Miroslav Lazanski ( sr, Мирослав Лазански; 18 September 1950 – 3 August 2021) was а Serbian journalist, military analyst, politician, and a diplomat who served as ambassador of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

to the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Previous to his appointment, Lazanski was a Member of parliament. He wrote on political and military matters and was a correspondent and commentator for the Belgrade daily ''

Politika ''Politika'' ( sr-Cyrl, Политика; ''Politics'') is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and owners ...

''. He was a member of the

National Assembly of Serbia 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 a ...

from 2016 to 2019 as member of the governing coalition led by the

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска напредна странка, Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) has been the ruling political party of Serbia since 2012. Founded by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić in 2008 as a s ...

Early life

Born to a Karlovac-stationed

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

(JNA) officer father of Slovene ethnicity with Polish origin Vladimir Lazanski (1919-2005) and a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

mother Velinka Živković, Lazanski's paternal grandfather Mihael Lazanski (1896-1942) and uncle Miroslav "Mirko" Lazanski (1921-1942) were imprisoned and killed in the Ustashe-run

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration and extermination camp established in the village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The concentration camp, one of the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. During the war, his father—at the time a

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs, ...

officer—was held at

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

. His father's best friend was Zoran Konstantinović (1920–2007). Young Lazanski began his primary education in the town of his birth, attending the Dragojla Jarnević Elementary School and completing five grades. Following Karlovac, his father's job took the family to

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of Trebišnjica river in the r ...

where Lazanski completed final three grades of primary school before enrolling at the Jovan Dučić Gymnasium. Upon graduating from the gymnasium, he enrolled at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

's Faculty of Law and graduated. His mandatory JNA military service stint took place in Bitola in 1977, in the JNA's 41st infantry division.

Journalist career

''Vjesnik'', ''Danas'', and ''Start''

Lazanski's first jobs in journalism were for the

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

-based ''

Vjesnik ''Vjesnik'' () was a Croatian state-owned daily newspaper published in Zagreb which ceased publication in April 2012. Originally established in 1940 as a wartime illegal publication of the Communist Party of Croatia, it later built and maintaine ...

'' daily newspaper as well as ' and ' weekly news magazines. He reported from the scene of armed conflicts such as the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, and

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. Furthermore, he managed to obtain access to some of the leading global military figures of the period on both sides of the Cold War, including

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Bernard W. Rogers in October 1982 (who at the time performed the role of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

) as well as

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

Sergey Akhromeyev Sergey Fyodorovich Akhromeyev (russian: Серге́й Фёдорович Ахроме́ев; May 5, 1923 – August 24, 1991) was a Soviet military figure, Hero of the Soviet Union (1982) and Marshal of the Soviet Union (1983). When he was ...

in December 1982 who was about to become a Marshal. Other figures Lazanski interviewed included John Galvin,

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

commander-in-chief

Viktor Kulikov Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov (russian: Виктор Георгиевич Куликов; 5 July 1921 – 28 May 2013) was the Warsaw Pact commander-in-chief from 1977 to 1989. He was awarded the rank of the Marshal of the Soviet Union on 14 Jan ...

in 1986, Soviet Minister of Defense

Dmitry Yazov Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov (russian: Дми́трий Тимофе́евич Я́зов; 8 November 1924 – 25 February 2020) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Yazov served as Minister of Defence from 1987 ...

in 1988, Soviet Navy commander-in-chief admiral

Vladimir Chernavin Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin (russian: Владимир Николаевич Чернавин; born 22 April 1928) is a former officer of the Soviet Navy. He served as the last Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy from 1985 to 1991 and the o ...

, KGB chief general

Vladimir Kryuchkov Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Крючко́в, link=no; 29 February 1924 – 23 November 2007) was a Soviet lawyer, diplomat, and head of the KGB, member of the Politburo of the ...

, Igor Radionov, Bennie L. Davis, Paul Sper,

Crosbie E. Saint Crosbie Edgerton Saint (September 29, 1936 – May 7, 2018) was a United States Army four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, United States Army Europe/Commander, Central Army Group from 1988 to 1992. Military career Saint was born a ...

Huntington Hardisty Huntington Hardisty (February 3, 1929 – October 1, 2003) was a United States Navy four star admiral who served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) from 1987 to 1988; and Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Command (USCINCPAC) from 1988 ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

John Woodward John Woodward or ''variant'', may refer to: Sports * John Woodward (English footballer) (born 1947), former footballer * John Woodward (Scottish footballer) (born 1949), former footballer * Johnny Woodward (1924–2002), English footballer * Jo ...

, James Alan Abrahamson,

Johan Jørgen Holst Johan Jørgen Holst (29 November 1937 – 13 January 1994) was a Norwegian politician representing Labour, best known for his involvement with the Oslo Accords. Holst was Minister of Defence from 1987 to 1989 and from 1990 to April 1993. He ...

, Ferenc Kárpáti,

Vasile Milea Vasile Milea (1 January 1927 – 22 December 1989) was a Romanian politician and military general who was Nicolae Ceaușescu's Minister of Defence during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 and was involved in the reprisal phase of the Revolution ...

Dobri Dzhurov Dobri Marinov Dzhurov ( Bulgarian: Добри Маринов Джуров; 5 January 1916 – 17 June 2002) was a Bulgarian politician and military leader. He was the last Defense Minister of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1962 to 1990. ...

, Afghani minister of defense

Shahnawaz Tanai Lieutenant General Shahnawaz Tanai ( Russian: Шахнаваз Танай, 1950 – 7 March 2022) was an Afghan politician and general officer who served as the Chief of General Staff of the Afghan National Army until his defection to neighbo ...

