Zlatko Kramarić (born 5 February 1956
) is a
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
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, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
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, capit ...
n
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
politician from
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
.
Kramarić was born in Osijek and graduated in philology (Macedonian literature) at the
. Later he obtained a master's degree and a doctorate from the same faculty.
He entered Croatian politics in 1990, during the first free democratic elections when he was candidate of non-partisan "Osijek List" ( hr, Lista za Osijek) for Osijek local assembly. With the backing of
Croatian Democratic Union
The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...
(HDZ), he became the first non-Communist mayor of
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
after 1945.
A year later, Osijek became a battleground in the conflict between Croatian government and local
Serbs
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 ...
, backed by
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 a ...
. During those events Kramarić had little power and city became under full control of local HDZ strongman
Branimir Glavaš Branimir Glavaš (born 23 September 1956 in Osijek) is a Croatian former major general and Right-wing politics, right-wing politician. He was one of the founders of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party which was in power in the 1990s and one of ...
. But Kramarić, with his boyish looks, calm demeanour and a great sense of humour managed to use media spotlight in order to become one of the most charismatic and popular public figures in Croatia. Soon after the hostilities ended, Kramarić described his experience in a book of memoirs. Some of more colourful passages, especially those describing the role of local HDZ officials in the opening stages of conflict, brought him great enmity from government and even public threats against his life.
By that time, Kramarić had joined
Croatian Social Liberal Party
The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( hr, Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS was formed in 1989 as the first Croatian political party formed after the reintroduction of mult ...
(HSLS) and quickly became one of its high-ranking-members. In 1993, HSLS easily won the election for Osijek City Council and Kramarić was elected mayor. Under his rule, Osijek became one of few liberal strongholds of Croatia.
In 1997, after a split in HSLS, Kramarić followed
Vladimir Gotovac and joined newly formed
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
(LS). In most of Croatia, HSLS quickly got the upper hand over its former dissidents, but not in Osijek, where LS was much stronger than HSLS.
In the
2000 Croatian parliamentary election, Kramarić was elected to the Croatian Parliament on a joint electoral list of LS,
HSS and
HNS.
In the
2003 Croatian parliamentary election, Kramarić was reelected to Parliament, on a joint electoral list of LS,
SDP and
LIBRA
Libra generally refers to:
* Libra (constellation), a constellation
* Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation
Libra may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo
Musi ...
.
In 2004 Kramarić opposed the merger of LS into
Croatian People's Party
Croatian may refer to:
*Croatia
*Croatian language
*Croatian people
*Croatians (demonym)
See also
*
*
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* Se ...
. Because of that he orchestrated the removal of LS leader
Ivo Banac
Ivo Banac (; 1 March 1947 – 30 June 2020) was a Croatian-American historian, a professor of European history at Yale University and a politician of the former Liberal Party in Croatia, known as the Great Bard of Croatian historiography. , Banac ...
, who was replaced by Kramarić's long-time associate
Zlatko Benašić.
In the spring of 2005, Glavaš embraced
regionalism and left HDZ, taking few of Sabor representatives with him and making government majority of
Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader (born 8 June 1953) is a former Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009.
He is to date the second longest-serving prime minister since independence, holding the office for over five and a half yea ...
precariously thin. Kramarić immediately volunteered to help Sanader extinguish this threat and offered LS support in Parliament. This didn't reflect very well on local electorate, which abandoned LS in May 2005 local elections. In June 2005 Kramarić's attempts to create broad anti-Glavaš coalition failed when Glavaš sided with
Croatian Party of Rights
The Croatian Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist political party in Croatia. The "right(s)" in the party's name refer to the legal and moral reasons that justify the independence and autonom ...
. Glavaš supporters took
Osijek-Baranja County
Osijek-Baranja County (, hr, Osječko-baranjska županija, hu, Eszék-Baranya megye) is a county in Croatia, located in northeastern Slavonia and Baranja. Its center is Osijek. Other towns include Đakovo, Našice, Valpovo, Belišće, and B ...
while
Anto Đapić became mayor of Osijek, thus replacing one of the longest-serving elected officials in recent history of Croatia.
In 2005, Kramarić started merger negotiations with the
Croatian Social Liberal Party
The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( hr, Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS was formed in 1989 as the first Croatian political party formed after the reintroduction of mult ...
, and the Liberal Party re-joined HSLS in early 2006. He became the leader of the HSLS parliamentary club. He was not reelected in the
2007 Croatian parliamentary election.
In December 2008, Kramarić became the first ambassador of Croatia to
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
. One of his columns published in a local newspaper in 2010 caused a minor incident with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2011 to 2015 he was the Croatian ambassador to the
Republic of Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
.
In 2019, Kramarić was bestowed the
Zvane Črnja Award for his book ''Sat hrvatskog, re:vizija prošlih sjećanja.''.
Kramarić is married and a father of one.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kramaric, Zlatko
1956 births
Living people
Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament
Mayors of Osijek
Croatian Social Liberal Party politicians
Liberal Party (Croatia) politicians
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni
Ambassadors of Croatia to Kosovo
Ambassadors of Croatia to North Macedonia