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Milovan Bojić ( sr-Cyrl, Милован Бојић; born 13 March 1955) is a Serbian medical doctor, administrator, and politician. At one time a high-ranking member of the
Yugoslav Left The Yugoslav Left, also known as the Yugoslav United Left (JUL), was a political party in Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. At its peak, the party had 20 seats in Republic of Serbia's National Assembly following the 1997 general e ...
party, Bojić served as a
Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (, literally translated as Vice President of the Government of Serbia), is the official Deputy prime minister, Deputy of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Prime Minister of Serbia. According to convention, one d ...
from 1998 to 2000 and was also the country's
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
in 2000. He resigned from office with the fall of
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
's government. He was re-elected to the
National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ), fully the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (), is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are ...
in the
2016 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 24 April 2016. Initially, the election were originally due to be held by March 2018, but on 17 January 2016 Prime Minister of Serbia, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić called for a snap election cla ...
for the far-right
Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...
and served until his resignation on 30 August 2017. He is currently the director of the Dedinje Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, a position he previously held from 1992 to 2000.


Early life and private career

Bojić was born in a small village near
Kolašin Kolašin (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Колашин, ) is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 2,989 (2003 census). Kolašin is the centre of Kolašin Municipality (population 9,949) and an unofficial centre of Morača region, nam ...
, in what was then the
People's Republic of Montenegro The Socialist Republic of Montenegro ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora, Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора), commonly referred to as Socialist Montenegro or simply Montenegro, was ...
in the
Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
. A gifted student with a strong interest in art and literature, he ultimately chose a career in medicine. He worked several menial jobs to pay for his enrollment at the
University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...
, where he eventually earned a Ph.D. After serving as an assistant professor at the University of Priština in Kosovo and Metohija, he returned to
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
and in 1992 was appointed as director of the Dedinje Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, a position he held until October 2000. Bojić pressed charges against the Montenegrin newspaper ''Dnevni telegraf'' in late 1998, after the paper published an article stating that a heart surgeon had been murdered after attempting to warn that "the director (i.e., Bojić) and other officials of the Dedinje surgical centre abused their positions to import medication and equipment." The presiding judge found in Bojić's favour, fining the paper 300,000 dinars and its editor-in-chief 150,000 dinars. A related decision in March 1999 saw the editor-in-chief and two journalists sentenced to five months in prison. The latter judgement was criticized by
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
, which asserted that it was politically motivated. A police investigation concluded that Bojić was not linked to the murder referenced in the article.


Political career


1990–1994: Socialist Party member

Bojić joined Slobodan Milošević's
Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia (, abbr. SPS) is a populist political party in Serbia. Ivica Dačić has led SPS as its president since 2006. SPS was founded in 1990 as a merger of the League of Communists of Serbia and Socialist Alliance ...
(SPS) in the early 1990s and became president of its municipal committee in the Belgrade neighbourhood of
Vračar Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a popul ...
. He received the twelfth position on the party's
electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
for Belgrade in the
1992 Serbian parliamentary election Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno D ...
. The party won fourteen seats in the city, though he was not afterwards selected as part of its parliamentary delegation. (From 1992 to 2000, Serbia's electoral law stipulated that one-third of parliamentary mandates would be assigned to candidates from successful lists in numerical order, while the remaining two-thirds would be distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties. It was common practice for the latter mandates to be awarded out of numerical order, and Bojić's position on the list did not give him the automatic right to a seat in parliament.) He was not a candidate in the 1993 election.