, Maher Abdul Rashid, Helmut Willmann, Guido Venturoni,

Joe Modise Johannes "Joe" Modise (23 May 1929 – 26 November 2001) was a South African political figure. He helped to found Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress, and was its longest serving Commander in Chief, deputis ...

Georg Meiring General Georg Meiring (born 18 October 1939) is a South African military commander. He served as Chief of the Army (1990–93) and Chief of the South African National Defence Force (1993–98). Military career After obtaining a Master of Sci ...

, etc. While writing for different Balkan publications, Lazanski's articles were also published in the Greek newspaper '' Kathimerini'' and the Japanese newspapers ''Diamond Weekly'' and ''Securitarian''. Speaking in September 2014 about his methods of access to military officials on both sides of the Cold War, Lazanski said:

''Politika''

In February 1991, Lazanski took an offer from ''

'' to become their commentator and moved to Belgrade. He remained at the job until fall 1995. He reported from the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

(including the

Ten-Day War The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...

, Croatian War, Bosnian War and

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...

) as well as the First Chechen War,

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

, and Crimea Crisis.
Crimea Report on Politika Newspaper website In 2016, Lazanski interviewed commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces, Bashar al-Assad. He was the only foreign reporter in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

during the 2018 February

military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the la ...

held in honor of

Military Foundation Day Military Foundation Day( ko, 조선인민군 창건일) is an annual public holiday in North Korea falling on 25 April. Background North Korean historiography has two competing dates for the founding of the modern Korean People's Army (KPA): ...

. He has also authored several books.

Views

Regarding NATO exercises in the Baltic, Lazanski believed it to be part of an "anti-Russian hysteria" in the creation in the West, and that claims that Russia holds aggressive military plans for the Baltic, and at the same time NATO does not have these for Eastern Europe, is false.

Television

Lazanski was interviewed in

Boris Malagurski Boris Malagurski ( sr-Cyrl, Борис Малагурски; born 11 August 1988) is a Serbian-Canadian film director, producer, writer, political commentator, television host, and activist.

's documentary film ''

The Weight of Chains 2 ''The Weight of Chains 2'' is a 2014 Canadian-SerbianThe Weight of Cha ...

'' (2014). He has guested on

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

's ''Upitnik'', ''Oko'', ''Srbija na vezi'', ''Tako stoji stvari'', ''TV lica'',

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 informati ...

's ''Kažiprst'',

RTRS Radio Television of Republika Srpska (Serbian: ''Радио Телевизија Републике Српске'' / Radio Televizija Republike Srpske or RTRS) is the entity-level public broadcaster which operates radio and television services i ...

's ''Terorizam, svijet u strahu!'',

RTV Pink Pink is a privately owned, national radio station and TV channel in Serbia. Pink is the leading commercial station in the Serbian television broadcast market. Pink's parent company is the Belgrade-based Pink International Company Pink Interna ...

's ''Jutarnji program'', ''Dobro Jutro'', ''Emisija Pravac'', ''Teška reč'', and HRT's ''Otvoreno''. He was a frequent guest on TV Happy's popular show ''Ćirilica'' ("Cyrillic") hosted by Milomir Marić. Lazanski was the host of ''Lazanski direktno'' on

. He has authored two documentary films, ''Rat za Kosovo'' (''War for Kosovo'' ) and ''Komandosi'' (''Commandoes''), and fronted several more.

Politics

On 4 March 2016, it was confirmed that he was a member of the electoral list of ministers to the

as member of a group of independents in the coalition led by

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012. Vučić serve ...

and the

. Lazanski became a member of the Board on Defense and Internal Affairs, as chosen by the National Assembly by 22 June 2016. He resigned from the assembly on 25 September 2019 after being appointed Serbia's ambassador to Russia.

Personal life

Lazanski is related to former president of

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is locat ...

Biljana Plavšić Biljana Plavšić ( sr-Cyrl, Биљана Плавшић; born 7 July 1930) is a former Bosnian Serb politician and university professor who served as President of Republika Srpska and was later convicted of crimes against humanity for her role ...

, his maternal grandmother and Plavšić's father being siblings (Lazanski's mother and Plavšić are cousins). Lazanski's spouse was from Belgrade and they had a son.

Death

On 3 August 2021, Lazanski died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in his home in Belgrade at the age of 70.

Honours

: Medal for Military Merits (1977) * BIH Order of Honor with silver rays ribbon

: Order of Honor (2018)

Work

;Books * ''Jutarnja patrola'' orning Patrol(1999) * ''Uvek postoji sutra'' here is Always Tomorrow(2000) * ''Bin Laden protiv Amerike'' in Laden Against America(2001) * ''Istina o Srpskoj'' ruth about Srpska(2001) * ''Komandosi'' ommandos(2002) * ''Borbeni avioni'' ighter Planes(2002) * ''Hitler je pobedio'' itler Won(2003) * ''Vreme izdaje'' ime of Betrayal(2008) ;Films * ''Jugoslovenska narodna armija'' ugoslav People's Army documentary * ''Rat za Kosmet/Rat za Kosovo'' ar for Kosovo documentary * ''Komandosi'' ommandos documentary * ''Titova soba tajni'' ito's Secret Room(2014), documentary, director * ''Dnevnik iz Sirije'' iary from Syria(2015), documentary

References

External links

* (personal homepage) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazanski, Miroslav 1950 births 2021 deaths People from Karlovac Serbs of Croatia Serbian journalists Serbian war correspondents Yugoslav journalists War correspondents of the Yugoslav Wars Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni Serbian people of Slovenian descent Serbian people of Polish descent Political journalists Ambassadors of Serbia to Russia Members of the National Assembly (Serbia)