Bratislav Gašić ( sr-cyr, Братислав Гашић; born 30 June 1967) is a Serbian politician serving as

minister of internal affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

since 2022. A former member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he served as the minister of defence from 2014 to 2016. He was the director of the

Security Intelligence Agency The Security Intelligence Agency ('' sr, Безбедносно-информативна агенција / Bezbednosno-informativna agencija''; abbr. ''BIA'') is a national intelligence agency of Serbia. The agency is responsible for collecting, r ...

(BIA) from 2017 to 2022.

Education and career

He finished primary and secondary school in Kruševac and the Faculty of Economics within the University of Niš. From 1989, he began

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

in his native country and later worked many years in Greece. During the 1990s he worked in the coffee industry, mainly in export-import, and was one of the owners of prominent Serbian brands ''Grand coffee''. During the 2000s, he ran several sports clubs in his home city of Kruševac, volleyball and football teams.

2008–17

He is one of the founders of the Serbian Progressive Party, founded in October 2008. Following the

2012 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 6 May 2012 to elect members of the National Assembly, and were held simultaneously with provincial, local, and presidential elections. Background The 2008 parliamentary elections resulted in the f ...

s when the Serbian Progressive Party took power, he was named the vice president of the party. Later he was named the president of the Executive Board of

Srbijagas Srbijagas (full legal name: '' J.P. Srbijagas'') is the state-owned natural gas provider in Serbia with headquarters in Novi Sad. History Srbijagas was established on 1 October 2005 as a result of restructuring the integrated petroleum company NI ...

in March 2013. From June 2012 until April 2014 he was the mayor of Kruševac. He was elected as the

Minister of Defence of Serbia The Ministry of Defence of Republic of Serbia ( sr, Министарство одбране, Ministarstvo odbrane) is the ministry in the Government of Serbia which is in the charge of defending the Republic of Serbia from internal and external m ...

on 27 April 2014 following the

2014 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 16 March 2014, with nineteen electoral lists competing for 250 members of the National Assembly. The election was called early, after tensions in the coalition led by the ruling Serbian Progressive P ...

s. On 5 February 2016, he was sacked from the duty following the public pressure due to his

sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...

remarks towards

B92 RTV B92, or simply B92 (stylized as b92, formerly BΞ92 and B 92), is a Serbian news station and broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade. Founded in 1989 as radio station, it was a rare outlet for Western news and informat ...

TV reporter Zlatija Labović, made on 6 December 2015.

2017–present: Head of Security Intelligence Agency

On 23 May 2017, he was appointed as the head of the

(BIA). Following his appointment, he has suspended his party activities. In August 2017, an amendments to the ''Law on the Security and Information Agency'', which strengthen the authorities of the agency's director, have arrived in the

Serbian Parliament The National Assembly ( sr-cyr, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ) is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms by secret ballot. The as ...

for adoption. This move was condemned by several officials including the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance

Rodoljub Šabić Rodoljub Šabić (, born 15 October 1955) is a Serbian lawyer, former Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government of Serbia, as well as the First Commissioner for Information of Public Importance of Serbia from 2004 to 2018. Bi ...

and former co-Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia Božo Prelević. They have stated that these amendments are unconstitutional and thus way creating a platform for "party's intelligence agency" ( Serbian Progressive Party), aimed at the opposition and "domestic traitors" who disagree with the ruling regime.

Personal life

He is married and has three sons. He speaks English and Greek. His nickname is Bata Santos, given to him due to business with coffee.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasic, Bratislav 1967 births Living people Politicians from Kruševac Government ministers of Serbia University of Niš alumni Defence ministers of Serbia Serbian Progressive Party politicians