Gordan Grlić-Radman (born 6 June 1958) is a Croatian diplomat and politician serving as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs since July 2019.

Early life and education

Grlić-Radman was born in Prisoje near

Tomislavgrad Tomislavgrad ( Cyrl, Томиславград, ), also known by its former name Duvno ( Cyrl, Дувно, ), is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Tomislavgrad in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosni ...

, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina,

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

in 1958. He studied at the XIV Gymnasium in Zagreb until 1977 and got a bachelor's degree at the Faculty of Agriculture of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

in 1982. In 1991, Grlić-Radman also completed a two-year degree at the Institut für Kaderschule management school in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In 2002, he graduated in international relations from the Faculty of Political Science of the

, where he obtained a PhD in 2007 with a dissertation on "Neutrality and New European Security Architecture".

Professional career

Grlić-Radman started his career in business, working in

for Melior-Haefliger AG from 1984 to 1991. In those years he was active in the Croatian diaspora as president of the Croatian Cultural Community in Switzerland (1984–1988) and co-sponsor of the Croatian-Swiss Business Consult with Davor Pavuna. From 1991 to 1992, Grlić-Radman worked as Business Secretary of the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb (headed by Mate Granić, whom he befriended) and volunteered for the Office for Refugees and Displaced Persons of the

Government of Croatia The Government of Croatia (), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (), is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the Prime Minister of Croatia, president o ...

(working with diaspora) and for the Croatian Health Service (Humanitarian Aid).

Diplomatic career

In 1992 and later, Grlić-Radman helped set up the diplomatic and consular missions of newly independent Croatia in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. Grlić-Radman then served in the Croatian embassies to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

(1994–1996) and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, headed by Zdenko Škrabalo (1996–1997). From 1997 to 2012, he worked with Mate Granić at the Croatian Foreign Ministry, among other things as Head of the Central European Department (2004–2009) and Secretary of the Danube Commission (2011–2014). From 2010 to 2012 he headed the Center for International Studies. In 2012, Grlić-Radman was appointed by

Davor Ivo Stier Davor Ivo Stier (; born 6 January 1972) is a Croatian-Argentine politician and diplomat serving as member of the European Parliament since July 2024, having previously served from 2013 to 2016. He was a member of the Croatian Parliament in multi ...

as the Ambassador to

. In October 2017, he was appointed as Ambassador to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 19 July 2019, Grlić-Radman was appointed to replace

Marija Pejčinović Burić Marija Pejčinović Burić (; born 9 April 1963) is a Croatian politician of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union party who served as Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (Croatia), Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and First Depu ...

as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the

Cabinet of Andrej Plenković Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. On 2 November 2023, Grlić-Radman greeted German foreign minister

Annalena Baerbock Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock (; born 15 December 1980) is a German politician and diplomat of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. She served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Germany's minister for foreign affairs from 2021 to 2025. I ...

with a kiss at an EU ministers' meeting in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He was subsequently criticised in Croatian media, with women's rights activist Rada Boric calling his behavior "highly inappropriate". Grlić-Radman said his actions were a "warm, human approach to a colleague" but acknowledged that it was probably "an awkward moment" and apologised "to whoever took it that way." On 24 February 2024, Grlić-Radman described Serbian President

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...

as a Russian “satellite” in the Balkans during an interview on N1, adding that Vucic must decide whether to side with Russia or the European Union “because it is impossible and uncomfortable sitting on two chairs at the same time.” Vučić denied the allegation, saying that Grlić-Radman "brutally interferes in the internal affairs of Serbia, but as usual he lies and insults the Serbian people and threatens its citizens.” The Serbian foreign ministry issued a note of protest saying that it expected Croatian officials to “refrain from statements that represent interference in the internal affairs of Serbia and will lead a policy of reconciliation and good-neighborly relations between the two states.”

Personal life

Grlić-Radman is married and father of three children.Vlada.gov.hr
/ref> He is a practising

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. He speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, English, Bulgarian, and Hungarian but not fluently.

References

External links

Gordan Grlić-Radman
at mvep.gov.hr {{DEFAULTSORT:Grlic-Radman, Gordan 1958 births Living people Politicians from Tomislavgrad Croat politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb alumni Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Ambassadors of Croatia to Germany Ambassadors of Croatia to Hungary Croatian Democratic Union politicians Foreign ministers of Croatia