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Vesna Pusić (; born 25 March 1953) is a Croatian sociologist and politician who served as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
cabinet of Zoran Milanović The Twelfth Government of the Republic of Croatia () was the Croatian Government cabinet led by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. It was in office from 23 December 2011 until 22 January 2016. It was formed following the November 2011 election wo ...
. She was Croatia's second female Foreign Minister taking the office after Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. She is known as an outspoken liberal and an advocate of
European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...
,
anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
,
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
and
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
. After becoming involved in politics in the early 1990s, Pusić served five consecutive terms as MP, having been elected to the
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. ...
in the
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
,
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
,
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
,
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
,
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
and
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
parliamentary elections. She also ran in the 2009–10 presidential election, coming in fifth out of twelve candidates. During her 2008–2011 parliament term she chaired the parliamentary committee for tracking the progress of Croatia's accession negotiations with the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. She also held the post of Vice-President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR).


Early life and education

Vesna Pusić was born on 25 March 1953 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 ...
to
jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
and university professor Eugen Pusić and Višnja (née Anđelinović) Pusić, a professor of English language. She graduated from II Gymnasium in 1971, after which she enrolled in Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences from which she graduated with a degree in
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
and
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
in 1976. In 1984, she obtained a doctorate in sociology at the same faculty ( PhD Thesis: "The Role of Collective Decision-making in the Realization of Workers' Interests").


Professional career

After graduation, Pusić worked from 1975 to 1979 as a member of the International Research Group doing research on
industrial democracy Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace. While in participative management organizational designs workers are listened to and take part in the deci ...
in twelve European countries. From 1976 to 1978 she was a researcher at the Institute of Sociology at the
University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...
in
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
. Since 1978 she has been working at the Sociology Department of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and teaching courses in the Theory of Industrial Democracy and the Sociology of Politics. In 1978, Pusić was one of seven women who initiated the first
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
organization in
SFR 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 ...
''Žena i društvo'' ''(Woman and society)'' and was widely criticized by the authorities at the time. From 1992 to 1994, she served as Head of the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Since 2010 she is still formally affiliated with 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 ...
, but not teaching due to her active involvement in the politics. Pusić lectured at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
,
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
,
American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
,
The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
,
International Forum for Democratic Studies The International Forum for Democratic Studies (IFDS) was an analytical initiative of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Established in April 1994, its programs included the '' Journal of Democracy'' (which has Spanish and Portuguese editi ...
,
Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for members of the U.S. foreign service community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreign ...
,
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
,
Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank dedicated to research and policy discussions on global issues. Established by an act of Congress in 1968, it serves as both ...
, and
MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree progra ...
.


Political career

Vesna Pusić was one of the 28 founding members of the liberal Croatian People's Party (HNS-LD) in 1990, after participating in the
Coalition of People's Accord Coalition of People's Accord (, KNS) was the bloc of mostly moderate nationalist and Liberalism, liberal parties formed on the eve of Croatian parliamentary election, 1990, first multi-party elections in Croatia in 1990. The Coalition was initia ...
. She left party politics in 1992, but rejoined the same party in 1997 and was later its president between 2000 and 2008, and again since 2013. She first entered the
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. ...
in the 2000 parliamentary election, and has been reelected in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
,
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
,
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, and
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
. In 1992 Pusić was the co-founder and director of the ''Erasmus Guild'', a nongovernmental, nonpartisan
think-tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
for the culture of democracy, and the publisher and editor of the journal ''Erasmus'', focusing specifically on different issues of transition in Croatia, countries of
former 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 ...
and
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
. Erasmus Guild ceased operations in 1998. In 2005 and 2008, she was made Chairwoman of the National Committee for EU negotiations, the body that oversees accession negotiations and is composed of members of parliament as well as representatives of the President, the academic community, employers, and union representatives. In 2006 and 2008 she was elected vice-president of ELDR. In 2008 she was elected the first chairwoman of Liberal South East European Network. In the Croatian presidential election, 2009–2010, Pusić was the HNS-LD candidate. She won 7.25% in the first round, placing fifth out of twelve candidates, and was thus eliminated from the second round. After Kukuriku coalition won the 2011 parliamentary elections, Pusić served as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the
center-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commonl ...
Cabinet of Zoran Milanović The Twelfth Government of the Republic of Croatia () was the Croatian Government cabinet led by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. It was in office from 23 December 2011 until 22 January 2016. It was formed following the November 2011 election wo ...
. After
Radimir Čačić Radimir Čačić (; born 11 May 1949) is a Croatian politician and businessman who has been President of the People's Party – Reformists (NS-R) since the party's formation in 2014, as well as Prefect of Varaždin County from 2017 to 2021. Ča� ...
was expelled from the Croatian People's Party on 23 March 2013 because of his attempts to destabilize the party, Pusić become party president once again. Pusić was reelected to the Parliament on 2015 parliamentary elections and served as a Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament between 3 February 2016 and 14 October 2016. She was reelected to the Parliament at the 2016 extraordinary parliamentary elections. After HNS decided to enter coalition with conservative
Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...
party, Pusić left HNS and with three other MPs was co-founder of the new
social-liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited ...
and
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
party: the Civic Liberal Alliance. She continued to be an MP until the 2020 parliamentary election, when she chose to retire from politics instead of opting to run for re-election.


