Željka Cvijanović (; sr-cyr, Жељка Цвијановић, ; born 2 August 1967) 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 the

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

and current

President of Republika Srpska The president of Republika Srpska ( sh, Предсједник Републике Српске/Predsjednik Republike Srpske, ) is the highest executive authority in Republika Srpska, an entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of the execut ...

. She was the 11th Prime Minister of Republika Srpska from 12 March 2013 until 19 November 2018. On 7 October 2018, she was elected to be President of Republika Srpska, assuming office on 19 November 2018. Cvijanović 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).

Early life and education

Born Željka Grabovac in

Teslić Teslić ( sr-cyrl, Теслић) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the central part of the Republika Srpska, on the banks of Usora River. As of 2013, the town has a popul ...

in central Bosnia in 1967. Before going into full-time politics, Cvijanović was an English teacher. She studied at the Faculty of Philosophy 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 ...

, the Faculty of Philosophy in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

and the Faculty of Law in Banja Luka. She is a professor of English language and literature and also holds a master's degree in diplomatic and consular law from The Banja Luka Law School on "The International and legal status of the EU".

Career

Cvijanović worked as a teacher of English and as a senior interpreter and assistant for the

EU Monitoring Mission The European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia) is an unarmed peacekeeping mission operated by the European Union in Georgia. EUMM was conceived in September 2008 following the EU-mediated ceasefire agreement, which ended the Rus ...

in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then she was an advisor for European Integration and cooperation with international organizations to the

Prime Minister of Republika Srpska This article lists the prime ministers of Republika Srpska, the head of the Government of Republika Srpska. The prime minister is nominated by the President of Republika Srpska, and appointed by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. Rado ...

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 ...

; as Chief of Cabinet Affairs of the Prime Minister; and managed the Unit for coordination and European integration. In the 2010–2014 parliamentary term she was an expert-external member of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the

National Assembly of Republika Srpska The National Assembly of Republika Srpska (, abbr. НСРС/NSRS) is the legislative body of Republika Srpska, one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current assembly is the ninth since the founding of the entity. History The Natio ...

. On 29 December 2010, she was appointed to the position of Minister of Economic Affairs and Regional Cooperation in the RS Government led by Prime Minister

Aleksandar Džombić Aleksandar Džombić (born 15 April 1968) is a Bosnian Serb politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Republika Srpska from 29 December 2010 until 12 March 2013. He has also served as Minister of Finance of Republika Srpska from 30 Nov ...

, and on 12 March 2013 she was appointed by Dodik, this time as

, as the new Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, being the first woman in that position. At the

2014 Bosnian general election General elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 12 October 2014. They decided the makeup of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidency as well as national, entity, and cantonal governments. Voter turnout was 54.4%. The elections for the House ...

, Cvijanović stood as a candidate of the incumbent coalition SNSD-

DNS The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to ...

- SP for the Serb member of the

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, separator=" / ", Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of ...

. She lost against the opposition candidate

Mladen Ivanić Mladen Ivanić ( sr-cyr, Младен Иванић, ; born 16 September 1958) is a Bosnian Serb politician who served as the 6th Serb Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 17 November 2014 until 20 November 2018. He is the found ...

( PDP) and was reappointed to the RS Prime Minister office in the 15th Government of Republika Srpska. At the 2018 general election, Cvijanović was elected

, assuming office on 19 November 2018. She is an SNSD member, also a member of the SNSD Executive Board, and of the SNSD Main Board.

Personal life

Željka is married to Aleksandar Cvijanović, and together they have two sons. She is of paternal

and maternal

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs of Bosnia and H ...

descent. On 2 April 2021, Cvijanović received her first dose of the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

, amid its pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

References

External links

Željka Cvijanović
at imovinapoliticara.cin.ba {{DEFAULTSORT:Cvijanovic, Zeljka 1967 births Living people People from Teslić Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Croatian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Serbian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina women in politics Politicians of Republika Srpska 21st-century women politicians Alliance of Independent Social Democrats politicians Prime ministers of Republika Srpska Women prime ministers Women presidents