Željka Cvijanović

Željka Cvijanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељка Цвијановић; Serbo-Croatian: [ʒeʎka tsʋijanoʋitɕ]), née Grabovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Грабовац; born 2 August 1967), is a Bosnian Serb politician who is the 9th and current President of Republika Srpska.

Željka Cvijanović
9th President of Republika Srpska
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2018
Vice President	Ramiz Salkić Josip Jerković
Preceded by	Milorad Dodik
12th Prime Minister of Republika Srpska
In office 12 March 2013 – 19 November 2018
President	Milorad Dodik
Preceded by	Aleksandar Džombić
Succeeded by	Radovan Višković
Minister of Economic Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Republika Srpska
In office 2010–2013
Preceded by	Jasna Brkić
Succeeded by	Igor Vidović
Personal details
Born	Željka Grabovac (1967-08-02) 2 August 1967 Teslić, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Bosnian Serb
Political party	Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Banja Luka

She was the 11th Prime Minister of Republika Srpska from 12 March 2013 to 19 November 2018. On 7 October 2018 she was elected to be President of Republika Srpska. Cvijanović is a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats.[1]

Biography

Before going into full-time politics, Cvijanović was an English teacher. She studied at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, the Faculty of Philosophy in Banja Luka and the Faculty of Law in Banja Luka. She is a professor of English language and literature and also holds a master's degree in diplomatic and consular law from The Banja Luka Law School on "The International and legal status of the EU".

Cvijanović worked as a teacher of English and as a senior interpreter and assistant for the EU Monitoring Mission in BiH. Then she was an advisor for European Integration and cooperation with international organizations to the RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik; as Chief of Cabinet Affairs of the RS Prime Minister; and managed the Unit for coordination and European integration.

In the 2010-2014 parliamentary term she was an expert-external member of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. On 29 December 2010 she was appointed to the position of Minister of Economic Affairs and Regional Cooperation in the RS Government led by PM Aleksandar Džombić, and on 12 March 2013 she was appointed by the RS President Milorad Dodik as RS Prime Minister, being the first woman in that position.

At the 2014 Bosnian general election Cvijanović stood as a candidate of the incumbent coalition SNSD-DNS-SPRS for the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She lost against the opposition candidate Mladen Ivanić (PDP) and was reappointed to the RS Prime Minister office in the 15th Government of Republika Srpska.

She is an SNSD member, also a member of the SNSD Executive Board, and of the SNSD Main Board.

Željka is married and has two sons.

References

1. Zeljka Cvijanovic new Prime Minister of Republic Srpska

Political offices
Preceded by Aleksandar Džombić	Prime Minister of Republika Srpska 2013–2018	Succeeded by Radovan Višković
Preceded by Milorad Dodik	President of Republika Srpska 2018–present	Incumbent