faculty of Drama at the University of Belgrade as a lecturer of political advertising.
After the Yugoslav Wars, Tadić advocated reform and Westernisation in the Balkans.
[edit] Political career
Tadić joined the Democratic Party, founded in 1919 but suppressed in communist Yugoslavia, when it was re-established as a modern social democratic party in 1990. The Democrats won seven seats in the National Assembly that year.
Boris Tadić was the founder of the Center for modern skills in 1998. Center for modern skills is the NGO dealing with political and civil education, and the development of the political culture and dialogue.[3]
Tadić's party, a member of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia, played a key role in the Bulldozer Revolution that toppled Slobodan Milošević in 2000.
Tadić served as Minister of Telecommunications in the Government of FR Yugoslavia in 2000 and as Minister of Defence in the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro from 17 March 2003 until he assumed Presidency. He served as an MP of the Democratic Party in the Federal Senate and as vice-speaker of the Parliament of Yugoslavia. He served as leader of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition in the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 and as leader of the Democratic Party in the Parliament of Serbia in 2004.
The assassination of Zoran Đinđić in March 2003 led to a leadership convention of the Democratic Party in 2004, which was won by Tadić.
[edit] Presidency
[edit] First term (2004-2008)
He defeated Tomislav Nikolić of the nationalist Radical Party in the run-off of the 2004 presidential election with 53.34% of the vote. He was inaugurated on 11 July of that year.[4]
On December 1, 2004, Tadić’s presidential motorcade was involved in a traffic accident. Miroslav Cimpl, a Serb employee of the local American embassy, repeatedly crashed his vehicle into presidential motorcade although the President's car was not personally affected. Cimpl fled the scene but was later arrested after the Serb government complained to the embassy. A subsequent investigation concluded that Cimpl did not intend to harm Tadić. The public drew a connection between this incident and a similar occurrence in February 2003 when Dejan Milenković Bagzi attempted to kill then-Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić by ramming his vehicle with a truck on the highway.
As president Tadić has pursued a pro-Western foreign policy. On 28 September 2005 he met with Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City, making him the first Serbian head of state to be granted an audience with a pope. This helped improve traditionally strained Catholic-Orthodox relations.[5]
Tadić presided during the independence referendum in Montenegro in 2006. He was the first foreign head of state to visit Montenegro after it became independent on 8 June, promising to continue friendly relations. Serbia declared independence as well, and Tadić attended the first raising of the flag of Serbia at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.[6]
Tadić took part in the events marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, unveiling a plaque in honour of Imre Nagy with Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány at the Embassy of Serbia in Budapest.[7]
On June 22, Boris Tadić presided over the 1000th meeting of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in Belgrade.[8]
In 2007, Tadić issued an apology to Croatia for any crimes committed in Serbia's name during the war in Croatia.[9]
On August 4, 2007 Tadić was awarded the European Prize for Political Culture that is given by the Swiss Foundation Hans Ringier of the Ringier Publishing House in Locarno. Previously it was awarded to Jean-Claude Juncker. Tadić decided to donate the financial part of the award for humanitarian purposes for the maternity hospital in town near Gračanica.[10][11]
In the same year Tadić was a signatory of the agreement that led to formation of the Council for Cooperation between Serbia and Republika Srpska on September 6, 2007, together with Milorad Dodik and Vojislav Koštunica.[12]
In September 2007 he met with Sumitaka Fujita, CEO of Itochu Corporation in order to negotiate a donation from Official development assistance which would be used for the construction of a new bridge over the river Danube in Belgrade.[13]
Contrary to his earlier decision in the Kosovan parliamentary election, 2004, Tadić stated that he has no right to call Serbs of Kosovo to vote in the 2007 Kosovo parliamentary election as the standards he asked for in 2004 were not reached.[14]
He stated that former and current terrorists, who managed to escape from prison in Kosovo in September 2007, are located in northern regions of the Republic of Macedonia. According to Tadić, terrorists are planning new attacks on municipalities in southern Serbia in order to start a new Preševo Valley conflict.[15]
On January 13 Tadić announced a 7.5 billion RSD modernization package for the Serbian Army from the National Investment Plan to include the purchase of communications equipment and an overhaul of the air force.[16]
[edit] Reelection campaign
Boris Tadić has advocated an early presidential election that is required under constitutional law, since the adoption of the new Constitution of Serbia, after the successful constitutional referendum in October 2006. On 13 December 2007 the speaker of the Parliament, Oliver Dulić, set the election date for 20 January 2008. The Democratic Party officially submitted the candidacy of its leader to the Republic Electoral Commission on December 21. The reelection campaign was led under the slogan - ”For a Strong and Stable Serbia“ (За Јаку и Стабилну Србију) in the first round and ”Let's conquer Europe together!“ (Да освојимо Европу заједно!) in the second. Boris Tadić advocated integration of Serbia into the European Union but also territorial integrity of Serbia with sovereignty over Kosovo and Metohia.
