Mladen Grujičić (; born 13 April 1982) is a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

politician who is currently serving as the Mayor of

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being Salt mine, salt mining a ...

since 2016, a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of

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

, an entity of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He is a member of the

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika Srpska, with its leader, Milorad Dodik, serving as the current p ...

(SNSD).

Biography

Early life and career

Grujičić was born in 1982 in Srebrenica. He left the town during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

in which his father was killed fighting for the

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...

. After finishing his studies at the Faculty of Technology in

Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in Republika Srpska, on the left bank of the Drina river. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. The town of Mali Zvornik ("Little Zvornik") lies ...

which as a part of the

University of East Sarajevo The University of East Sarajevo ( sr, Универзитет у Источном Сарајеву, Univerzitet u Istočnom Sarajevu, abbr. UES) is a public university located in Lukavica, East Sarajevo, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A ...

, he started his business career, and after that he was a high school professor in the chemistry group of subjects at the High School Center in Srebrenica. For several years, he led the Municipal Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Fighters and Missing Civilians in Srebrenica, and he was named "Humanist of the Year" by the republic organization for 2010.

Political career

Grujičić is a longtime SNSD member and was a candidate for a member of local parliament in 2012. On 10 July 2016, Mladen Grujičić a joint candidate of all Serb parties in Srebrenica started his campaign for the Mayor of Srebrenica for the 2016 local elections. His candidacy for mayor was announced on April 14, when a meeting of the leaders of nine Serb political parties from Srebrenica was held. At that time, it was agreed to run in the elections with a joint candidate for mayor within the coalition "Together for Srebrenica". Grujičić defeated his rival Ćamil Duraković with 54.38% of the popular vote and took office as the new mayor of Srebrenica on 8 November 2016. This was the first time in 17 years that a Serb candidate won the elections.

Srebrenica genocide controversy

Grujičić has been called a

Serbian nationalist Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, und ...

and

Srebrenica genocide The Srebrenica massacre ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Masakr u Srebrenici, Масакр у Сребреници), also known as the Srebrenica genocide ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Genocid u Srebrenici, Геноцид у Сребрен ...

denier by the

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

public and his opponents. Talking about the Srebrenica massacre, Grujičić himself said this during the campaign:

References

1982 births Living people People from Srebrenica Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Deniers of the Bosnian genocide Mayors of places in Bosnia and Herzegovina Alliance of Independent Social Democrats politicians {{DEFAULTSORT:Grujicic, Mladen