UN Secretary-General candidature

On 3 September 2015 the Croatian Government decided to nominate Pusić as the official Croatian candidate for the 2016 UN Secretary-General selection. Her nomination was officially submitted on 14 January 2016. The UN's role in the Haiti cholera outbreak has been widely discussed and criticized. There has been indisputable evidence that the UN is the proximate cause for bringing cholera to Haiti. Peacekeepers sent to Haiti from Nepal were carrying asymptomatic cholera and they did not treat their waste properly before dumping it into Haiti's water stream. When asked if Haitian cholera victims should be compensated, Ms. Pusic initially indicated that they should be, but then said the question should be studied further by expert panels; "it has been studied for years, and the United Nations has claimed immunity from prosecution." Another issue that has been brought up is the sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. This gross problem was brought to light after Anders Kompass exposed the sexual assault of children by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. She was asked about her stance on peacekeepers' accountability during the UN Secretary General informal dialogues. Palestine, the United Kingdom, and the United States all asked about how she would tackle the issue of sexual abuse by peacekeepers. Pusić repeatedly referred to the three reports that have addressed peacekeeping SEA, citing that she would follow and implement much of the same principles. For one, she stated that peacekeepers who have committed atrocities against their people should not be allowed to serve as peacekeepers within a certain number of years. She also emphasized a strong command structure and a faster reporting and processing of cases. Pusić participated in the UN debate that was held on 12 July 2016. On the question of the Hungarian ambassador to the UN concerning which way of leadership is needed by the UN and the world, Pusić replied that standards have dropped in the past 20 years, stating that "phrases and lack of accountability are currently very popular. I believe that we do not want leadership that is based on platitudes and speaking only what people want to hear.", adding that today's leaders need vision, persistence and courage. She stated that she wanted to be Secretary-General because the UN topics of peace, human rights and development have taken center stage throughout her life. When commenting on the UN's
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
(ICTY), she stated that the court wasn't perfect, but that it would have been much worse without it, adding that it sent an important message; "If you commit a war crime, you will be caught." Pusić expressed her concern about the wave of cynicism in current national and international politics. In addition, she stated that being a female candidate was important, and noted that the UN had been dominated for 50 years by men. After receiving 11 'discourage' votes on a first informal closed-door straw poll of the 15-member UN
Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
that was held on 21 July 2016, Pusić decided on 4 August 2016 to withdraw from the race and focus on the 2016 extraordinary parliamentary elections.


Activism

Vesna Pusić is very popular in the Croatian
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
community. In 2011, Zagreb Pride attenders awarded her with the "gay friendly person of the decade". She has been regular attendant at Zagreb LGBT pride. Her brother Zoran is a civil rights and peace activist, serving as President of the Civic Committee for Human Rights, and chairman of the Anti-Fascist League of the Republic of Croatia since 21 March 2015.


Private life

Pusić is married to a
Lithuanian-American Lithuanian Americans refer to Americans, American citizens and residents of Lithuanians, Lithuanian descent or were born in Lithuania. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in its population ...
entrepreneur Jurgis Oniunas with whom she has a daughter Daina who is a film director. She speaks Croatian, English, and German fluently. In 2017 French President
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...
awarded Pusić with the highest order of France,
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
for "advocating European goals and contributing to the co-operation between France and Croatia." During the awarding ceremony held on 17 January 2018 in the residency of the French Ambassador 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 ...
, French ambassador to Croatia Philippe Meunier stated: "You knew how to convey the European values and the tolerance we share, our shared values - your condemnation of hate speech, your interest in cooperating with minorities, your concern for the value of cultural and ethnic diversity in Croatia, and your humane speech about accepting refugees."


Bibliography

* Democracies and Dictatorships, Durieux, Zagreb 1998 * The Leaders and the Managers, Novi Liber, Zagreb 1992 * Industrial Democracy and Civil Society, Sociološko društvo Hrvatske, Zagreb 1986. * Industrial Democracy in Europe, Clarendon Press,
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, 1981 (co-author) * European Industrial Relations, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1981 (co-author)


References


External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pusic, Vesna 1953 births Living people Deputy prime ministers of Croatia Politicians from Zagreb Candidates for President of Croatia Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats politicians Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Female foreign ministers Foreign ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Academic staff of the University of Zagreb Women government ministers of Croatia Croatian women diplomats 21st-century Croatian women politicians 21st-century Croatian politicians