1994–2003: Yugoslav Left representative

Bojić left the Socialist Party in 1994 to join the newly formed and largely complementary Yugoslav Left party, led by Milošević's wife
Mirjana Marković Mirjana "Mira" Marković ( sr-cyr, Мирјана "Мира" Марковић, ; 10 July 1942 – 14 April 2019) was a Serbian politician, academic and the wife of Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan Milošević. She was the leader of th ...
. He sought election to the
Yugoslav parliament The Parliament of Yugoslavia was the legislature of Yugoslavia. Before World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it was known as the National Assembly (''Narodna skupština''), while in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the name was c ...
's Chamber of Citizens in the 1996 Yugoslavian election, running on the JUL's list in the Montenegrin division of
Bijelo Polje Bijelo Polje (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бијело Поље, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Lim (river), Lim River. It has an urban population of 12,900 (2011 census). It is the ad ...
. The JUL never developed a strong base of support in Montenegro, and the list did not win any seats in the division. The JUL contested the
1997 Serbian parliamentary election General elections were held in the Yugoslav province of Serbia on 21 September 1997, to elect the president and members of the National Assembly. With no presidential candidate receiving over 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round wa ...
in an alliance with the SPS and
New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that w ...
. Bojić led the alliance's electoral list for the
Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-Cyrl, Вождовац, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 174,864 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south ...
division and was elected when the list won four mandates for the division. The alliance won the election, and Bojić served as a supporter of the government. He was also elected by the Serbian parliament as a delegate to the Yugoslav parliament's Chamber of Republics in 1998. Bojić welcomed the resignation of
Radoje Kontić Radoje Kontić ( sh-Cyrl, Радоје Контић: born 31 May 1937) is a Montenegrin former politician and technologist who served as the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1993 to 1998. Biography He was the last Chai ...
as
prime minister of Yugoslavia The prime minister of Yugoslavia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Премијер Југославије, Premijer Jugoslavije) was the head of government of the Yugoslav state, from the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 until the ...
in May 1998, arguing that it would strengthen the country's union. Bojić was part of a Serbian government negotiating team that took part in what were ultimately unsuccessful negotiations with representatives of
Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
political parties in
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
throughout 1998. After one meeting in which the Albanian delegates failed to appear, Bojić remarked, "I would like the Albanian representatives to know that someone is trying to use them, they are not aware of the game they are being dragged into and they have nowhere to hide." He called for "an open dialogue without any preconditions" between the two sides. In October 1998, Bojić was chosen as inaugural chair of the JUL's Committee of the University Left of Yugoslavia. The following month, a media report identified him as chair of the party directorate's social policy committee.


Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (1998–2000)

;Before the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia On 24 March 1998, Bojić was sworn in as one of five deputy prime ministers of Serbia in a
coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
led by
Mirko Marjanović Mirko Marjanović ( sr-cyrl, Мирко Марјановић, ; 27 July 1937 – 21 February 2006) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 1994 to 2000. Biography Marjanović was born on 27 July 1937 in Knin i ...
. This administration had two deputy prime ministers each from the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Serbian Radical Party; Bojić was the sole JUL representative in the role. Bojić asserted in June 1998 that the
Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...
(KLA) was perpetrating "terrorism" in Kosovo and that the government of Serbia was defending its territory and citizens via its conflict with the organization. He further asserted that the Serbian government was committed to defend the rights of national minorities, that the KLA was intent on the secession of Kosovo, and that "the Albanian separatist movement, in continuity, has in fact carried out the greatest ethnic cleansing and exodus of
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
in the past one hundred years." He later welcomed the arrival of an
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...
mission in Kosovo, saying that it would confirm that there were no grounds for ethnic Albanian revolt. As tensions increased in Kosovo throughout 1998, various western governments accused the Serbian state of conducting massacres against Albanians in the province, and some diplomats and politicians recommended
air strike An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and Unmanned combat aerial ...
s against Serbia as a means of resolving the situation. Bojić responded by inviting international forensic experts into Kosovo to investigate all alleged massacres, including those against Serbs, and said he was confident that massacres were being staged by the KLA to provoke intervention from the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...
(NATO). In October 1998, Bojić and Serbian information minister
Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...
met with the editors-in-chief of Serbia's independent media organizations to order that they stop broadcasting international programs; Vučić advised the media representatives that an official ban would follow. The ministers added that this was a temporary measure due to "the threat of NATO intervention" in Kosovo. Serbia subsequently passed a restrictive law on public information; in response, the
Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...
banned Bojić and other Serbian politicians associated with the legislation from entering
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
member states. In January 1999,
Kosovo Verification Mission The OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) was an OSCE mission to verify that the Serbian and Yugoslav forces were complying with the UNSC Resolution 1203 and the Clark-Naumann agreement, to end atrocities in Kosovo, withdraw armed forces from ...
leader
William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Bap ...
accused Serb forces of responsibility for the
Račak massacre The Račak massacre () or Račak operation () was the massacre of 45 Kosovo Albanians that took place in the village of Račak () in central Kosovo in January 1999. The massacre was perpetrated by Serbian security forces in response to Albani ...
, an accusation that was ultimately a leading factor in NATO's decision to bomb Yugoslavia later in the year. Bojić responded that Walker's statement was aimed at provoking a military intervention against Serbs. In the same period, he rejected suggestions for an international conference on Kosovo and urged western powers to force Albanian delegates to form a united negotiating team "so we can finally sit down at a table like human beings and arrange to bring this sad drama to an end." ;During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia Bojić delivered several public speeches condemning the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
, which lasted from 24 March – 10 June 1999. In one speech, at
Lebane Lebane ( sr-cyr, Лебане) is a town and municipality located in Jablanica District of southern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the town has a population of 8,025 inhabitants, while the municipality has 18,119 inhabitants. Geography The ...
in southern Serbia, he asserted that Serbs had become more resolute in their desire to maintain Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia and called on
Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...
to follow "the holy duty of defending the fatherland." He also stated, "We are also here today, at this magnificent rally, to send out a message to the new
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
: death to fascists, death to invaders and Serbia will never surrender!" Bojić later joined other government officials to take part in human shield tactics to prevent NATO from bombing Belgrade's bridges. After a NATO bomb struck a hospital in
Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
, Bojić described the attack as deliberate and charged NATO with genocidal aggression. ;Following the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The NATO military campaign ended on 10 June 1999. Shortly after this time, many
Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Serbs form the largest ethnic minority group in Kosovo (5–6%). The precise number of Kosovo Serbs is difficult to determine as they have boycotted national censuses. However, it is estimated that there are about 95,000 of them, nearly ...
fled the province fearing reprisals; Bojić urged them to return, saying, " Kosovo and Metohija belong to us - and will do so in the future only if we return there." Several protests were held against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević following the NATO campaign, and Bojić, as a prominent ally of Milošević, was a frequent target of attacks. In September 1999, he sued leaders of the opposition Alliance for Change movement for libel following a public rally in which he was subjected to a "mock trial" and blamed for difficulties in Serbia's health system. In 2000, he filed similar charges against opposition political leader
Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician and philosopher who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until Assassination of Zoran Đinđić, ...
. Bojić was appointed to a second term Chamber of Republics in May 2000. In May 2000, Bojić and fellow deputy prime minister
Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician and convicted war criminal. He is the founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS). Between 1998 and 2000, he was a D ...
signed a decree mandating the seizure of the opposition media outlet RTV Studio B by the Serbian state. Bojić and Šešelj asserted that the station was promoting terrorist activities and that it had repeatedly called for elected officials to be overthrown, charges that the studio's editor-in-chief dismissed as "nonsense." The takeover led to significant protests.


