Damir Krstičević (; born 1 July 1969) is a Croatian general and politician who served as the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

from 2016 until his resignation in May 2020, which he tendered due to the deaths of two Croatian military pilots in an aircraft accident.

Biography

Krstičević was born on July 1, 1969 in

Vrgorac Vrgorac (, it, Vergoraz) is a town in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. Demographics The total population of Vrgorac is 6,572 (census 2011), in the following settlements: * Banja, Split-Dalmatia County, Banja, population 202 * Dragljane, ...

, Split-Dalmatia County in SFR Yugoslavia. Since his childhood, he knew he wanted to be a soldier. He finished military high school in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

. Upon graduating from the Military Academy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia broke up. He joined the

Croatian National Guard The Croatian National Guard ( hr, Zbor narodne garde or ZNG) was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interio ...

in the summer of 1991. He was assigned to the 4th Guards Brigade where he eventually rose to the position of the brigade's commander. After the war, in 1997, he was sent to continue his education at

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military offic ...

, and finished with excellent grades. In 2000 he was one of the signatories of the Twelve Generals' Letter, which resulted in Krstičević's retiring by then Croatian president

Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the fir ...

. He then worked as a manager, ceo, procurator and member of the supervisory board in computer software developing companies M SAN and King ICT. In 2007, he survived a helicopter crash in

Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...

, which damaged his spine. After HDZ won the Croatian parliamentary elections in 2016, and

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...

became the new Croatian Prime Minister, Krstičević was assigned to the position of Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. In January 2018 he was inducted into the U.S. Army War College Hall of Fame. In 2018 he drew criticism for praising

Operation Medak Pocket Operation Medak Pocket ( sh, script=Latn, Operacija Medački džep, ) was a military operation undertaken by the Croatian Army between 9 – 17 September 1993, in which a salient reaching the south suburbs of Gospić, in the south-central Lika ...

saying it was 'something to be proud of' despite the fact that Serb civilians were unlawfully killed, in addition he faced heavy criticism for legitimizing the presence of convicted war criminal

Mirko Norac Mirko Norac (born 19 September 1967) is a former Croatian general of the Croatian Army (HV), and a convicted war criminal. He was the first Croatian Army general to be found guilty of war crimes by a Croatian court, in 2003, after his case was t ...

at an anniversary 'commemorating' the attack.

References

CV on the Ministry of Defence website
(accessed 12 December 2016) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kristicevic, Damir 1969 births Living people People from Vrgorac Croatian army officers Defence ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence United States Army War College alumni

Biography

See also

References