Zoran Milanović

Zoran Milanović

Zoran Milanović (born 1966 in Zagreb) is Croatian centre-left politician and newly elected leader of Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP).

Biography

Early life

His parents, father Stipe and mother Gina, have roots in Sinj. Zoran has a brother named Krešimir. He went to the Center for Management and Judiciary (an elite high-school). According to his own admitance, he was very lively and prone to fighting. In 1986, he entered the University of Zagreb in Judiciary and was one of the top students of that generation. He learned English and Russian, as well as French.

After college, he became an intern at the Croatian Trade Court, and in 1993 got a job in the Croatian Foreign Ministry, ironically being accepted by future political rival Ivo Sanader. A year later, he went to Nagorno-Karabakh as the first Croatian in a United Nations peace mission.

In 1994, he also married Sanja Musić-Milanović with whome he later had two children, boys: Anto and Marko.

In 1996, he became an advisor at Croatian mission to the EU and NATO at Bruxelles. He returned to the Foreign Ministry in 1999, at the end of his mandate.

In SDP

In 1999, he enrolled into SDP (was not a member of any party before that). Following SDP's win at the 2000 elections, he became NATO Coordinator and three years later became assistant to Foreign Minister Tonino Picula. He left his post after the 2003 elections.

He was elected to SDP's Main Board in 2004. Two years later, he shortly became party spokesman, standing in for absent Gordana Grbić. He was also elected coordinater for the IV. election area for the upcoming 2007 elections.

Becoming president

An unschedualed Party convention took place in Zagreb on June 2, 2007, due to resignation (followed by death) of the first Party President And Croatia's former Prime Minister Ivica Račan who resigned on April 11, and died of kidney cancer on April 29.

Milanović entered the contest, despite being considered an "outsider", because of his shorter term in the party, running against Željka Antunović (acting chairman since Račan's resignation), Milan Bandić and Tonino Picula. Since the later two dropped out in the first round of voting, Milanović defeated Željka Antunović at the convention, becoming president of the party. Perhaps vital in his victory was the fact that he is young and that the general public sees this as a very positive trait. Apart from political bitter rival HDZ, most political parties in Croatia welcomed his election.

As the new president

Milanović has already expressed his wish to see Ljubo Jurčić, the party's main economic strategist, as the next Prime Minister. Milanović will lead the party at the 2007 elections.

Since a regular SDP party convention is usually held 6 months after the Parlamentary Election (to be held sometime in April or May 2008), Milanović is really on a temporary presidential term in the party.

His political future will greatly depend on the results of the state elections in November, wich he has a great chance of winning given his and his parties rising popularity.

Recently Milanovic stated that Josip Broz Tito was a more positive and overall better politician than Franjo Tudjman.

References

• Nacional.hr: Zoran Milanovic – The Rise of Racan's Successor
• Template:Hr icon Javno.com: Biography

External links

• Blog Template:Language icon