Aleksandar Vučić

Aleksandar Vučić (Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017.

As a youngster, Vučić was a fan of Red Star Belgrade, often attending their matches, including the one played between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star on 13 May 1990, which turned into a huge riot.

The homes of his relatives were destroyed in the Bosnian War.

Vučić began his political career in 1993, as a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) in the National Assembly of Serbia.

Vučić joined the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) in 1993, a far right party whose core ideology is based on Serbian nationalism and the goal of creating a Greater Serbia, and was elected to the National Assembly following the 1993 parliamentary election.

Two years later, Vučić became secretary-general of the SRS.

He was one of the SRS's volunteers who visited the army that kept Sarajevo under the siege.

In 1995, he became the secretary-general of SRS.

He was appointed minister of information in 1998 in the government of Mirko Marjanović.

During his tenure as minister, which lasted until the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, Vučić introduced restrictive measures against journalists and banned foreign TV networks.

After 2000, he was one of the most prominent figures in the Serbian opposition.

Together with Tomislav Nikolić, Vučić left SRS and co-founded SNS in 2008, initially serving as its deputy president.

A member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as the president of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, and prime minister of Serbia from 2014 to 2017.

Born in Belgrade, Vučić graduated as a lawyer from the Faculty of Law of University of Belgrade.

SNS became the largest party in the 2012 election and SNS soon formed a government with the Socialist Party of Serbia.

Vučić was appointed first deputy prime minister and elected president of SNS.

Despite not being prime minister, Vučić held the most influence and power due to being the leader of the largest party in the government.

He was one of the crucial figures in cooperation and European Union (EU)-mediated dialogue between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, advocating the implementation of the Brussels Agreement on the normalization of their relations.

Vučić became prime minister in 2014, leading to the establishment of a dominant-party system.

He continued the accession process to the EU by privatizing state businesses and liberalizing the economy.

EU opened first chapters during the accession conference with the Serbian delegation led by Vučić in 2015.

In 2017, Vučić was elected president of Serbia.

He was re-elected in 2022.

During his tenure as president, Vučić initiated Open Balkan, an economic zone of Balkan countries intended to guarantee "four freedoms", and signed an agreement in September 2020 to normalize economic relations with Kosovo.

A populist politician, Vučić supports the accession of Serbia to the EU but also wants to retain good relations with Russia and China.

Observers have described Vučić's rule as an authoritarian, autocratic or illiberal democratic regime, citing curtailed press freedom and a decline in civil liberties.

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Aleksandar Vučić was born in Belgrade to Anđelko Vučić and Angelina Milovanov.

He has a younger brother, Andrej.

His paternal ancestors came from Čipuljić, near Bugojno, in Central Bosnia.

They were expelled by the Croatian fascists (Ustaše) during World War II and settled near Belgrade, where his father was born.

According to Vučić, his paternal grandfather Anđelko and tens of other close relatives were killed by the Ustaše.

His mother was born in Bečej in Vojvodina.

Both of his parents were economics graduates.

His father worked as an economist, and his mother as a journalist.

Vučić was raised in New Belgrade, where he attended the Branko Radičević Elementary School, and later a gymnasium in Zemun.

He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law.

He learned English in Brighton, England, and worked as a merchant in London for some time.

After returning to Yugoslavia, he worked as a journalist in Pale, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There, he interviewed politician Radovan Karadžić and once played chess with general Ratko Mladić.