Mate Granić (born 19 September 1947) is a Croatian diplomat and politician who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

in the Government of Croatia from 1993 to 2000.

Biography

Granić was born in

Baška Voda Baška Voda () is a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. It has a population of 2,775 (2011 census), 96.2% of which are Croats. It is located on the Adriatic coastline of Dalmatia 10 km northwest of Makarska. Climate Baš ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...

(then PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia). He graduated from a gymnasium in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertain ...

and the medical faculty of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

to become a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles * ...

by profession. He specialized in internal medicine. Mate Granić served as the foreign minister of Croatia from 1993 until 2000. He was a member of the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...

(HDZ) and a close associate of

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as ...

. As foreign minister, in 1995 Granić helped negotiate the

Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords (Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски миро� ...

, a peace treaty between Croatia,

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

and he visited

in 1996. Granić was considered to be a leader of the HDZ center-reformist wing. His objective as foreign minister was to defend Croatian policies concerning its

occupied territories Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

and towards

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

, as well as protecting Croatia from UN sanctions. His reformist views made him an opportunistic choice for the party's presidential candidate after the Tuđman's death. In January 2000, Granić entered the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

, but was eliminated in the first round, coming in third place with 22.5% of the vote. When a new cabinet took office later that month, now with the HDZ without the presidency or control of the Parliament, Granić lost his post as foreign minister. Afterwards, Granić led a splinter faction of HDZ to form the Democratic Centre (''Demokratski Centar'') as he believed that the HDZ would be completely overtaken by tudjmanists led by

Ivić Pašalić Ivić Pašalić (; born 3 November 1960) is a Croatian politician and former prominent member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). Education and medical career Pašalić was born in Šuica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He attended high school in ...

, Tuđman's former advisor. However, not all reformists followed Granić, and in 2002 they finally won a bitter inner-party struggle with the tudjmanists. Granić's former protégé

Ivo Sanader Ivo Sanader (born 8 June 1953) is a former Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009. He is to date the second longest-serving prime minister since independence, holding the office for over five and a half ye ...

became the party's leader, and all that made the Democratic Centre politically indistinct from HDZ. As a result, the party barely survived the 2003 elections, securing only one parliamentary seat, for Vesna Škare-Ožbolt who later became the Minister of Justice in Sanader's government. Granić left DC and seemingly retired from public life after the election. In 2004 he founded a consulting company called MAGRA Ltd. in Zagreb. In 2005, he became a special advisor to the presidency of the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist political party in Croatia. The "right(s)" in the party's name refer to the legal and moral reasons that justify the independence and autonomy ...

(HSP). In the 2007 parliamentary election he headed the HSP election list in the 3rd election unit. The list failed to attain a seat in the Parliament. In March 2020, Granić returned to the

. Granić is married with three children. His brother Goran Granić is a prominent Croatian politician, but unlike Mate, Goran is a liberal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granic, Mate 1947 births Living people People from Baška Voda Croatian Democratic Union politicians Democratic Centre (Croatia) politicians Physicians from Split, Croatia Croatian diplomats School of Medicine, University of Zagreb alumni University of Zagreb faculty Foreign ministers of Croatia Candidates for President of Croatia