Andrija Mandić ( sr-Cyrl, Андрија Мандић; born 19 January 1965) is a Montenegrin politician who has served as president of the

Parliament of Montenegro The Parliament of Montenegro () is the unicameral legislature of Montenegro. The Parliament currently has 81 members, with each member elected to a four-year term. Following the 2006 independence referendum, the Parliament declared and ratified t ...

since 30 October 2023 and is an eight-term member of the Parliament. He is the president of the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

New Serb Democracy New Serb Democracy (NSD), officially abbreviated as NOVA, is a Serbian nationalist right-wing political party in Montenegro, formed on 24 January 2009 as a merger between Serb People's Party and the People's Socialist Party of Montenegro. Since ...

(NSD/NOVA). Mandic was the head of the Democratic Front parliamentary club in the parliament until 2020.

Political career

Mandić fought in the Yugoslav Army's 5th Motorized Brigade during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

. From 1999 to 2000, he was the deputy minister of economy of

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

. During the

2006 Montenegrin independence referendum An independence referendum was held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006. It was approved by 55.5% of voters, narrowly passing the 55% threshold. By 23 May, preliminary referendum results were recognized by all five permanent members of the United Natio ...

, Mandić called for minorities to be banned from voting. After the referendum ended in favor of independence, he initially refused to accept the event and declared that Albanians should never be allowed to vote. In 2008, Mandić became the first president of the Serb List transformed into ''

'' (NOVA). In the 2009 parliamentary election, NOVA ran independently and won 9,2% of the votes as well as eight seats. In the next parliamentary election held in 2012, the party ran within the Democratic Front coalition. During the

2019–2020 clerical protests in Montenegro In late December 2019, a wave of protests started against the controversial, newly adopted "Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities" which effectively transferred ownership of church buildings and estat ...

, Mandić and all other MPs were arrested without their MP immunity being revoked. He has been declared as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Front coalition for the 2023 Montenegrin presidential election. He ranked third with 19.32% of the vote. After the 2023 parliamentary election, Mandić was elected the Speaker of the parliament.

Persecution in the Đukanović regime

On 15 February 2017, Mandić was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in connection with an ongoing criminal prosecution against him. On 8 June, the High Court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment of Mandić, along with thirteen other persons, including two Russian nationals and Milan Knežević, on charges that included "preparing a conspiracy against the constitutional order and the security of Montenegro" and an "attempted terrorist act". In February 2021, the Montenegrin appellate court overturned the first-instance verdict against Mandić and the other defendants and ordered a retrial. In July 2024, the High Court in Podgorica acquitted Mandić along with all other persons charged with organizing and preparing the alleged 2016 coup d'état.

Persona non grata declaration

On 25 July 2024, Mandić, along with deputy prime minister

Aleksa Bečić Aleksa Bečić (; born 4 August 1987) is a Montenegrin politician, current Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro since 2023, who served as the president of the Parliament from 2020 until 2022. He is the founder and current president of the centri ...

and MP Milan Knežević were declared persona non grata by Croatia following the passage of a resolution in the

recognising a genocide in the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia durin ...

committed by the pro-Axis

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

during World War II.

Honours

Orders

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandić, Andrija 1965 births Living people People from Šavnik Serbs of Montenegro Serb People's Party (Montenegro) politicians New Serb Democracy politicians Speakers of the Parliament of Montenegro Members of the Parliament of Montenegro Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia politicians People's Party (Montenegro, 1990) politicians Serbian nationalists Candidates for President of Montenegro