Anto Đapić (born 22 August 1958) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and the former president of the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights (, HSP) is an Extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary Croatian nationalism, nationalist and Neo-fascism, neo-fascist List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" i ...

(HSP). He served as a representative in 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. ...

, a post he was elected to at the 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2007 elections.

Biography

Early life

Đapić was born in Čaprazlije,

Livno Livno ( Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: ''Ливно'', ) is a town and the administrative center of the Township of Livno and Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bis ...

municipality,

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(now in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

). The Đapić family had a history of supporting the old Croatian

Party of Rights The Party of Rights () was a Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influ ...

, and later the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

regime. His father and uncles chose to go to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

on permanent work instead of living in

, but Anto, his mother and brother lived in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

since 1962. Đapić considers Osijek to be his hometown. Đapić lost his mother in a car crash when he was a teenager, so he had to do manual labour while studying law at Osijek University. Đapić obtained a law degree in 1989.

Political career

In 1989, Đapić first joined

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

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 ...

(HDZ). He was one of the party's organizers in Osijek, but he was expelled after a short time for using the "

Za dom spremni () was a salute used during World War II by the Croatian Ustaše movement and was the motto of the Independent State of Croatia. It was the Ustaše equivalent of the fascist or Nazi salute '' Sieg Heil''. Usage during World War II During ...

" salute. In 1991, he joined the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), which was renewed a year earlier. After the assassination of Ante Paradžik, he was named the party's Vice President. Đapić was also, for a short period of time, a commander of paramilitary units called HOS (Hrvatske Obrambene Snage -

Croatian Defence Forces The Croatian Defence Forces ( or HOS) were the paramilitary arm of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) from 1991 to 1992, during the first stages of the Yugoslav wars. During the Croatian War of Independence, the HOS organised several early compa ...

), which were organized by Croatian Party of Rights. Later the HOS was merged with the

Croatian Army The Croatian Army ( or HKoV) is the land force branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It is numerically the largest of the three branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. The HKoV is the main force for the defense of the country against external threa ...

(in Croatia) and the Croatian Defense Council (in Bosnia). In 1992, Đapić was elected to the

. In 1993, he was named the vice-president of HSP. The previous president

Dobroslav Paraga Dobroslav Paraga (born 9 December 1960) is a Croatian right-wing politician. He was first president of the Croatian Party of Rights, after the party was reestablished in 1991. In 1993 he founded the Croatian Party of Rights 1861 following a poli ...

claimed Đapić was elected illegally, and he later formed the new party Croatian Party of Right 1861, which has failed at each parliamentary election since 1993. In the 1995 election, HSP won 4.8% of the vote, but after a recount, 5.01% was claimed to be the official result, which meant that HSP remained represented in the Parliament. With the war being over, the party took more and more criticism for its neo-Ustaša views. However, HSP led by Đapić maintained small but solid support among the voters. In 2000, this time in coalition with

Croatian Christian Democratic Union The Croatian Christian Democratic Union ( or HKDU) was a minor right-wing Christian-democratic political party in Croatia. It was founded in 1992 after the merger of Croatian Democratic Party (HDS) and the Croatian Christian Democratic Party (HK ...

(HKDU), HSP kept four Parliament seats. Đapić led a presidential campaign the same year, finishing a distant fifth. Since then, he and his party endeavoured to change their perception among voters. HSP continues to oppose the existence of the Hague War Crimes Tribunal, to hold

eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

views and is socially very

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. Đapić likened the possible legal recognition of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

s to "

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". In June 2005, Đapić became mayor of Osijek, but he lost this position in 2009. In late 2009, the HSP split yet again. A new party, Croatian Party of Rights Dr. Ante Starčević, with Ruža Tomašić as party leader was formed. The party's leadership accused Đapić for the weakening of HSP's standing in the

Sabor The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected ...

. Đapić was replaced as the president of the party at the November 2009 convention by Daniel Srb. In December 2011 Đapić announced his retirement from politics. In 2013, he briefly returned to active politics by announcing his intention to run for the mayor of Osijek again, but was expelled from the HSP shortly thereafter. He ran for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

but was eliminated in the first round, winning 4,001 or 0.21% of the vote, and finishing 10th out of 11 candidates. His best result was in

Osijek-Baranja County Osijek-Baranja County (, , ) is a Counties of Croatia, county in Croatia, located in northeastern Slavonia and Baranya (region), Baranja which is defined part of the Pannonian Plain. Its center is Osijek. Other towns include Đakovo, Našice, Val ...

where he obtained 0.38% of the vote.

Family

Đapić is married with one daughter.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dapic, Anto 1958 births Living people People from Livno Croat politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian Democratic Union politicians Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Mayors of Osijek Croatian Party of Rights politicians University of Osijek alumni Candidates for President of Croatia Croatian nationalists Anti-Serbian sentiment