Boris Mikšić (born 11 October 1948 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

) is a Croatian businessman and politician. Mikšić was born in

, then part of

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 ...

. He graduated from the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in 1973. He then emigrated to the United States of America, settling in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

where he gradually began his business, Cortec Corporation. Over the years he became one of the wealthiest Croatian Americans. He first ventured into the Croatian politics as an independent candidate in the 2003 parliamentary elections. In 2005, he ran as an independent candidate in the Croatian presidential election. His campaign was partially based on his autobiography ''Američki san dečka s Trešnjevke'' (American dream of a kid from

Trešnjevka Trešnjevka is a neighborhood of Zagreb, Croatia. Forming one of the city's inner neighborhoods, it is located in the city's southwestern area. At approximately 15.67 km² in area and a population of slightly over 121,000, it is one of the mo ...

) that he had published in 1994 - creating image of a simple Zagreb youth, who fulfilled the American Dream. It was also based on his opposition to the

ICTY The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribuna ...

and

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...

views. His success story along with his self-funded American-style campaign brought a new perspective to many voters. On 2 January, to the surprise of many, first election projections showed him as winning 2nd place, knocking the government's candidate Jadranka Kosor out of the race. Immediately, many commentators began to interpret his success as a protest vote against the Croatian political establishment, engulfed in corruption and being notoriously inefficient. As if Mikšić, already wealthy has been seen by voters as more decent and less corruptible candidate. Few hours later, new projections, based on the votes cast by Croatian citizens in neighboring

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

, brought Jadranka Kosor to the 2nd place. Mikšić was surprised as was the most of Croatian public. At first he refused to accept results and blamed the failure on alleged vote fraud, and "dead people voting". He called supporters to demonstrate on streets over the alleged fraud, inspired by the, at the time current,

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

in Ukraine. He later called off planned demonstrations, citing his respect for the law and wanting to prevent incident and possible casualties brought on by the protest. Following the presidential elections, Mikšić continued to challenge the results, bringing allegations of voter fraud. He requested vote recounts from Croatia's Constitutional Court stating that many deceased people were not only registered to vote but also cast votes in the election; a problem that the Croatian government has faced multiple times. He continued to pursue Croatian politics, announcing his candidacy in local elections, including those for Zagreb City Assembly. Mikšić's campaigning appeared to have effect within the 2005 local elections. His slate did enter the Zagreb City Assembly, but with only three seats, which was fewer than he expected. Mikšić entered into the Croatian presidential election, 2009–2010, but was eliminated in the first round with 2.1% of the vote.

References

External links

Boris Mikšić's official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miksic, Boris 1948 births Living people Businesspeople from Zagreb Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Politicians from Zagreb University of Zagreb alumni Candidates for President of Croatia