Borko Stefanović
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Borko Stefanović (born 5 February 1974, born as Borislav Stefanović) is a Serbian
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...
who was the leader of the Levica Srbije
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
. Prior to founding Levica Srbije, he was active in the Democratic Party in Serbia, with whom he engaged in a high-profile split in the summer of 2015. He was one of Serbia's representatives during the Belgrade-Pristina negotiations. He was the political director of
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...
and former chief of staff for Serbian
Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
Vuk Jeremić Vuk Jeremić ( sr-cyr, Вук Јеремић, ; born 3 July 1975) is a Serbian politician and diplomat who served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from 2012 to 2013 and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia from 200 ...
.


Early life

Stefanović was born in
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...
,
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
,
SFR 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 ...
in 1974. He graduated from high school in
Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ; hu, Karlóca; tr, Karlofça) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danu ...
before enrolling in the
University of Novi Sad Faculty of Law The University of Novi Sad Faculty of Law ( sr, Правни факултет Универзитета у Новом Саду, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Novom Sadu), also known as the Novi Sad Law School, is a constituent body of the Universit ...
, where he graduated in 1999. Stefanović played
bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
in a punk rock band called 'Generacija bez budućnosti' (Generation without a Future), which last performed in 2011.


Political career

Stefanović first became politically involved in 1999, when he joined the Citizens' Alliance (known in Serbian as GSS, the acronym for ''Građanski savez Srbije''), an anti-nationalist party. He left the party in 2001, after which he had no party affiliation for two years.


Democratic Party (2003-2015)

After the
assassination of Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić, the sixth Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, was assassinated on Wednesday 12 March 2003, in Belgrade, Serbia. Đinđić was fatally shot by a sniper while exiting his vehicle outside of the back entrance of the Serbia ...
, Stefanović joined the Democratic Party in Serbia. In an interview with ''
Novi Plamen ''Novi Plamen'' ( en, New Flame) was a left-wing journal for political, social and cultural issues primarily aimed at intellectual audiences in the former Yugoslavia and the related diaspora. It was a leading publication of its kind in the region, ...
'', Stefanović referred to Đinđić's assassination when discussing on his entry into the Democratic Party, describing it as "my personal response to an uncivilized act." In 2008, Stefanović was the chief negotiator of the sale of Naftna Industrija Srbije to
Gazprom Neft Gazprom Neft (russian: Газпром Нефть; formerly Sibneft, russian: Сибнефть, link=no), is the third largest oil producer in Russia and ranked third according to refining throughput. It is a subsidiary of Gazprom, which owns about ...
. The sale did not involve a public tender, since other enterprises were not offered a chance to bid. The conditions to which Stefanović negotiated were criticized in the local media, as the price at which NIS was sold at approximately one fifth of its market value at the time. One of the most influential conditions of the sale was that the
South Stream South Stream (russian: Южный поток, Yuzhnyy potok; bg, Южен поток, Yuzhen potok; sr, / ; sl, Južni tok; hu, Déli Áramlat; it, Flusso Meridionale) was a canceled pipeline project to transport natural gas of the Russia ...
would run through Serbia, even though for Gazprom there was greater logistical convenience to bypass Serbia. The South Stream project was cancelled after the annexation of Crimea by Russia, which resulted in sanctions on Russian politicians and enterprises. In 2014, the Serbian government began an investigation on the privatization of NIS. In December 2010, Stefanović was appointed by president
Boris Tadić Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psycholo ...
as Serbia's representative for the Belgrade-Pristina negotiations. In July 2011, '' Blic'' reported that Serbia's Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vuk Jeremić Vuk Jeremić ( sr-cyr, Вук Јеремић, ; born 3 July 1975) is a Serbian politician and diplomat who served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from 2012 to 2013 and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia from 200 ...
attempted to replace Stefanović in his position in the Belgrade-Pristina talks. Jeremić sought to completely remove the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of having any participation in the talks, allegedly saying that his Ministry and the negotiations "have contradicting goals". However, according to ''Blics sources,
Boris Tadić Boris Tadić ( sr-cyr, Борис Тадић, ; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psycholo ...
did not approve Jeremić's removal of Stefanović from Serbia's negotiation team on Kosovo. On top of the allegations of Jeremić's attempt to remove Stefanović from the Kosovo talks, Stefanović was Jeremić's
best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...
at his wedding. In September 2011, Jeremić replaced Stefanović as chief of staff of the MSP with Serbia's former ambassador to Slovakia, Danko Prokić.


Split from the Democratic Party

From 2015, Stefanović became engaged in a political rift with the Democratic Party. In a manifesto outlining several long-term goals, Stefanović argued for the creation of a "Confederation of the West Balkans", which would unite Serbia with other states in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, after which foreign debts of the united countries would be frozen for five years. He added, "I am not for any nationalization and I am for integration into the European Union, but I sympathetically see some parts of the program of the Greek Syriza." Stefanović argued against austerity, and was especially critical of pension and salary reductions for middle class citizens. He said that "the Democratic Party must make a drastic departure from our people who led wrongful policies, which like the current government were crazy about neoliberalism, but essentially were only moved to their personal gains." On December 10, 2015, Stefanović resigned from the Democratic Party. He said that the "last straw" was when the Democratic Party nominated Bojan Dimitrijević, who sought the rehabilitation of
Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the R ...
, as a candidate in a local election in
Čukarica Čukarica ( sr-cyr, Чукарица, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. Name Like several other neighborhoods of Belgrade, Čukarica was named after kafana. At the present location of the Sugar Refinery, there was a kafana in the seco ...
.


Levica Srbije (Serbian Left)

Later in December 2015, Stefanović founded his own party, Levica Srbije (Serbian Left). While founding the new party, he initially collaborated with Jovo Bakić, who wrote most of the party's original ideological profile. However, Bakić quickly left the project after disagreements with Stefanović on the party's strategy and politics. Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, a political science professor at the
University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...
, commented on the Bakić-Stefanović split, claiming that "Borko Stefanović wants a party more like the
Democratic Party in the United States The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero Andre ...
, rather than like one of the leftist parties in Europe." In the
2016 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 24 April 2016. Initially, the election were originally due to be held by March 2018, but on 17 January 2016 Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić called for a snap election claiming Serbia "needs four m ...
, Levica Srbije recorded their debut election with 0.95% of the vote. On November 23, 2018, Stefanović was injured from a physical assault while talking to an audience in
Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, t ...
. He blamed the assault on incumbent president
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 ...
, who Stefanović accused of creating a "gruesome atmosphere" for opposition politicians.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanovic, Borko 1974 births Living people Politicians from Novi Sad Serbian diplomats University of Novi Sad alumni Democratic Party (Serbia) politicians Party of Freedom and Justice politicians Kosovo–Serbia relations Members of the National Assembly (Serbia)