Minister of Health (2000)

Bojić received additional ministerial responsibilities as Serbia's minister of health on 12 July 2000. In this capacity, he banned smoking in all medical institutions and promoted the importation of medicines from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. In September 2000, he announced that no doctor would be permitted to work in state and private institutions at the same time. In the same period, the opposition Democratic Party accused Bojić of "persecuting" five doctors who were members of their party and who had criticized the country's health care situation at public meetings.


The Fall of Milošević and after

In July 2000, Bojić announced the JUL's support for a constitutional change that would permit Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević to seek re-election. The change was approved, and a Yugoslavian general election was called for September 2020. The reforms to Yugoslavia's electoral system also saw the introduction of direct elections for the Chamber of Republics; the SPS and JUL ran a joint list of candidates for this body, and Bojić was included in the third position. The 2000 Yugoslavian election saw the defeat of Slobodan Milošević by
Democratic Opposition of Serbia The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije, abbr. DOS) was a wide electoral alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialist Par ...
candidate
Vojislav Koštunica Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...
, an event that precipitated large-scale changes in Yugoslavian and Serbian politics. Notwithstanding Milošević's defeat, the SPS-JUL alliance won seven seats in the Chamber of Republics. Bojić was re-elected and served as an opposition member in the parliament that followed. He resigned as both health minister and deputy prime minister on 9 October 2000. (Technically, he remained in office until 24 October.) He was also dismissed as head of the Dedinje clinic in the same period. A newspaper report from this period described Bojić as "considered by many to be the most reviled of Milošević's supporters." The
Democratic Opposition of Serbia The Democratic Opposition of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Демократска oпозиција Cрбије, Demokratska opozicija Srbije, abbr. DOS) was a wide electoral alliance of political parties in Serbia, intent on ousting the ruling Socialist Par ...
won a landslide majority in the December 2000 Serbian parliamentary election, and in May 2001 the
ministry of the interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...
filed charges against Bojić for abuse of an official position. Charges could not move forward at the time, however, as Bojić still had parliamentary immunity by virtue of his seat in the Yugoslavian parliament. The DOS made various attempts to revoke Bojić's parliamentary immunity in 2001 and 2002, although these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. The Chamber of Republics ceased to exist in 2003.


