Ante Kotromanović (; born 8 May 1968) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n politician and army officer who served as the Minister of Defence of Croatia from December 2011 until January 2016.

Biography

Kotromanović was born in Potravlje near

Hrvace Hrvace is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. Demographics In the 2011 census, it had a total population of 3,617, in the following naselja, settlements: * Dabar, Split-Dalmatia County, Dabar, population 22 * D ...

. He graduated from the Command and Staff Academy "Blago Zadro" and War College "Ban Josip Jelačić". In 1990, he became a member of the special forces of the Croatian police. A year later, in 1991, he became commander of a special forces

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

, in the headquarters of the

Croatian Army The Croatian Army ( or HKoV) is the land force branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It is numerically the largest of the three branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. The HKoV is the main force for the defense of the country against external threa ...

. In 1992, he was named the commander of a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

in a teaching center in Sinj. From 1993 to 1996, he was the commander of the 126th Sinj Brigade and Sinj Operational Zone. From 1996 to 19 October 1999, he also commanded the 4th Guards Brigade. After that, he attended the War College "Ban Josip Jelačić", and in 2001, was named commander of the

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

Divisional District. He retired from army service in 2002. From 11 January 2008 to 22 December 2011, he was a member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

, after which he became Minister of Defence under

Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatia, Croatian politician and the incumbent president of Croatia. First elected in 2020, he was re-elected in 2025 with 74% voter support. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was the prime min ...

Decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotromanovic, Ante 1968 births Living people Defence ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Croatian army officers Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence Order of Duke Domagoj recipients Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski recipients