Pavle Grbović (; born 19 November 1993) is a Serbian politician. He has been the president of the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) since 2020 and a member of the

National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ), fully the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (), is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are ...

since 2022.

Early life and education

He was born in 1993 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

which at the time was a part of the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

. He finished middle and high school in Belgrade. In 2012, he enrolled at the

Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade The Faculty of Law of the University in Belgrade (/''Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu''), also known as the Belgrade Law School, is one of the first-tier educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. The building is locate ...

. He graduated in 2016 as one of the best students in the generation. After that, he received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the same faculty. He received multiple awards for excellent success in all years of study and awards in several competitions in writing thematic papers in the legal profession.

Political career

He made a decision to join the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) in August 2017 after the 2017 presidential elections and the forming of the movement. Within the movement, he performed the functions of media team coordinator, secretary and member of the Executive Board and secretary of the Presidency. Currently, he is a member of the presidency of the movement. He was on the electoral list of the Movement of Free Citizens, People's Party and

Dragan Đilas Dragan Đilas ( sr-cyr, Драган Ђилас, , born 22 February 1967) is a Serbian businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Belgrade from 2008 to 2013. From 25 November 2012 until 31 May 2014, he served as the President of the ...

for the

2018 Belgrade City Assembly election The local election for the City Assembly of Belgrade, capital of Serbia, was held on 4 March 2018. The election had to be scheduled by the end of February 2018, since this is when the mandate of the current City Assembly expires. Parties and coa ...

. The coalition finished second and Grbović was elected a member of the City Assembly. He said that he does not expect to be privileged because he is young, but that he is also not afraid to oppose opinions and arguments with the elderly because of his age. He said that the biggest problem of Serbia today is the lack of empathy, solidarity and willingness to face real problems and social decadence and a tendency towards

populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

and

chauvinism Chauvinism ( ) is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' describes it ...

. After a bad result at the

2020 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 21 June 2020. Initially organized for 26 April 2020, they were postponed by a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia, COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In the period before the ...

s in which the Movement of Free Citizens only won 1.58% of the popular vote, new presidential elections were announced within the movement, and Grbović was the only candidate for president of the movement and on 27 September 2020, he became the new president. On 3 April 2022, during the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, Grbović was attacked by the ruling

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...

(SNS) activists near their local board in

Nova Galenika Galenika ( sr-cyr, Галеника) or Nova Galenika ( sr-cyr, Нова Галеника) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Zemun. Location Nova Galenika is located in the ...

Member of the National Assembly

Grbović appeared on the opposition

United for the Victory of Serbia United for the Victory of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Уједињени за победу Србије, Ujedinjeni za pobedu Srbije, abbr. UZPS) was an opposition electoral alliance in Serbia that participated in the 2022 Serbian general election. Th ...

(UZPS) electoral list in the 2022 parliamentary election and was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. He was re-elected in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

as a candidate of the Serbia Against Violence coalition. In April 2024, PSG left the Party of Freedom of Justice (SSP)-led parliamentary group.

Political positions

Foreign policy

Grbović is a

pro-Western The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

politician and supports the

accession of Serbia to the European Union Serbia applied to join the European Union (EU) in 2009 and has been a candidate for membership since 2012 (along with nine other states), while negotiations started in 2014 and are still ongoing. Serbia is the largest country in Southeast Eu ...

. In December 2020, Grbović stated that he does not think that now is the right moment for Serbia to join

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, however, adding that the society "must look forward, that is, support cooperation between Serbia and NATO. He called Serbia's foreign policy "schizophrenic". He is a critic of the Russian influence in Serbia and supports sanctioning Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.

Kosovo question

Grbović supported the signing of the

Ohrid Agreement The Ohrid Framework Agreement (, ) was the peace deal signed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) and representatives of the Albanian minority on 13 August 2001. The agreement was signed by the country's four poli ...

between Serbia and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

which aims to normalize diplomatic relations between the two parties.

Personal life

On 10 November 2020, Grbović announced on Facebook that he had been tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He married Nina Stojaković in September 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grbovic, Pavle 1993 births Living people Members of the City Assembly of Belgrade University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Movement of Free Citizens (Serbia) politicians Members of the National Assembly (Serbia)