Dragan Velić (born November 18, 1958) is a

Kosovo Serb Kosovo Serbs are one of the ethnic groups of Kosovo. There are around 100,000 Kosovo Serbs as of 2014 and about half of them live in North Kosovo. Other Serb communities live in southern Kosovo. After Albanians, they form the largest ethnic com ...

politician, currently serving as president of the Union of Serbian Districts and District Units of Kosovo and Metohija, which currently is in dispute with unilaterally declared the

Republic of 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 international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

over the status of

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 ...

. Velić was the Prefect of the Kosovo District, of the

Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija ( sr, Косово и Метохиja, Kosovo i Metohija; sq, Kosova dhe Metohija), commonly known as Kosovo and abbreviated to Kosmet or KiM, is an autonomous province defined by the constituti ...

, from December 6, 2001, to September 28, 2004.

Early years

Velić was born on November 18, 1958, in Sušica, in the municipality of Pristina,

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, Construction Department, in 1982 in Priština. He finished his studies at the Faculty of Law.

Career

He was the Technical Director and then Acting Director General of ''Binačka Morava Gnjilane'' from 1988 to 1991, and Secretary of Urban Planning and Construction of the City Assembly of Pristina from 1992 to 1997. In December 1999, he was a Sofia workshop participant, representing the Serb National Council, at the Sofia Declaration. From December 6, 2001, to September 28, 2004, he was head of the Kosovo district; he was also chairman of the executive board of the Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija (SNC) from 2002 to 2006. Velić was a 2003 Member of the

European Centre for Minority Issues The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) is a research institute based in Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt ...

' Standing Technical Working Group. He has participated in numerous projects, and one of the most important is the project on decentralization in Kosovo. Along with Randel Nojkic, Velic was sent as an observer in the

Kosovo Transitional Council The Kosovo Transitional Council, ( sq, Këshilli Tranzitor i Kosovës, sr, Прелазни савет Косово, Prelazni savet Kosovo), was an advisory body that existed in Kosovo between July 1999 and November 2001 during the period that th ...

. He is the president of the Union of Serbian Districts and District Units of Kosovo and Metohija of

North Kosovo North Kosovo ( sr, Северно Косово, Severno Kosovo; sq, Kosova Veriore), also known as the Ibar Kolašin ( sr, Ибарски Колашин, Ibarski Kolašin; sq, Koloshini i Ibrit or ''Kollashini i Ibrit''; earlier ''Old Kolašin ...

, and the Coordinator of the Serbian Government Commission for Refugees, in charge of Kosovo. The unions are not recognised by Kosovo authorities, or by

UNMIK The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...

Personal life

He resides in Novi Badovac in the municipality of Priština and is married with three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velic, Dragan 1958 births Living people Politicians from Pristina