Goran Rakić

Goran Rakić
Горан Ракић
Goran Rakić in March 2021
Member of the National Assembly of Serbia
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 February 2024
Minister for Communities and Returns of Kosovo
In office
22 March 2021 – 5 November 2022
Prime MinisterAlbin Kurti
Preceded byDalibor Jevtić
Succeeded byNenad Rašić
Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo
In office
3 June 2020 – 22 March 2021
Prime MinisterAvdullah Hoti
Succeeded byEmilija Redžepi
Minister of Administration and Local Government of Kosovo
In office
3 June 2020 – 22 March 2021
Prime MinisterAvdullah Hoti
Preceded byEmilija Redžepi
Succeeded byElbert Krasniqi
Mayor of North Mitrovica
In office
23 February 2014 – 3 June 2020
Preceded byKrstimir Pantić
Succeeded byAleksandar Spirić (acting)
Personal details
Born1971 (age 53–54)
Kosovska Mitrovica, SAP Kosovo, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Citizenship
  • Serbian
  • Kosovan
Political partySerbian Progressive Party
Other political
affiliations		Serb List
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Priština

Goran Rakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Горан Ракић, Albanian: Goran Rakiq; born 1971) is a Serbian politician serving as a member of the National Assembly since 6 February 2024.

A Kosovo Serb, he previously served as the minister for communities and returns in the Government of Kosovo from 22 March 2021 until his resignation on 5 November 2022. Prior to this, he served as the deputy prime minister of Kosovo and as the minister of administration and local government. He is a former mayor of North Mitrovica and the former president of the Serb List, an ethnic Serb minority political party.

Early life

Goran Rakić was born in 1971 in Kosovska Mitrovica, which was then a part of the SFR Yugoslavia, to an ethnic Serb family. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics, University of Priština.[1] For a period of time, he worked as a firefighter and was the director of JKP "Standard" Kosovska Mitrovica, a utility company.[1]

Political career

Serb List and Kosovo politics

He has been performing the function of the mayor of the municipality of North Mitrovica after swearing an oath to the Republic of Kosovo in 2014. He won his second four-year term in 2017 Kosovan local elections. Since 2017, Rakic has been the president of the Serb List, which has power in all ten Serb-majority municipalities, as well as all ten guaranteed seats in the Assembly of Kosovo for the Serb community.[2] He is also the president of the municipality board of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in North Mitrovica.[1]

In the summer of 2017, Rakić and Milan Radoičić, a vice president of the Serb List met with Behgjet Pacolli, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo in Budva to discuss the possibility of the Serb List joining the government of Kosovo and supporting Ramush Haradinaj as the prime minister.[3]

In January 2019, he said that Serbs will never allow the reunification of North and South Mitrovica as that would be a cover for ethnic cleansing against the Kosovo Serbs.[4]

On 3 June 2020, he took the office of one of the Deputy Prime Ministers and the Minister of Administration and Local Government in the Hoti cabinet.[5]

In July 2020, Serb List caused a controversy in Kosovo by announcing that they will support Serbia's COVID-19 curfew measures and have vowed to locally implement them in Kosovo. They also vowed to support Aleksandar Vučić in the “fight” for Kosovo during the dialogue.[6] Shortly after, a parliamentary resolution initiated by Vjosa Osmani, the Speaker of the Parliament, condemning a statement by the Serb List failed to pass.[7]

On 27 July 2020, Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency started an investigation against Rakić and other high ranking Serb officials in Kosovo due to the suspicion that they violated the law because they did not report their property and income to the Anti-Corruption Agency.[8]

On 22 March 2021, Rakić took office of the Minister for Communities and Returns in the second Kurti cabinet.[9] He announced his resignation from this position on 5 November 2022.[10]

On 24 October 2023, following the Banjska attack, Rakić was succeeded as SL president by Zlatan Elek.[11]

Member of the National Assembly of Serbia

He appeared on the Serbian Progressive Party's electoral list in the 2023 parliamentary election and was elected to the National Assembly of Serbia.[12] He was sworn in as MP on 6 February 2024.[13]

Personal life

He is married and has two children.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Tasić, Piše: Jelena. "Izabrani gradonačelnik". Dnevni list Danas (in Serbian). Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Kabinet gradonačelnika". Zubin Potok. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  3. ^ "KRIK objavio fotografiju - Pacoli, Rakić i Radoičić zajedno na jahti". N1 Srbija (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. ^ "GRADONAČELNIK GORAN RAKIĆ PORUČIO: Srbi nikada neće dozvoliti ujedinjenje severnog i južnog dela Кosovske Mitrovice! Ujedinjenje Mitrovice paravan je za etničko čišćenje!". kurir.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Izabrana nova Vlada Kosova, podržala je i Srpska lista". Glas Amerike (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Kosovo Serbs to Follow Vucic's Curfew Order, Says Coalition Partner 'Serb List'". Exit - Explaining Albania. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Resolution Condemning Kosovo Coalition Ally's Support of Serbia in Dialogue Fails to Pass". Exit - Explaining Albania. 9 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  8. ^ CINS, Piše (27 July 2020). "Agencija pokrenula postupak protiv Gorana Rakića i još dva srpska funkcionera sa Kosova". Dnevni list Danas (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Izglasana nova vlada Kosova, imaće 15 ministarstava, Srpska lista će se žaliti". N1 (in Serbian). 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Serbs in northern Kosovo quit state jobs in licence plate protest". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Izabran novi predsednik Srpske liste - Vreme". Vreme (in Serbian). Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  12. ^ "KOŠARKAŠI, ISTORIČARI, LEKARI, MUZIČARI Ko je sve na listi SNS za izbore? Ovo je kompletan spisak". Blic.rs (in Serbian). 3 November 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Narodna skupština Republike Srbije | Narodni poslanik". www.parlament.gov.rs. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
Government offices
Preceded by Minister for Communities and Returns
2021–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Administration and Local Government
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
Slavko Simić
 President of the Serb List
2017–2023 		Succeeded by
Zlatan Elek