Slobodan Samardžić ( sr-cyr, Слободан Самарџић) is a Serbian academic and politician who served as the Minister for Kosovo and Metohija from 2007 to 2008.

Early years and education

Samardžić was born in

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 ...

in 1953 to Serb parents from

Bosnia 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 ...

and

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. His family hails from the influential Samardžić brotherhood of the Herzegovinan

Krivošije Krivošije ( cyrl, Кривошије, ) is a microregion in southwestern Montenegro, located on a high plateau belonging to the Orjen mountain range, north of the Bay of Kotor. Krivošije was historically located at a tripoint between the Prin ...

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

, specifically from the area near

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Херцег Нови, ) is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of ...

, in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. Samardžić graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences, where he also obtained his PhD.

Professional career

He was editor of scientific and political program at

Radio Belgrade Radio Belgrade (, ) is a state-owned and operated radio station in Belgrade, Serbia. It has four different programs (Radio Belgrade 1, Radio Belgrade 2, Radio Belgrade 3, and Radio Belgrade 202), a precious archive of several hundreds of thousa ...

from 1982 to 1984. He was a fellow of the Institute of European Studies. From 2001 to 2023, Samardžić was a full professor of

European Studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on the History of Western civilization and the evolution of Western culture, as well as on current developments in European integration. Some ...

at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade. He is also Director of Political Studies at the Belgrade think-tank Centre for Liberal-Democratic Studies. Area of his studies includes political ideas and institutions, contemporary federalism, political theory and practice of constitutionalism, political system of Yugoslavia and Serbia, and European Union. Samardžić has written six books: ''Ideology and Rationalism'' (1984), ''Council Democracy'' (1987), ''Yugoslavia and the Challenge of Federalism'' (1990), ''Coercive Community and Democracy'' (1994), ''European Union as a Model of the Supranational Community'' (1998), and ''State Construction and Deconstruction'' (2008). Samardžić was advisor for political issues to former Yugoslav president and Serbian Prime Minister

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 ...

. He headed the Serbian government’s Committee for Decentralisation and was (with Vuk Jeremić) co-ordinator of Serbia's State Negotiating Team on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija.

Personal life

Samardžić speaks English and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. He is married and has three children.

Media

Slobodan Samardžić appears in Boris Malagurski's documentary film '' The Weight of Chains'' in which he talks about the motives behind Western intervention in the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

. In the film, Samardžić also speaks about concerns regarding the status of Serbia's northern province of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

References

External links

Articles about Samardzic in 'Mail & Guardian'

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110721130748/http://glassrbije.org/E/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3172&Itemid=2 Samardzic: Kosovo constitution unacceptable to Serbia {{DEFAULTSORT:Samardzic, Slobodan 1953 births Living people Politicians from Belgrade Democratic Party of Serbia politicians State-Building Movement (Serbia, 2014) politicians Serbian political scientists Academic staff of the University of Belgrade Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia Serbian people of Montenegrin descent University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Science alumni Members of the National Assembly (Serbia)