Ivan Vekić (; 18 October 1938 – 17 December 2014) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n politician and lawyer. He was one of the founders of the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

and served as the Croatian Minister of Interior during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

Biography

Vekić was born in Poljica near

Vrgorac Vrgorac () is a town in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. Climate Since records began in 1981, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was , on 4 August 2017. The coldest temperature was , on 7 January 2017. Demographi ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

on 18 October 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

occupation of Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned among Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attack ...

, his family was part of the Nazi-aligned Ustasha movement. He survived the

Bleiburg repatriations The Bleiburg repatriations ( see terminology) were a series of forced repatriations from Allied-occupied Austria of Axis-affiliated individuals to Yugoslavia in May 1945 after the end of World War II in Europe. During World War II, Yugoslav terr ...

in 1945, unlike his younger sister, Smiljana. He was a member of

Matica hrvatska Matica hrvatska () is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyrian movement during ...

and was one of the founders of the

in 1989.Podrug, Ante; Belak, Anita
Jedan od osnivača HDZ-a Ivan Vekić: Sanader je požeo ono što je godinama sijao

Slobodna Dalmacija (, where "Free" is an adjective) is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Split. History was first issued on 17 June 1943 by Tito's Partisans in an abandoned stone barn on Mosor, a mountain near Split, while the city was occupied by the I ...

. 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2011-10-31 In 1990 he entered the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

. He served as the Minister of Interior from 31 July 1991 until 15 April 1992. During the

he had a rank of Colonel.Jurčević, Kulić i Rohatinski na čelu države
T-Portal. 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2011-10-31 He was decorated with the

Order of Ante Starčević The Order of Ante Starčević () is a Croatian national decoration which ranks twelfth in importance. The order was formed on 10 March 1995. The Order of Ante Starčević is granted to Croatians and foreigners for their contributions to the devel ...

for contribution to the maintenance and development of the Croatian statehood idea, establishment and construction of the sovereign Croatian state,Tuđman, Franjo
Odluka
Narodne novine. 1995-05-28. Retrieved 2011-10-31 while he refused to accept 5 decorations which were awarded to him by President

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

. Vekić is a critic of post-war policy of Croatian Democratic Union. He entered a conflict with the party's new leaders,

Ivo Sanader Ivo Sanader (; born 8 June 1953) is a Croatian former politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009. He is currently serving a 18-year prison sentence for corruption in Lipovica penitentiary. Sanader is to date the second ...

and Vladimir Šeks. In 2003, after publishing ''Steps in History - Memories and Events'' (), where he criticized Šeks, he was expelled from the party. During the parliamentary election in 2007, he was a candidate of

Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia () is a defunct political party in Croatia, formed in 2007. The party was established by disaffected founding members of the HDZ, the Croatian Bloc (which extinguished itself the following year), and by a ...

for a seat in the Parliament. In May 2011, after a series of adverse events in Croatia, he reshaped his existing civic association "Croatian Guard" into a nationalist political party called the Croatian Guard National Party. He is the President of the party, and they advocate armed training in high schools and capital punishment.Patković, Nikola
Osniva se stranka koja će biti za obuku o oružju u srednjoj školi i smrtnu kaznu!

Jutarnji list () is a Croatian daily newspaper based in Zagreb. It was published on 6 April 1998 by EPH (Europapress holding, owned by Ninoslav Pavić), which eventually changed its name in Hanza Media after being bought by Marijan Hanžeković. The newspap ...

. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2011-10-31 In September 2011 he was accused for war crimes by Serbia, along with Vladimir Šeks, Branimir Glavaš,

Tomislav Merčep Tomislav Merčep (28 September 1952 – 16 November 2020) was a Croatian politician and paramilitary leader during the Croatian War of Independence who was later convicted of war crimes. Early life and the Croatian War of Independence A native of ...

and 40 other Croatian soldiers involved in the

Battle of Vukovar The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Bar ...

. He is charged with killing of 13 civilians and 6 unidentified persons.Stigle optužnice iz Srbije: Šeks, Vekić, Glavaš, Merčep i 40 vukovarskih branitelja
iPress. 2011-09-21. Retrieved 2011-10-31 In October 2011 he entered into a coalition with the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights (, HSP) is an Extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary Croatian nationalism, nationalist and Neo-fascism, neo-fascist List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" i ...

.Lepan, Suzana
Vekić: Bit će još utemeljitelja HDZ-a koji će nam se pridružiti

Večernji list (also known as '; ) is a Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian daily newspaper published in Zagreb and Mostar. History and profile was started in Zagreb in 1959. Its predecessor ' ('Evening Courier') appeared for the first time on 3 June 1957 in ...

. 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2011-10-31 This was a result of call for unity of right-wing parties made by

Daniel Srb Daniel Srb (; born 23 November 1964) is a Croatian right-wing politician and president of the Croatian Party of Rights. Early life and education Srb was born in Osijek on 23 November 1964. He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering and Shipbu ...

, president of the Croatian Party of Rights. Vekić was the top candidate on this coalition's list in the 4th

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in the

2011 Croatian parliamentary election Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleve ...

.Garmaz, Željko
Vekić će sa Srbovim HSP-om koalirati u 4. izbornoj jedinici
24 sata. 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2011-10-31 The list won 4.69% of the vote and failed to enter parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vekic, Ivan 1938 births 2014 deaths People from Vrgorac Croatian army officers Politicians of the Croatian War of Independence Interior ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Order of Ante Starčević recipients Croatian Democratic Union politicians Croatian independence activists