Željka Antunović (; born 15 September 1955) is a Croatian former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

who served as acting president of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

between April and June 2007, and as Minister of Defence from 2002 until 2003 in the second cabinet of

Ivica Račan Ivica Račan (; 24 February 1944 – 29 April 2007) was a Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2000 to 2003, heading two centre-left coalition governments. Račan became the first prime minister of Croatia not to be ...

. She was the first and to date only female holder of the office. Born in Virovitica, Antunović entered the political scene in 1990 when she joined Social Democrats of Croatia (SDH), a centre-left party formed after establishment of democracy across Yugoslavia – and originally a major rival of SDP, who had in turn recently succeeded the

League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia ( sh, Savez komunista Hrvatske or SKH) was the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (''Komunistička ...

(SKH). However, following disastrous results of the SDH in parliamentary elections, the party accepted the SDP's offer of unification, which occurred in 1994. Antunović, together with Antun Vujić, gradually rose through the ranks of the SDP. Antunović had served as a member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sa ...

from 1995 to 1999, and from 2003 onwards. At the party conference in 2000, she was elected as the deputy president of the SDP. Between 2000 and 2003, she served as Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia and was named the first woman to hold the portfolio of

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

in the second cabinet of Ivica Račan, serving from 2002 until the end of the cabinet's term in 2003. On 31 January 2007, Račan announced that he was temporarily leaving politics due to health reasons. Antunović then took over the chairmanship of the party; and, on 11 April, following further deterioration in Račan's health, he resigned as leader of the party, leaving Antunović as head of the SDP until the next party convention. She ran for president at the party convention on 2 June 2007, together with Milan Bandić, Zoran Milanović and Tonino Picula. She was defeated by Milanović in the second round of voting. After her retirement from politics, she started a consulting company. She took part in the Ivo Josipović's campaign for the 2014–15 Croatian presidential election.

References

External links

Željka Antunović
at the

Social Democratic Party of Croatia The Social Democratic Party of Croatia ( hr, Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske, SDP) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is anti-fascist, progressive, and strongly pro-European. The SDP was formed in 1990 as the succes ...

official website
Željka Antunović
at the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Antunovic, Zeljka 1955 births Living people People from Virovitica Social Democrats of Croatia politicians Social Democratic Party of Croatia politicians Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb alumni Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Defence ministers of Croatia Female defence ministers Women government ministers of Croatia 20th-century women politicians 21st-century women politicians