8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, separator=" / ", Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of ...

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

Tuzla Canton The Tuzla Canton
Official name of canton is Tuzla Canton (; ; ) is one of 10

al Assembly and was appointed member of the Federal House of Peoples. In the 2006 general election, Bećirović was elected to the national

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. In the 2018 general election, he ran for a seat in the

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, separator=" / ", Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of ...

as a Bosniak member, but was not elected. Following the general election, he became a member of the national House of Peoples. In the 2022 general election, Bećirović ran once again for a seat in the Presidency as a Bosniak member and was elected, defeating former Presidency member Bakir Izetbegović. Bećirović was sworn in as Presidency member on 16 November 2022.

Education

Bećirović graduated in 1998 from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Tuzla. He enrolled in postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Humanities at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

in 2000. He defended his master's thesis in 2004, and his doctorate in 2010 at the Faculty of Humanities 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 ...

.

Career

Bećirović joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

in 1993 and has held several positions within the party. Prior to his political engagement, Bećirović was a history teacher at a primary school in his hometown of

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

, and from 1998 to 2002, he worked at the Secondary School of Economics in his hometown. He has been an assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities in Tuzla since 2010. In 1998, Bećirović became a member of the Federal Parliament. Two years later, in the 2000 parliamentary election, he entered the

Tuzla Canton The Tuzla Canton
Official name of canton is Tuzla Canton (; ; ) is one of 10

al Assembly and the Federal House of Peoples. In the 2002 general election, Bećirović was re-elected to the Cantonal Assembly, and four years later, in the 2006 general election, he became a member of the national

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. He renewed his term in the 2010 general election as well. In the 2014 general election, Bećirović won his third consecutive term in the national

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In the 2018 general election, Bećirović ran for a seat in the

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, separator=" / ", Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of ...

as a Bosniak member, but was not elected, obtaining 33.53% of the vote, with

Šefik Džaferović Šefik Džaferović Nishan-e-Pakistan, N.Pk (born 9 September 1957) is a Bosnian politician who served as the List of Bosniak members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from ...

of the Party of Democratic Action getting elected with 36.61% of the vote. In February 2019, following the election, Bećirović was appointed member of the national House of Peoples.

Presidency (2022–present)

2022 general election

The three-party liberal coalition of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, the

People and Justice People and Justice (, abbreviated NiP) is a centre-right political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The party was founded on 12 March 2018. History People and Justice (NiP) was founded on 12 March 2018, after Elmedin Konaković resigned from al ...

party and Our Party, known as Troika, additionally supported by the Union for a Better Future and the People's European Union, announced Bećirović's candidacy in the Bosnian general election on 21 May 2022, running once more for

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

member and representing the Bosniaks. In the general election, held on 2 October 2022, he was elected to the Presidency, having obtained 57.37% of the vote. The Party of Democratic Action candidate and former Bosniak Presidency member, Bakir Izetbegović, was second with 37.25%.

Domestic policy

Bećirović was sworn in as Presidency member on 16 November 2022, alongside newly elected member

Željka Cvijanović Željka Cvijanović (; sr-cyr, Жељка Цвијановић, ; born 4 March 1967) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th and current Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2022. She has also been serving as i ...

and re-elected member

Željko Komšić Željko Komšić (; born 20 January 1964) is a Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Croat politician serving as the List of Croat members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6th and current Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia a ...

. Following the 2022 general election, a coalition led by the

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb Serbian nationalism, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika ...

, the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

and Troika reached an agreement on the formation of a new

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, designating

Borjana Krišto Borjana Krišto (; born 13 August 1961) is a Bosnian Croat politician serving as Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina since January 2023. She previously served as the 8th president of the Federation of Bosnia and He ...

as the new Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers. The Presidency officially nominated Krišto as chairwoman-designate on 22 December; Bećirović and Cvijanović voted for, while Komšić voted against. Bećirović said after the vote that "It's time to give a chance to development, cooperation and dialogue in Bosnia and Herzegovina" and that the "Citizens and peoples of Bosnia must no longer be held hostages of permanent blockades, blackmails and quarrels." On 27 June 2023, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska voted to suspend rulings by the

Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ustavni sud Bosne i Hercegovine, Уставни суд Босне и Херцеговине) is the interpreter and guardian of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It ...

and stopping publishing the

High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...

's decrees and laws in the official gazette. Bećirović later called on the High Representative to sanction Republika Srpska president

Milorad Dodik Milorad Dodik ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician currently serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since 2022, a position he previously held from 2010 to 2018. He also served as ...

and his allies for derogating the

peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...

.

Foreign policy

On 4 July 2023, Bećirović met with British Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

during an official visit to the United Kingdom. They discussed bilateral relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Kingdom, implementing economic reforms, strengthening democracy and reforming the rule of law. In October 2023, he met with

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. Following the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

designating July 11 as the annual ''International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica'' in May 2024, Bećirović bolstered up the decision, declaring that truth and justice had won.

European Union

On 15 December 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognised by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

as a candidate country for accession following the decision of the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

, which Bećirović strongly supported. On 8 February 2024, the Presidency unanimously adopted the decision to start negotiations with

Frontex The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, commonly known as Frontex (from French ''frontières extérieures'', "external borders"), is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. In coordination with the border and coast gu ...

, one of the country’s key conditions for opening negotiations with the EU. On 21 March 2024, at a summit in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, all 27 EU leaders, representing the European Council, unanimously agreed to open EU accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

adopted two more European laws. Talks are set to begin following the impeding of more reforms.

Personal life

Denis is married to Mirela Bećirović, and together they have two children. They live in

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

.

Works

Bećirović has written several books and papers dealing with the modern history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some of his work include: * * *

References

External links

Denis Bećirović
at parlament.ba {{DEFAULTSORT:Becirovic, Denis 1975 births Living people Politicians from Tuzla University of Tuzla alumni University of Sarajevo alumni Academic staff of the University of Tuzla 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina historians Bosniak politicians Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Chairmen of the House of Representatives (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Members of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina Members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina