Miroslav Rožić (born August 31, 1956) is a Croatian right-wing politician. As a former vice-president of

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights (, HSP) is an Extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary Croatian nationalism, nationalist and Neo-fascism, neo-fascist List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" i ...

(HSP), he served as a representative in

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. ...

between 2001 and 2007. He was previously a member of the

Croatian Social Liberal Party The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS were established in May 1989 in Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#Li ...

(HSLS) and is currently a member of the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...

(HSS).

Biography

Rožić was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, as a fourth generation ''Agramer''. His family was very well-to-do before the

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

their property in 1945. His father was considered to be an Ustasha sympathizer and

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

, so in

socialist 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 had to accept jobs he was over-qualified for. Rožić obtained a degree in biology from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

and pursued a scientific career. He planned to defend his doctoral dissertation in 1991 when war erupted in Croatia. Rožić joined 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 ...

where he served as a translator, due to his fluent use of English, German and Italian. He was also a member of

(HSLS), and in 1993 he was elected to Zagreb city council. In 1995, Rožić and his close friend Tonči Tadić left HSLS because of conflicts with party's president

Dražen Budiša Dražen Budiša (born 25 July 1948) is a Croatian politician who used to be a leading opposition figure in the 1990s and a two-time presidential candidate. As president of the Croatian Social Liberal Party through the 1990s he remains to date the ...

and party's positioning on the centre-left part of the political spectrum. The same year they joined the HSP. In 1997, Rožić was elected to the now non-existing upper house of

. He and Tadić became major figures in HSP and refreshed party's image. Rožić became a party leader in Zagreb and ran for mayor in 2005, finishing solid third. In September 2007, after a spat with

Anto Đapić Anto Đapić (born 22 August 1958) is a Croatian far right politician and the former president of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP). He served as a representative in the Croatian Parliament, a post he was elected to at the 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 ...

, both Rožić and Tadić left HSP. In October 2009, Rožić joined the Zagreb branch of the

(HSS).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozic, Miroslav 1956 births Living people Politicians from Zagreb Croatian Peasant Party politicians Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Croatian Social Liberal Party politicians Croatian Party of Rights politicians