Nikola Špirić (, ; born 4 September 1956) 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 was the 7th

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina The chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian/ Croatian: ''Predsjedavajući Vijeća ministara Bosne i Hercegovine'', ) is the head of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The chairman of the Council of Ministe ...

from 11 January 2007 until 12 January 2012. He was also the Minister of Finance and Treasury and since 2019 has been a member of the national House of Peoples.

Early life and education

Born in

Drvar Drvar (, ) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 2013 census registered the municipality as having a population of 7,036. It is situated in western Bos ...

PR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

, at the time

FPR 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 Yu ...

, Špirić completed elementary education in his hometown, high school in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

and his undergraduate and postgraduate education at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the larges ...

. He holds a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in economics. His doctoral thesis was in

monetary Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

and

public finance Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achie ...

Early career

Špirić has been an

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

University of Banja Luka The University of Banja Luka ( sr, Универзитет у Бањој Луци, Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci, bs, Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci, hr, Sveučilište u Banjoj Luci, lat, Universitas Bania Lucensis) is the second-oldest university in Bosn ...

since 1992. He held a number of governmental positions including a 2-year term as a representative at the

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine, Парламентарна скупштина Босне и Херцеговине, separator=" / ") is the bicameral legislative ...

for

Milorad Dodik Milorad Dodik ( sr-cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since November 2022. Previously, he served as the 7th Serb member of the Presidency of Bo ...

's SNSD party. He was a member of the House of Peoples from 2001 until 2003 and a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 2002 until 2007.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers (2007–2012)

On 11 January 2007, Špirić became the new

, succeeding Adnan Terzić. On 1 November 2007, he tendered his resignation in protest of parliamentary reforms imposed by

High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held b ...

Miroslav Lajčák Miroslav Lajčák (born 20 March 1963) is a Slovak politician and diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. In addition, Lajčak also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd session fr ...

. Špirić felt that the reforms would reduce the influence of Bosnia's Serb population. The resignation was deemed by some to be the country's most serious crisis since the end of 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 ...

. After the crisis was resolved, he was renominated for the Chairman's post on 10 December 2007, confirmed by the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

on 27 December 2007 and by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

a day later, on 28 December. Špirić's government led Bosnia and Herzegovina's

economic recovery An economic recovery is the phase of the business cycle following a recession. The overall business outlook for an industry looks optimistic during the economic recovery phase. During the recovery period, the economy goes through a process of e ...

following the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

and the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

. On 26 May 2008, Špirić met with European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security

Jacques Barrot Jacques Barrot (3 February 1937 – 3 December 2014) was a French politician, who served as European Commissioner for Justice between 2008 and 2010, after having spent four years serving as Commissioner for Transport (2004–2008) and Commissi ...

, discussing about abolition of the European Union visa regime for Bosnian citizens. In September 2009, his government managed to succeed in its plans and Bosnia and Herzegovina met the conditions for visa waiver. In July 2009, Špirić's cabinet approved the ''Law Against Discrimination'', prohibiting discrimination based on sex, gender expression and sexual orientation, a law having to do with

LGBT rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina LGBT, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, ho ...

. Furthermore, the law forbids harassment and segregation on the basis of sexual orientation. Furthermore, the law forbids harassment and segregation on the basis of sexual orientation. On 12 January 2012, he was succeeded as Chairman of the Council of Ministers by

Vjekoslav Bevanda Vjekoslav Bevanda (; born 13 May 1956) is a Bosnian Croat politician who is the current Minister of Finance and Treasury. He is also the current Vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving alongside Bisera Turk ...

, following the 2010 general election and the one-year governmental formation crisis.

Later career

From January 2012 until March 2015, Špirić served as Minister of Finance and Treasury in the cabinet of Vjekoslav Bevanda.http://www.vijeceministara.gov.ba/pdf_doc/sazivi%20hrv%2018-5-2020.pdf In September 2018, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

put Špirić under sanctions (travel ban and asset freeze), with the justification that "Špirić engaged in and benefited from public corruption, including the acceptance of improper benefits in exchange for the performance of public functions and interference with public processes, during his tenure as a member of the

in Bosnia and Herzegovina." Špirić accused the U.S. Ambassador in Bosnia and Herzegovina to harm his chances of re-election. Since February 2019, Špirić has once again been a member of the House of Peoples. In September 2020, he was appointed member of the Parliamentary Committee for the selection and monitoring of the work of the Bosnian Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK). This raised criticism given that he remains under U.S. sanctions for corruption.

Personal life

Špirić is married and has two children. On 18 January 2021, he was admitted to hospital due to bilateral

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

References

External links

Nikola Špirić
at imovinapoliticara.cin.ba , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiric, Nikola 1956 births Living people People from Drvar University of Sarajevo alumni Academic staff of the University of Banja Luka Party of Democratic Progress politicians Alliance of Independent Social Democrats politicians Members of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina Chairmen of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina Members of the House of Representatives (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Chairmen of the House of Representatives (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Government ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Finance ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina