Damir Krstičević (; born 1 July 1969) is a Croatian general and politician who served as the
Minister of Defence and
Deputy Prime Minister from 2016 until his resignation in May 2020, which he tendered due to the deaths of two Croatian military pilots in an aircraft accident.
Biography
Krstičević was born on July 1, 1969 in
Vrgorac,
Split-Dalmatia County
Split-Dalmatia County ( hr, Splitsko-dalmatinska županija ) is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 14.106,40 km2.
Split-Dalmat ...
in
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
. Since his childhood, he knew he wanted to be a soldier. He finished military high school in
Sarajevo. Upon graduating from the
Military Academy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia broke up. He joined the
Croatian National Guard in the summer of 1991. He was assigned to the
4th Guards Brigade where he eventually rose to the position of the brigade's commander.
After the war, in 1997, he was sent to continue his education at
United States Army War College, and finished with excellent grades.
In 2000 he was one of the signatories of the
Twelve Generals' Letter
The Twelve Generals' Letter ( hr, Pismo dvanaestorice generala) was an open letter, signed by twelve generals of the Croatian Armed Forces, that criticized the government, politicians and media for perceived criminalization of the Croatian War of ...
, which resulted in Krstičević's retiring by then Croatian president
Stjepan Mesić. He then worked as a manager, ceo, procurator and member of the supervisory board in computer software developing companies M SAN and King ICT.
In 2007, he survived a helicopter crash in
Vukovar, which damaged his spine.
After
HDZ won the
Croatian parliamentary elections in 2016, and
Andrej Plenković became the new Croatian Prime Minister, Krstičević was assigned to the position of Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence.
In January 2018 he was inducted into the U.S. Army War College Hall of Fame.
In 2018 he drew criticism for praising
Operation Medak Pocket saying it was 'something to be proud of' despite the fact that Serb civilians were unlawfully killed, in addition he faced heavy criticism for legitimizing the presence of convicted war criminal
Mirko Norac at an anniversary 'commemorating' the attack.
See also
*
Cabinet of Andrej Plenković
*
Defense Language Institute. Monterey, Ca (alumni)
References
CV on the Ministry of Defence website(accessed 12 December 2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristicevic, Damir
1969 births
Living people
People from Vrgorac
Croatian army officers
Defence ministers of Croatia
Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament
Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence
United States Army War College alumni