Neven Jurica
Encyclopedia
Neven Jurica is a Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n politician who worked in Croatian diplomacy between 1992 and 2009. Between February 2008 and September 2009 he was the Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations.

Biography

Jurica has a degree in comparative literature and philosophy, and a master of arts in literary theory from the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...

. From 1980 to 1989, he worked as a writer and published in excess of 16 books on literary theory and criticism. At the same time, he oversaw a literary forum, “Literary Friday”.

In 1990 he was a founding member of the Croatian Democratic Union
Croatian Democratic Union
The Croatian Democratic Union is the main center-right political party in Croatia. It is the biggest and strongest individual Croatian party since independence of Croatia. The Christian democratic HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 to 2000 and, in partial coalition, from 2003...

 and served as Political Secretary. Following the first democratic elections in Croatia in 1990
Croatian parliamentary election, 1990
Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 22 April 1990, with a second round of voting on 6 May. The first free elections since multi-party politics were introduced, they resulted in a victory for the Croatian Democratic Union, which won 55 of the 80 seats...

, he was elected to the Parliament and served as Chairman of the Human Rights Committee (1990–1992).

Jurica has served as the Croatian Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand between 1992 and December 1995. He was the Ambassador in Bulgaria (1996–1997) and Norway (1998–2000). He was the Croatian Ambassador to the United States of America between 2004 and 2008.

Between 2003 and 2004 he was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Croatia
Parliament of Croatia
The Parliament of Croatia or the Sabor is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia and legislature of the country. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, represents the people and is vested with the legislative power...

.

As the Permanent Representative to the UN, he represented Croatia in the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

 and served as the President of the Council in December 2008.

After being replaced as the Representative to the UN, the Croatian anti-corruption agency USKOK
USKOK
USKOK is a Croatian government institution. It is a State Attorney office specialized in corruption and organized crime.USKOK started work in December 2001...

 brought charges against Jurica for embezzlement of USD 120,000. Jurica has described his finance as "chaotic" and reimbursed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the amount in question, but maintained that the money was not used for personal gain. On April 22, 2010, after a trial at the County Court in Zagreb, Jurica was sentenced to 18 months of prison.

Jurica holds membership in the Croatian Writers' Association and P.E.N. (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists).

He is married with two children.

External links

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