Boris Tadić received support from G17 Plus and Sanjak Democratic Party, partners from the Government. He also received support of various national minority parties including Hungarian and Roma parties. Tadić has received strong support from Milorad Dodik, the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska.[17] Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote a letter to Tadić a week before the election, in which he wished Tadić a happy birthday and all the best in his activities for “the welfare of our friends, Serbia.” [18] Boris Tadić also received support from various organizations representing people with disabilities and special needs.[19]
Boris Tadić received 1,457,030 votes (35.39%) in the first round. In the second round on February 3, 2008, he faced Tomislav Nikolić and won the election with 2,304,467 votes (50.31%).[20]
[edit] Second term (2008-2013)
| Presidential oath of Boris Tadić: |
| I swear that I will invest all my efforts in the preservation of sovereignty and integrity of the territory of the Republic of Serbia, including Kosovo and Metohija as its integral part, as well as the realization of human and minority rights and freedoms, observation and defense of the Constitution and laws, preservation of peace and welfare of all Serbian citizens and that I will fulfill all my duties conscientiously and responsibly.[21] |
He was sworn in at the inauguration ceremony on February 15, 2008 in the National Assembly of Serbia.[21]
[edit] People's Office of the President
During the 2004 election campaign, Boris Tadić promised to form a new special institution called the People's Office. The People's Office of the President of the Republic was opened on October 1, 2004. The role of the People's Office is to make communication between the citizens and the President easier, and to cooperate between other state bodies and institutions, in order to enable the citizens of Serbia to exercise their rights. The People's Office of the President is divided into four divisions: Legal Affairs Division, Social Affairs Division, Projects Division and General Affairs Division. The first Director of the People's Office was Dragan Đilas. When he joined the Government of Serbia as the Minister in charge of the National Investment Plan in 2007, Tatjana Pašić became the new Director.
[edit] Advisors
Boris Tadić appointed a special team of presidential advisors. Trivo Inđić is an Advisor to the President of the Republic for political issues. He was a member of a dissident group Praxis school, with Ljubomir Tadić, for which he was expelled from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade in 1975, along with seven other professors. He worked as a sociologist researcher at the Institute for Studying Cultural Development, the Institute for International Politics and Economics and the Institute for European Studies in Belgrade. He was the assistant federal minister for education and culture of the FR Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1994, and the ambassador of the FR Yugoslavia to Spain from 2001 to 2004. He became the political advisor to the President of the Republic of Serbia in 2004. Gordana Matković is a General Advisor to the President. She works as a consultant for the World Bank, UNDP and UNICEF. She is a Visiting professor at the School of Economics at the University of Belgrade. From 2000 until 2004 she was the Minister of Social Affairs, in the Government of Serbia under Zoran Đinđić. Nebojša Krstić is an Advisor for public relations. He was a member of the VIS Idoli music band. Biserka Jevtimijević Drinjaković is an Advisor to the President for economic affairs. She has received awards several times by the International Finance Corporation for the successful design and implementation of development projects. Jovan Ratković is an Advisor for relations with the European Union and NATO. He is a graduate of the University of East Anglia in politics and environmental economics with international relations. He is one of the founders of the Otpor movement. Vladimir Cvijan is an Advisor responsible for legal affairs.
Dušan T. Bataković served as an Advisor for political issues but he was appointed Ambassador of Serbia to Canada in July 2007.[22]
[edit] Personal life
He is married to Tatjana Tadić, with whom he has two children. He was previously married to Veselinka Zastavniković, but they divorced, having no children. Boris Tadić has a sister, Vjera, who is a psychologist as well. Besides his native language Tadić is fluent in English and French.
[edit] References
- ^ President of the Republic of Serbia biography
- ^ Живели смо скромно
- ^ Centar modernih veština-Ko smo
- ^ President of the Republic of Serbia inauguration
- ^ Pope Benedict XVI meet Boris Tadic President of Serbia at the Vatican September 29 2005. at Catholic Press Photo
- ^ Zastava Srbije od danas se vijori ispred zgrade Ujedinjenih nacija u Njujorku at VOA News
- ^ Tadić u Budimpešti at B92
- ^ Govor predsednika Tadića na otvaranju 1000. sednice Komiteta ministara SE
- ^ Tadić apologized to Croatian citizens at B92
- ^ «European Prize for Political Culture» awarded to Boris Tadic at Ringier Publishing Switzerland
- ^ President Tadić and German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Kosovo
- ^ Predsednik Tadić na konstituisanju Veća za saradnju Republike Srpske i Srbije
- ^ Japanska korporacija Itoču u poseti Srbiji
- ^ Tadić: Nemam prava da pozovem Srbe da izađu na izbore
- ^ Tadic says terrorists undergo training in northern Macedonia
- ^ Tadić promises Army EUR 93.4mn
- ^ Dodik voices strong support for Tadić
- ^ Putin pisao Borisu Tadiću
- ^ Boris Tadić Campaign info
- ^ Srbija izabrala Borisa Tadića
- ^ a b Inauguracija Borisa Tadića
- ^ Biography of Ambassador of Serbia in Canada
[edit] External links
- Official Biography of The President of Serbia
- People´s Office of the President
- Biography at the Democratic Party Website
- Official Presidential Campaign Website
- The 1000 Young Serbian Leaders Programme
- Center for modern skills
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Velimir Radojević Minister of Defence of FR Yugoslavia |
post created Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro 17 March 2003 – 11 July 2004 |
Succeeded by Prvoslav Davinić |
| Preceded by Predrag Marković Acting President of Serbia |
President of Serbia 11 July 2004 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Zoran Đinđić |
President of Democratic Party 22 February 2004 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Leaders of the Democratic Party (Serbia) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dragoljub Mićunović | Zoran Đinđić | Boris Tadić | ||
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| Socialist Republic of Serbia (1945-1992), CC Secretaries |
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| Within FR Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro (1992-2006), Presidents |
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| Republic of Serbia (2006-), President |
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| * acting | |
| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Tadić, Boris |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Serbian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 15, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
