Nenad Čanak ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Чанак, ; born 2 November 1959) is a Serbian politician. He is the co-founder and former leader of the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina. He was the President of the Assembly of Vojvodina from 2000 to 2004, and until 2020 he was a member of the National Assembly of Serbia.

Early and personal life

Čanak was born in Pančevo, in the

autonomous province of Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia (now

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

). His paternal ancestors were colonists from Zrmanja,

Gračac Gračac (; ) is a town and municipality in the southern part of Lika, Croatia. The municipality is administratively part of Zadar County. Gračac is located south of Udbina, northeast of Obrovac, northwest of Knin and southeast of Gospić. Settl ...

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by ...

(in modern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

). He was raised in a family of teachers, and went to the general and musical high school ( flute) in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...

, graduated from the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Economics at Subotica and after that specialized in marketing and computer networks at the Executive Training Center in Brdo pri Kranju in 1989. Nenad Čanak was married to Marija Vasić until their divorce in 2001. They have a son together, born in 1999.

Political career

Čanak is the co-founder and leader of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV, est. 1990). In October 1991 he was forcibly mobilized during the War in Croatia and sent to the front in

Ilok Ilok () is the easternmost town in Croatia forming a geographic salient surrounded by Vojvodina. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on a hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Bačka region of Serbia. The popula ...

. At the start of the

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an ...

, he requested to be mobilized but was turned down. He was also the President of the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

of the

Autonomous Province of Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

from 2000 to 2004. From 2004 until 2020 he was a member of the National Assembly. In Spring 2009 he took part in regional edition of ''

Big Brother Big Brother may refer to: * Big Brother (''Nineteen Eighty-Four''), a character from George Orwell's novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' ** Authoritarian personality, any omnipresent figure representing oppressive control ** Big Brother Awards, a sat ...

'' reality show, '' Veliki Brat VIP All Stars''. In September 2022, Čanak announced that he would step down as president of LSV at the party conference in November 2022.

Policies

The LSV actively seeks the decentralization of Serbia with a higher autonomy for Vojvodina. He was once quoted as saying: "We want a Vojvodina in which there will be order, civility and prosperity".

References

1959 births Living people Presidents of the Assembly of Vojvodina Politicians from Pančevo Serbian soldiers Serbian atheists Candidates for President of Serbia League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina politicians University of Novi Sad alumni Members of the National Assembly (Serbia) {{Serbia-politician-stub