Branko Ružić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко Ружић; born 14 December 1975) is a Serbian politician who served as the

minister of education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from 2020 to 2023. A member of the

Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia (, abbr. SPS) is a populist political party in Serbia. Ivica Dačić has led SPS as its president since 2006. SPS was founded in 1990 as a merger of the League of Communists of Serbia and Socialist Alliance ...

(SPS), he previously served as

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in charge of

European Integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

from 2013 to 2014, as minister of public administration and local self-government from 2017 to 2020, and as first deputy prime minister of Serbia from 2020 to 2022. On 7 May 2023, Ružić announced his resignation as Minister of Education and was officially dismissed by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

on 29 May.

Education and career

Ružić was born on 14 December 1975 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

SR Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. He spent his childhood in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, due to his father's status as a diplomat. He graduated from the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, 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 me ...

and served dean student of the faculty from 1996 to 1999. During the time at the university, he joined the

(SPS). From April 2000 to December 2002, he was the president of the Youth of the party. He also served as the spokesperson of the party from March 2001 to December 2002. He was an MP in the

National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ), fully the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (), is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are ...

from January 2001 to December 2003. From 2004 to 2006 he was an MP in National Assembly of

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

and several other European Boards. From 2008 to 2013 he served as the president of position parliamentary group of Socialist Party of Serbia in National Assembly, as well as a member of the permanent delegation of the National Assembly of Serbia to the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, where he was a member of the Political Committee and a member of the Human Rights Committee. In September 2013, after the reconstruction of the

cabinet of Ivica Dačić The Cabinet of Ivica Dačić was elected on 27 July 2012 by a majority vote in the National Assembly of Serbia, National Assembly. The coalition government was composed of the ''Let's Get Serbia Moving'' alliance, the Socialist Party of Serbia, S ...

, he was named the

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in charge of

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

and stayed on that position until 27 April 2014. In February 2017, the

Prime Minister of Serbia The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијер Србије, premijer Srbije; feminine gender, feminine: премијерка/premijerka), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председн ...

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...

decided to run for the

2017 Serbian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Serbia on 2 April 2017. Incumbent president Tomislav Nikolić was eligible to run for a second five-year term, but opted not to do so. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić was elected president in the first round ...

s. He won the elections in the first round and was sworn as the

President of Serbia The president of Serbia (), officially styled as President of the Republic (), is the head of state of Serbia. The current officeholder is Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected in 2017 and has held the role since 31 May 2017. According to the C ...

on 31 May 2017. Weeks later, he gave mandate to

Ana Brnabić Ana Brnabić ( sr-cyr, Ана Брнабић, ; born 28 September 1975) is a Serbian politician serving as president of the National Assembly of Serbia since 2024. A member of the Serbian Progressive Party, she previously served as prime ministe ...

to form the governmental cabinet. On 29 June 2017, the cabinet of Ana Brnabić was formed, with Ružić being named the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government. Ružić was named the Minister of Education and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia when the new cabinet is formed on 28 October 2020. After the 2022 elections, he stopped being the First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, but still remained the Minister of Education. Following the

Belgrade school shooting On 3 May 2023, a school shooting occurred at Vladislav Ribnikar Model Elementary School in the Vračar municipality of Belgrade, Serbia. The shooter, identified as 13-year-old Kosta Kecmanović, mass shooting, opened fire on students and staff, ...

on 3 May 2023, Ružić received backlash after claiming that "the cancerous, pernicious influence of Internet video games, so-called Western values, is evident in the shooting". Numerous opposition parties called for his resignation, including the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, and the Independent Union of Educators of Serbia. He resigned from his position as minister of education on 7 May. The

officially dismissed him on 29 May. He was appointed advisor to

Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyrl, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as deputy prime minister of Serbia since 2022 and minister of internal affairs since 2024. He has been the leader of the Socialist Party of ...

in late May.

Political positions

Earlier in his career, he was as a staunch defender of

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

Personal life

Ružić and his wife Ana have two children, son Milutin and daughter Elena.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruzic, Branko 1975 births Deputy prime ministers of Serbia Education ministers of Serbia FK Partizan non-playing staff Government ministers of Serbia Living people Members of the National Assembly (Serbia) People from Zemun Socialist Party of Serbia politicians