Mladen Grujičić (; born 13 April 1982) is a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби Босне и Херцеговине, Srbi Bosne i Hercegovine), often referred to as Bosnian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, босански Срби, bosanski Srbi) or Herzegovinian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, � ...

politician who is currently serving as the mayor of

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...

since 2016, a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

, an entity of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He is a member of 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 ...

(SNSD).

Biography

Early life and career

Grujičić was born in 1982 in Srebrenica. He left the town 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 ...

in which his father was killed fighting for the

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska (; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska, the self-proclaimed Serb secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herz ...

. After finishing his studies at the Faculty of Technology in

Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. Zvornik is located on the Drina River, on the eastern slopes of Majevica mountain, at the altitude of ...

which as a part of the University of East Sarajevo, he started his business career, and after that he was a high school professor in the chemistry group of subjects at the High School Center in Srebrenica. For several years, he led the Municipal Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Fighters and Missing Civilians in Srebrenica, and he was named "Humanist of the Year" by the republic organization for 2010.

Political career

Grujičić is a longtime SNSD member and was a candidate for a member of local parliament in 2012. On 10 July 2016, Mladen Grujičić a joint candidate of all Serb parties in Srebrenica started his campaign for the Mayor of Srebrenica for the 2016 local elections. His candidacy for mayor was announced on April 14, when a meeting of the leaders of nine Serb political parties from Srebrenica was held. At that time, it was agreed to run in the elections with a joint candidate for mayor within the coalition "Together for Srebrenica". Grujičić defeated his rival Ćamil Duraković with 54.38% of the popular vote and took office as the new mayor of Srebrenica on 8 November 2016. This was the first time in 17 years that a Serb candidate won the elections.

Srebrenica genocide controversy

Grujičić has been called a

Serbian nationalist Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, ...

and

Srebrenica genocide The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by units ...

denier by the

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

public and his opponents. Talking about the Srebrenica massacre, Grujičić himself said this during the campaign:

References

1982 births Living people People from Srebrenica Serb politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina Deniers of the Bosnian genocide Mayors of places in Bosnia and Herzegovina Alliance of Independent Social Democrats politicians {{DEFAULTSORT:Grujicic, Mladen