Filip Vujanović (
Montenegrin CyrillicMontenegrin language is a South Slavic language, spoken in Montenegro, and in the Montenegrin diaspora. It is based on the Shtokavian dialect. It is the official language of the country...
: Филип Вујановић) (born September 1, 1954) is a Montenegrin
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
who, since 2003, has served as the
PresidentThe President of Montenegro is the head of state of the Montenegro. The current president is Filip Vujanović, who was reelected in the first round of the 2008 presidential election with 51.9% of the vote...
of
MontenegroMontenegro , is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east and Albania to the south...
. He is the first President of Montenegro since it split ties with
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country located in both Central and Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and central part of the Balkans...
and became an independent nation in June 2006. He claimed a landslide victory in the
Montenegrin presidential electionA presidential election was held in Montenegro on 6 April 2008; it was the country's first since independence. According to a compromise with the opposition, local elections in Herceg-Novi and Tivat were held at the same time. The law on presidential elections was passed on 27 December 2007....
held on April 6, 2008.
From 21 May 2008 he is serving his second presidential term.
Born and raised in
BelgradeBelgrade Belgrade Belgrade (Serbian Cyrillic: Београд, Serbian Latin: Beograd (meaning "White City" in Serbian) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies on two international waterways, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where Central Europe's Pannonian Plain meets...
, Vujanović graduated from the
University of Belgrade's Law SchoolThe University of Belgrade Faculty of Law is one of the first-tier educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. The building is located in the heart of the old part of Belgrade, in the urban neighborhood of Palilula, contiguously to the city park Tasmajdan, on Bulevar kralja...
.
Filip Vujanović (
Montenegrin CyrillicMontenegrin language is a South Slavic language, spoken in Montenegro, and in the Montenegrin diaspora. It is based on the Shtokavian dialect. It is the official language of the country...
: Филип Вујановић) (born September 1, 1954) is a Montenegrin
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
who, since 2003, has served as the
PresidentThe President of Montenegro is the head of state of the Montenegro. The current president is Filip Vujanović, who was reelected in the first round of the 2008 presidential election with 51.9% of the vote...
of
MontenegroMontenegro , is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east and Albania to the south...
. He is the first President of Montenegro since it split ties with
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country located in both Central and Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and central part of the Balkans...
and became an independent nation in June 2006. He claimed a landslide victory in the
Montenegrin presidential electionA presidential election was held in Montenegro on 6 April 2008; it was the country's first since independence. According to a compromise with the opposition, local elections in Herceg-Novi and Tivat were held at the same time. The law on presidential elections was passed on 27 December 2007....
held on April 6, 2008.
From 21 May 2008 he is serving his second presidential term.
Early life and career
Born and raised in
BelgradeBelgrade Belgrade Belgrade (Serbian Cyrillic: Београд, Serbian Latin: Beograd (meaning "White City" in Serbian) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies on two international waterways, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where Central Europe's Pannonian Plain meets...
, Vujanović graduated from the
University of Belgrade's Law SchoolThe University of Belgrade Faculty of Law is one of the first-tier educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. The building is located in the heart of the old part of Belgrade, in the urban neighborhood of Palilula, contiguously to the city park Tasmajdan, on Bulevar kralja...
. Between 1978 and 1981 he worked in one of the city's Municipal Courts, and later also as an assistant at the Belgrade District Court.
In 1981, aged 27, he moved to
TitogradPodgorica, sometimes transliterated Podgoritsa , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. It is at , above sea level.A census in 2003 put the city's population at 136,473...
. Following a short stint as secretary at Titograd's District Court, he worked as a lawyer until entering politics in March 1993.
Career in politics
Vujanović joined the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro in 1993 upon the invitation of then's President
Momir BulatovićMomir Bulatović is a former President of Montenegro and Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was also the leader of the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro.-Early life:Bulatović was born in Belgrade to a family of a JNA officer from Montenegro...
with the end of the Fall of Yugoslavia and constitution of the
Federal Republic of YugoslaviaThe Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or FRY was a federal state consisting of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , created after the other four republics broke away from Yugoslavia amid rising ethnic tensions...
just of Montenegro and Serbia. He was a Minister of Justice in Đukanović's pro-
Slobodan MiloševićSlobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia...
1993-1996 government, and then Minister of the Interior from 1996 to 1998. During the 1997 DPS CG leadership conflict, though at first neutral, he sided with Milo Đukanović after he won the presidential election and supported him for new President of DPS.
Milo then handpicked him and nominated him as the first
Prime Minister of MontenegroPrime Minister of Montenegro, is the leader of the Government of Montenegro. The prime minister directs the work of the Government, and submits to the Parliament of Montenegro the Government's Program including a list of proposed ministers...
from February 5, 1998 until January 8, 2003 with a more democratic perspective and aimed against Milošević. On November 5, 2002, he became speaker of the Montenegrin parliament, a position which, starting on November 25, 2002, made him acting president of Montenegro due to the resignation of Milo Đukanović from the presidency in order to prepare to replace Vujanović as prime minister. Vujanović ran in the December 2002 presidential elections and won a landslide victory, receiving 86% of the vote, but the election was ruled to be invalid because turnout was less than 50%. The elections were held again in February 2003, with Vujanović winning 81% of the vote, but again turnout was below 50%. The elections were held for a third time on May 11, 2003, with the minimum turnout rule abolished, and Vujanović won again with 63% of the vote. Vujanović resigned from his positions as speaker and acting president on May 19, but became president of Montenegro again three days later when his term began. Even though he was born and raised in Serbia, he was one of the most prominent Montenegrin secessionists. Filip represents the moderate-ideology DPS, unlike hard-core extreme under Milo Đukanović.
As president of Montenegro, Vujanović was a supporter of the Montenegro independence referendum, though Prime Minister Đukanović was much more high-profile in his campaign for it. Vujanović’s messages often focus on Montenegro’s and Serbia’s ability to have a peaceful separation and post-independence cooperation, and he is friends with Serbian president
Boris TadićBoris Tadić is a Serbian politician and the current President of Serbia. A psychologist by profession, he is a leader of the Democratic Party. Tadić was elected to a five-year term on June 27, 2004, and was sworn into office on July 11, 2004. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term...
.
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=126&art_id=qw1148936587752B255
In April 2007, President Vujanović declared he will protect the property of the main religious institution in Montenegro, the
Serbian Orthodox ChurchThe Serbian Orthodox Church or the Church of Serbia is one of the autocephalous...
during an attempt of the non-canonical
Montenegrin Orthodox ChurchThe Montenegrin Orthodox Church is a non-canonical religious group acting in Montenegro and Montenegrin emigration circles .MOC considers itself to be the sole legitimate representative of Orthodox Christianity in...
to forcibly seize its property.
At
2008 presidential electionA presidential election was held in Montenegro on 6 April 2008; it was the country's first since independence. According to a compromise with the opposition, local elections in Herceg-Novi and Tivat were held at the same time. The law on presidential elections was passed on 27 December 2007....
, Vujanović ran for the second presidential term, and secured another five years in office in the first election round, with 51.89% vote. The turnout was 68.2%.
Personal
Since May 1985, he has been married to Svetlana, court judge, with whom he has three children: two daughters (Tatjana and Nina), and a son (Danilo). Unlike Đukanović, he refuses to have bodyguards, so he can be often seen walking the streets of
PodgoricaPodgorica, sometimes transliterated Podgoritsa , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. It is at , above sea level.A census in 2003 put the city's population at 136,473...
with friends, but no security.
External links