Branimir Nestorović

Branimir Nestorović
Бранимир Несторовић
Nestorović in 2021
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 February 2024
Personal details
Born (1954-12-16) 16 December 1954 (age 69)
Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Political partySPO (until 2000)
DS (later)
Independent (later)
MI–GIN (2023–2024)
MI—SN (2024–present)
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade
Occupation
  • Politician
  • pulmonologist
  • university professor

Branimir Nestorović (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранимир Несторовић; born 16 December 1954) is a Serbian politician, pulmonologist, conspiracy theorist, and retired university professor serving as the member of the National Assembly since 6 February 2024.[1][2][3] He is one of the representatives of the We–The Voice from the People organisation and was elected to the National Assembly and the Belgrade City Assembly in 2023.[4][5] In his career, he was also a paediatrician, allergist, and a professor emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade.[6]

Early life and education

Nestorović was born on 16 December 1954 in Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia.[7] He graduated from the Natural-Mathematics Department of the Obrenovac Gymnasium. He completed his studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Belgrade in 1979 and gained his doctorate at the same faculty in 1985 with a dissertation in the narrow scientific field of paediatrics and allergology titled Pollen Allergy in Children.[8]

Career

Medical career

Nestorović was the head of the Department of Pulmonology and Allergology at the University Children's Hospital in Belgrade.[9]

Academic career

In 1987, he was elected as an assistant at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade. He was re-elected in 1991, and was elected to the position of assistant professor in 1995. He became an associate professor in 2000 and was re-elected in 2009.[10]

He holds the title of full professor in the field of paediatrics and has published paediatrics textbooks.

Controversial medical stances

He gained notoriety for downplaying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and his support for the anti-vaccination and alternative medicine movements.[11] As a member of the COVID-19 crisis team, appointed by the government of Serbia, he proclaimed COVID-19 as the "funniest virus in the history of mankind".[12]

Nestorović has endorsed many conspiracy theories, such as existence of a secret cure for cancer, usage of Tesla's death ray in Iraq and Serbia, and existence of "time portals" which send people to the future.[13]

Political career

Nestorović was previously a member of the Serbian Renewal Movement and he took part in the protests against Slobodan Milošević in the 1990s.[6] In 1999, following the formation of SPS-SPO coalition, Nestorović was the assistant to the minister of education.[6] After the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, he became a member of the Democratic Party.[6] In 2022, he publicly endorsed the Dveri–POKS electoral list for the 2022 Serbian parliamentary election.[14]

In 2023, he was one of the founders of the right-wing populist We–The Voice from the People political organisation. He was also its ballot carrier in the 2023 parliamentary elections and the Belgrade City Assembly election. MI—GIN passed the electoral census in both elections and Nestorović was elected to the National Assembly and the Belgrade City Assembly. Following the preliminary results for the Belgrade City Assembly election, president Aleksandar Vučić stated that Nestorović's organisation will be the kingmaker for Belgrade's local government.[15]

He was sworn in as MP in the National Assembly on 6 February 2024. Nestorović raised a controversy at the constitutive session of the National Assembly by comparing the Serbia Against Violence MP's to Gypsies. He later apologized to the Romani community.[16][17]

References

  1. ^ "Od uglednog lekara do teoretičara zavere: Ko je Branimir Nestorović, najveće iznenađenje decembarskih izbora? - Društvo - Dnevni list Danas" (in Serbian). 18 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Vučić proglasio pobedu naprednjaka, opoziciona 'Srbija protiv nasilja' traži poništavanje izbora u Beogradu". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). 17 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ^ Dragojlo, Saša (18 December 2023). "Vaccine-Sceptic Doctor Becomes Kingmaker in Belgrade After Polls". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Neizvesno ko formira vlast u Beogradu, moguća ključna uloga Nestorovića, opozicija najavljuje protest". BBC News na srpskom (in Serbian (Latin script)). 17 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ^ Štulović, Milica (18 December 2023). "KO JE ŽENA DR BRANIMIRA NESTOROVIĆA? Tri decenije su u braku i imaju ćerku: Prava je misterija, a evo zbog čega ne želi da izlazi sa mužem". Blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d "Branimir Nestorović". Istinomer (in Serbian). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  7. ^ "EVO KOLIKO GODINA IMA BRANIMIR NESTOROVIĆ! Svi smo bili u zabludi". espreso.co.rs. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  8. ^ Nestorović, Branimir (1984). "Polenska alergija u dece: doktorska disertacija". Beograd.
  9. ^ "Служба пулмологије и алергологије". Универзитетска дечја клиника (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Реферати о избору у звање". 2009.
  11. ^ "Najveće iznenađenje izbora u Srbiji Nestorović: "Biće jako teško formirati gradsku vlast"". Euractiv. 18 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Sve krize Kriznog štaba". BBC News na srpskom (in Serbian (Latin script)). 3 July 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Svi Nestorovićevi ljudi: Između ravne Zemlje, Teslinog zraka smrti i vraćanja tradiciji" [All Nestorović's people: Between flat Earth, Tesla's death ray and return to tradition]. NIN (in Serbian (Latin script)). 24 December 2023. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  14. ^ Cvetković, Ljudmila; Gočanin, Sonja (18 December 2023). "Branimir Nestorović ljubitelj teorija zavera stigao do Skupštine Srbije". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Пројекције резултата избора у Београду – СНС 48, СПН 43 мандата; тас на ваги листа Бранимира Несторовића" [Preliminary results of Belgrade local elections: SNS 48, SPN 43 seats. Branimir Nestorović is the kingmaker.] (in Serbian). RTS. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  16. ^ "NESTOROVIĆ KRITIKOVAO OPOZICIJU PA UVREDIO ROME: A11 Inicijativa podnela Poverenici pritužbu zbog "rasističke" izjave". Euractiv (in Serbian). Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  17. ^ U, T. (7 February 2024). "Nestorović se izvinio pripadnicima romske nacionalne manjine zbog uvredljivog govora u Skupštini Srbije". Telegraf.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 10 February 2024.