Borislav Pelević ( sr-cyr, Борислав Пелевић; 22 November 1956 – 25 October 2018) was a Serbian politician. He was president of the nationalist

Party of Serbian Unity The Party of Serbian Unity ( sr, Странка српског јединства, Stranka srpskog jedinstva; abbr. ССЈ, SSJ) was a nationalist political party in Serbia, founded by Željko Ražnatović "Arkan". It is today known as the Co ...

(SSJ), a party with marginal importance in Serbian politics, until it merged with the

Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска радикална странка, Srpska radikalna stranka, ''SRS'') is an ultranationalist political party in Serbia. It was founded in 1991, and its founder and current leader is Vojislav � ...

in December 2007.

Military and political career

Pelević was a commander of the

Arkan's Tigers The Serb Volunteer Guard ( sr, Српска добровољачка гарда, СДГ / ''Srpska dobrovoljačka garda'', SDG), also known as Arkan's Tigers (or only Tigers; sr, Арканови тигрови, links=no / ''arkanovi tigrovi'', ...

paramilitary during the

War in Croatia The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugo ...

, serving at the

Erdut Erdut ( sr-Cyrl, Ердут, ) is a village and a municipality in eastern Croatia some 37 km east of the major city of Osijek. Lying on the border with neighbouring Serbia, it was the site of the signing of the Erdut Agreement, which initiate ...

training camp. He was also a presidential candidate in

September September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern H ...

and December 2002 and in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He was elected to the

National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly ( sr-cyr, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ) is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms by secret ballot. The a ...

on the

list twice, in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

. After the party's deputy leader,

Tomislav Nikolić Tomislav Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Томислав Николић, ; born 15 February 1952) is a Serbian retired politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2012 to 2017. A former member of the Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right Serb ...

(who was also acting as parliamentary leader due to the absence of party leader

Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician, founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS); he was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal ...

), resigned from the SRS and formed the new ''Napred Srbijo!'' ("Forward, Serbia!") parliamentary group, Pelević left the SRS and joined Nikolić's group. Pelević has also served as president of the

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gen ...

federation of

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

Death

He died on 25 October 2018, after a long illness.

References

1956 births 2018 deaths Politicians from Peja Kosovo Serbs Members of the National Assembly (Serbia) Serbian Progressive Party politicians Serbian Radical Party politicians Candidates for President of Serbia Serbian soldiers Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence Serbian nationalists Party of Serbian Unity politicians Council of Serbian Unity politicians Military personnel from Peja {{Serbia-politician-stub