Damir Krstičević (; born 1 July 1969) is a Croatian general and politician who served as the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

from 2016 until his resignation in May 2020, which he tendered due to the deaths of two Croatian military pilots in an aircraft accident.

Biography

Krstičević was born on July 1, 1969, in

Vrgorac Vrgorac () is a town in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. Climate Since records began in 1981, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was , on 4 August 2017. The coldest temperature was , on 7 January 2017. Demographi ...

Split-Dalmatia County Split-Dalmatia County ( ) is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 4.540 km2, the total area is 14.106,40 km2. Split-Dalmati ...

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 ...

. Since his childhood, he knew he wanted to be a soldier. He finished military high school in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. Upon graduating from the

Military Academy in Belgrade The Military Academy of the University of Defence () is a college devoted to military education and career development located in Belgrade, Serbia. The academy forms part of the Serbian higher education system, offering accredited graduate and p ...

, Yugoslavia broke up. He joined the

Croatian National Guard The Croatian National Guard ( or ZNG) was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interior for legal reasons, th ...

in the summer of 1991. He was assigned to the 4th Guards Brigade, where he eventually rose to the position of the brigade's commander. After the war, in 1997, he was sent to continue his education at

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...

, and finished with excellent grades. In 2000, he was one of the signatories of the

Twelve Generals' Letter The Twelve Generals' Letter () was an open letter, signed by twelve generals of the Croatian Armed Forces, that criticized the government, politicians and media for perceived criminalization of the Croatian War of Independence and asserted that wa ...

, which resulted in Krstičević's retiring by then–Croatian president

Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatia, Croatian lawyer and politician who served as the president of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minis ...

. He then worked as a manager, ceo, procurator and member of the supervisory board in computer software developing companies M SAN and King ICT. In 2007, he survived a helicopter crash in

Vukovar Vukovar (; sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, , ) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern Regions of Croatia, regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka (river), Vuka and the Danube. Vukova ...

, which damaged his spine. After HDZ won the Croatian parliamentary elections in 2016 and

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician serving as the Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minister of Croatia since October 2016. He was previously one of eleven List of members of the European Parliament for Croatia, 201 ...

became the new Croatian Prime Minister, Krstičević was assigned to the position of Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. In 2016, Bosnian Serb officials filed a criminal complaint, alleging that Krstičević and other high-ranking Croatian officials were responsible for war crimes during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

offensive

Operation Mistral 2 Operation Mistral 2, officially codenamed Operation Maestral 2, was a Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) offensive in western Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8–15 September 1995 as part of the Bosnian War. Its objective was to ...

. Bosnian authorities were also investigating Krstičević for crimes during the operation that included the massacre of 32 Serb civilians. Krstičević denied the allegations, stating that his unit was not present there. In January 2018, he was inducted into the U.S. Army War College Hall of Fame. In 2018, he drew criticism for praising

Operation Medak Pocket Operation Medak Pocket ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Operacija Medački džep, Операција Медачки џеп), officially called by Croatians Operation Pocket-93 ''(Operacija Džep-93)'' was a military operation undertaken by the Croatian Army betw ...

saying it was "something to be proud of" despite the fact that Serb civilians were unlawfully killed, in addition he faced heavy criticism for legitimizing the presence of convicted war criminal

Mirko Norac Mirko Norac (born 19 September 1967) is a former Croatian general of the Croatian Army (HV), and a convicted war criminal. He was the first Croatian Army general to be found guilty of war crimes by a Croatian court, in 2003, after his case was t ...

at an anniversary 'commemorating' the attack. In May 2020, he resigned from his post as Defence Minister after the deaths of two Croatian military pilots in an aircraft accident.

References

External links

CV on the Ministry of Defence website
(accessed 12 December 2016) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kristicevic, Damir 1969 births Living people People from Vrgorac Croatian army officers Defence ministers of Croatia Deputy prime ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence United States Army War College alumni

Biography

See also

References

External links