Vojislav Stanimirović ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Станимировић; born 19 August 1953 in

Tovarnik Tovarnik (, sr-Cyrl, Товарник, hu, Felsőtárnok, german: Sankt Georg, la, Ulmo) is a municipality in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in Croatia next to the border with Serbia with the town of Šid and the village of Ilinci on the other sid ...

) is a

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croa ...

politician as well as former founder and president of the

Independent Democratic Serb Party The Independent Democratic Serb Party ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Самостална демократска српска странка, Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka, SDSS) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia representing the intere ...

. During his political career he held various functions both in Croatian and self-proclaimed

Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...

institutions and political organizations. He was elected member of Croatian Parliament (

Sabor The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabo ...

) in 2011–2015 period, president of the Idependent Democratic Serb Party 1997–2017, 2^nd Chairmen of the transitional Serb Executive Council (Government) of the

Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia may refer to: * SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1991–1992) * Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1995–98) See also * United Nations Transitional Administration for Easte ...

(abbreviated as Eastern Slavonia) 1996–1997 and minister without portfolio in the last Cabinet of

Milan Babić Milan Babić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Бабић; 25 February 1956 – 5 March 2006) was a Croatian Serb politician and war criminal who served as the first president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, a self-proclaimed state largely populated by ...

of the Government of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Over the years Stanimirović's political positions evolved from that of

hawkish In politics, a war hawk, or simply hawk, is someone who favors war or continuing to escalate an existing conflict as opposed to other solutions. War hawks are the opposite of doves. The terms are derived by analogy with the birds of the same name ...

Serbian Radical supporter of unification of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is locat ...

before

Operation Storm }) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state Re ...

and prominent critic of more conciliatory and

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...

aligned local authorities in Eastern Slavonia, to the main proponent of moderation and compromise after the initiation of the

UNTAES The United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was a UN peacebuilding transitional administration in the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia in the eastern parts of Croatia ...

mission in the region in which he was more willing to compromise than his former opponents. With this transformation Stanimirović became one of the most prominent post-war Serb political representatives in Croatia.

Biography

Stanimirović was born in

near

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 ...

. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...

. During the 1991 Battle of Vukovar, Stanimirović was a reserve officer who led the medical corps of the

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 ar ...

. In 1992 the Yugoslav army named him director of the Vukovar Hospital and in 1993 he became a politician. Stanimirović served as mayor of

during the time when this town was under Serbian occupation. In his 1993 article in a local newspaper "Vojska Krajine", the Vukovar Hospital was described as "the last

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Move ...

fort". Because of the related

Ovčara massacre The Vukovar massacre, also known as the Vukovar hospital massacre or the Ovčara massacre, was the killing of Croatian prisoners of war and civilians by Serb paramilitaries, to whom they had been turned over by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) ...

, the statement was met with outrage in Croatian media when it was published in the runup to the

2003 Croatian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections to elect all 151 members of the Croatian Parliament were held on 23 November 2003. They were the fifth parliamentary elections to take place since the first multi-party elections in 1990. Voter turnout was 61.7%. The result ...

. Stanimirović said this claim had been edited into his article. In 1995, Stanimirović was decorated with Order for Special Merits in Podunavlje by the former president of

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tr ...

in Banja Luka. He served as member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sab ...

from 22 December 2003 until 11 January 2008. He was also elected in the

2007 Croatian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 25 November 2007 and for overseas voters on 24 and 25 November.1953 births People from Tovarnik Serbs of Croatia Independent Democratic Serb Party politicians Living people University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine alumni Officers of the Yugoslav People's Army Mayors of Vukovar