Nikola Špirić (, ; born 4 September 1956) 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 served as

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina The chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian/ Croatian: ''Predsjedavajući Vijeća ministara Bosne i Hercegovine'', ) is the head of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The chairman of the Council of Minis ...

from 2007 to 2012. He has served as a member of the national House of Peoples since 2019. Špirić also served as Minister of Finance and Treasury from 2012 to 2015. He was previously 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 ...

from 2002 to 2007. Špirić was a member of the

Party of Democratic Progress The Party of Democratic Progress (, abbr. ПДП, PDP) is a centre to centre-right Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina founded on 26 September 1999. It is the third-largest party in the Republika Srpska entity. History The PDP was e ...

, until he left it in 2002 to join 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 ...

Early life and education

Špirić was born in

Drvar Drvar (, ) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Drvar in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the road between Bosansko Grahovo an ...

, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the time

FPR 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 completed elementary education in his hometown, 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 ...

and his undergraduate and postgraduate education 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 ...

. He holds a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in economics. His doctoral thesis was in monetary and

public finance Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy. Within academic settings, public finance is a widely studied subject in man ...

Early career

Špirić has been an

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

professor at the

University of Banja Luka The University of Banja Luka (, , , ) is the second-oldest university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A public university, it is the flagship institution of higher education in Republika Srpska, one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of th ...

since 1992. He held a number of governmental positions, including a 2-year term as a representative at the

Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine, Парламентарна скупштина Босне и Херцеговине, separator=" / ") is the bicameral legislative ...

for

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 ...

's SNSD party. He was a member of the House of Peoples from 2001 until 2003 and a member of the

from 2002 until 2007.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers (2007–2012)

On 11 January 2007, Špirić became the new

, succeeding

Adnan Terzić Adnan Terzić (born 5 April 1960) is a Bosnian politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2007. He was a longtime member of the Party of Democratic Action, until he left it to join the U ...

. On 1 November 2007, he tendered his resignation in protest at parliamentary reforms imposed by

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 ...

Miroslav Lajčák Miroslav Lajčák (born 20 March 1963) is a Slovak politician and diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. In addition, Lajčák also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd session f ...

. Špirić felt that the reforms would reduce the influence of Bosnia's Serb population. The resignation was deemed by some to be the country's most serious crisis since the end of 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 ...

. After the crisis was resolved, he was renominated for the Chairman's post on 10 December 2007, confirmed by the

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 ...

on 27 December 2007 and by

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 ...

a day later. Špirić's government led Bosnia and Herzegovina's

economic recovery An economic recovery is the phase of the business cycle following a recession. The overall business outlook for an industry looks optimistic during the economic recovery phase. During the recovery period, the economy goes through a process of ec ...

following the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

and the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. On 26 May 2008, Špirić met with European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Jacques Barrot, discussing the abolition of the European Union visa regime for Bosnian citizens. In September 2009, his government managed to succeed in its plans and Bosnia and Herzegovina met the conditions for visa waiver. In July 2009, Špirić's cabinet approved the Law Against Discrimination. Intended to address LGBTQ rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the law prohibits discrimination based on sex, gender expression and sexual orientation. It also forbids harassment and segregation on the basis of sexual orientation. On 12 January 2012, he was succeeded as Chairman of the Council of Ministers by

Vjekoslav Bevanda Vjekoslav Bevanda (; born 13 May 1956) is a Bosnian Croat politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2012 to 2015. He was subsequently the Minister of Finance and Treasury from 2015 to 2023. Bev ...

, following the 2010 general election and the one-year governmental formation crisis.

Later career

From January 2012 until March 2015, Špirić served as Minister of Finance and Treasury in the cabinet of Vjekoslav Bevanda. In September 2018, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

imposed sanctions (a travel ban and asset freeze) on Špirić, with the justification that he "engaged in and benefited from public corruption, including the acceptance of improper benefits in exchange for the performance of public functions and interference with public processes, during his tenure as a member of the

in Bosnia and Herzegovina." Špirić accused the U.S. Ambassador in Bosnia and Herzegovina of harming his chances of re-election. Since February 2019, Špirić has once again been a member of the House of Peoples. In September 2020, he was appointed member of the Parliamentary Committee for the selection and monitoring of the work of the Bosnian Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK). This raised criticism given that he remains under U.S. sanctions for corruption.

Personal life

Špirić is married and has two children. On 18 January 2021, he was admitted to hospital due to bilateral

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

References

External links

Nikola Špirić
at imovinapoliticara.cin.ba , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiric, Nikola 1956 births Living people People from Drvar Serb politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Sarajevo alumni Academic staff of the University of Banja Luka Party of Democratic Progress politicians Alliance of Independent Social Democrats politicians Members of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina Chairmen of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina Members of the House of Representatives (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Chairmen of the House of Representatives (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Government ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Finance ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina