Željka Cvijanović (; sr-cyr, Жељка Цвијановић, ; born 2 August 1967) is a Bosnian Serb politician who is the 9th and current President of Republika Srpska. She was the 11th Prime Minister of Republika Srpska from 12 March 2013 until 19 November 2018. On 7 October 2018, she was elected to be President of Republika Srpska, assuming office on 19 November 2018. Cvijanović is a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).

Early life and education

Born Željka Grabovac in

Teslić Teslić ( sr-cyrl, Теслић) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the central part of the Republika Srpska, on the banks of Usora River. As of 2013, the town has a pop ...

in central Bosnia in 1967. Before going into full-time politics, Cvijanović was an English teacher. She studied at the Faculty of Philosophy in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

, the Faculty of Philosophy in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

and the Faculty of Law in Banja Luka. She is a professor of English language and literature and also holds a master's degree in diplomatic and consular law from The Banja Luka Law School on "The International and legal status of the EU".

Career

Cvijanović worked as a teacher of English and as a senior interpreter and assistant for the EU Monitoring Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then she was an advisor for European Integration and cooperation with international organizations to the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik; as Chief of Cabinet Affairs of the Prime Minister; and managed the Unit for coordination and European integration. In the 2010–2014 parliamentary term she was an expert-external member of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. On 29 December 2010, she was appointed to the position of Minister of Economic Affairs and Regional Cooperation in the RS Government led by Prime Minister Aleksandar Džombić, and on 12 March 2013 she was appointed by Dodik, this time as President of Republika Srpska, as the new Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, being the first woman in that position. At the 2014 Bosnian general election, Cvijanović stood as a candidate of the incumbent coalition SNSD-

DNS The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to ...

- SP for the Serb member of the

Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina The presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Predsjedništvo Bosne i Hercegovine, separator=" / ", Предсједништво Босне и Херцеговине) is a three-member body which collectively serves as head of state of ...

. She lost against the opposition candidate Mladen Ivanić ( PDP) and was reappointed to the RS Prime Minister office in the 15th Government of Republika Srpska. At the 2018 general election, Cvijanović was elected President of Republika Srpska, assuming office on 19 November 2018. She is an SNSD member, also a member of the SNSD Executive Board, and of the SNSD Main Board.

Personal life

Željka is married to Aleksandar Cvijanović, and together they have two sons. She is of paternal Bosnian Serb and maternal Bosnian Croat descent. On 2 April 2021, Cvijanović received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, amid its pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

References

External links

Željka Cvijanović
at imovinapoliticara.cin.ba {{DEFAULTSORT:Cvijanovic, Zeljka 1967 births Living people People from Teslić Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Croatian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Serbian descent Bosnia and Herzegovina women in politics Politicians of Republika Srpska 21st-century women politicians Alliance of Independent Social Democrats politicians Prime ministers of Republika Srpska Women prime ministers Women presidents