2003–2016: Subsequent career

In 2003, the
Supreme Court of Switzerland The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ( ; ; ; ; sometimes the Swiss Federal Tribunal) is the supreme court of the Swiss Confederation and the head of the Swiss judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court is headquartered in the Federal Courtho ...
ruled that Swiss officials could provide Bojić's bank records to prosecutors in Serbia. In February 2005, by which time Bojić was no longer a parliamentarian, the Belgrade district prosecutor's office charged him with abuse of office. The charges were later withdrawn due to a lack of evidence. A new investigation was launched in 2011, and in April 2012 he was convicted of misusing his position at the Dedinje institute to embezzle more than 200,000 German marks. This decision was later overturned on appeal, and he was acquitted in a retrial. In 2012, Bojić, acting in his capacity as a medical official, visited Radical Party leader
Vojislav Šešelj Vojislav Šešelj ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав Шешељ, ; born 11 October 1954) is a Serbian politician and convicted war criminal. He is the founder and president of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS). Between 1998 and 2000, he was a D ...
at the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
and concluded that Šešelj's life was in danger due to health problems he was experiencing in captivity. In 2014, he urged that Šešelj be returned to Belgrade for treatment. After Šešelj was permitted to return to Belgrade on medical grounds, Bojić argued that forcing him to return to The Hague to face charges would be an act of murder, given Šešelj's ongoing cancer treatments. The matter ultimately became moot. The tribunal initially acquitted Šešelj ''in absentia'' of the charges against him. This acquittal was subsequently overturned and Šešelj was given a ten-year sentence for
crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...
, but he was not required to serve any of the sentence as he had already spent eleven years in pre-trial custody.


2016–present: Radical Party representative and return to the Dedinje Institute

Bojić returned to political life in 2016, receiving the seventh position on the Radical Party's electoral list for that year's Serbian parliamentary election. He was elected when the list won twenty-two mandates. During the 2016 campaign, Šešelj said that Bojić had secretly joined the Radical Party in November 1998, when
United Nations Protection Force The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...
representatives expelled Šešelj from the
Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...
after he, Bojić, and other Serbian politicians attended a public banquet for Nikola Poplašen. In Šešelj's recounting of events, Bojić (who left the Republika Srpska in the same convoy as Šešelj) made the decision to join the Radical Party during a late-night conversation in
Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. As of 2013, it has a population of 107,715 ...
; Šešelj added that this was kept secret because of Bojić's high-profile position in the JUL. Bojić's close co-operation with Radical Party colleagues during his time as a cabinet minister had previously been noted by some journalists. Bojić, for his part, said in August 1999 that the most meaningful division in Serbian politics was not between left- and right-wing parties, but between two rival blocs that he described as "patriotic" and "colonial." Bojić served as an opposition deputy in 2016–17 and was a member of the parliamentary health and family committee, a deputy member of the environmental protection committee, a member of Serbia's delegation to the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...
, and a member of the parliamentary friendship groups to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. In March 2017, Bojić led a Radical Party parliamentary delegation to
Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
to mark the three-year anniversary of the area's ''de facto'' joining of the
Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. He subsequently remarked that he planned to advise the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that he was "greatly impressed by casual communication with residents of the (resort city of)
Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...
. ..All of them are satisfied, no one oppresses them." He added that he believed the
2014 Crimean status referendum The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea that was conducted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (both subdivisions of Ukraine) after Russ ...
was held in accordance with international law. The government of
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, which considers Crimea to be a part of its territory, responded by issuing a five-year travel ban to Bojić and other members of the delegation. Two months later, Bojić took part in a Radical Party delegation to the breakaway
Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...
. Bojić resigned from the assembly on 30 August 2017, citing a need to return to the medical profession. The following month, he was re-appointed by the government of Serbia as director of the Dedinje Institute. The journal ''
Blic ''Blic'' (Cyrillic: Блиц, ) is a Serbian web portal covering politics, economy, entertainment, and current events. The first printed edition of Blic was published in 1996, its online portal was launched in 1998, and Blic TV began broadcasting ...
'' later reported that the appointment was the result of extensive lobbying by Šešelj to the Serbian government. In August 2018, Bojić received a permit to begin construction of a new, modern hospital for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, to be called "Dedinje 2."Izdata dozvola za kliniku 'Dedinje 2'
''Politika'', 15 August 2018, accessed 15 August 2018.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojic, Milovan 1955 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Serbia) Members of the Chamber of Republics (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Socialist Party of Serbia politicians Yugoslav Left politicians Serbian Radical Party politicians