Nikola Selaković

For the Serbian rower, see Nikola Selaković (rower).
Nikola Selaković
Никола Селаковић
Selaković in 2021
Minister of Culture
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 May 2024
Prime MinisterMiloš Vučević
Preceded byMaja Gojković
Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy
In office
26 October 2022 – 2 May 2024
Prime Minister
Preceded byDarija Kisić Tepavčević
Succeeded byNemanja Starović
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
28 October 2020 – 26 October 2022
Prime MinisterAna Brnabić
Preceded byAna Brnabić (acting)
Ivica Dačić
Succeeded byIvica Dačić
Minister of Justice
In office
27 April 2014 – 11 August 2016
Prime MinisterAleksandar Vučić
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byNela Kuburović
Minister of Justice and Public Administration
In office
27 July 2012 – 27 April 2014
Prime MinisterIvica Dačić
Preceded bySnežana Malović
Milan Marković[a]
Succeeded byHimself
Kori Udovički[b]
Personal details
Born (1983-04-30) 30 April 1983 (age 41)
Titovo Užice, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Political partySRS (2001–2008)
SNS (2008–present)
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade Faculty of Law
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer

Nikola Selaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Селаковић, pronounced [nǐkola sêlaːkoʋitɕ]; born 30 April 1983) is a Serbian politician serving as minister of culture since 2024. A member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as minister of justice[c] from 2012 to 2016, minister of foreign affairs from 2020 to 2022 and as minister of labour, employment, veteran and social policy from 2022 to 2024.[1][2][3][4]

Early life and education

He was born in 1983 in Titovo Užice. Graduated from Belgrade's Sixth Gymnasium and the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, where he is currently a research assistant in comparative legal tradition.[5]

While he was an assistant at the Faculty of Law, Selaković took a bottle of water from a Croatian manufacturer from the student at the lecture and threw it in the garbage can, saying that he was doing it because it was not domestic water. Selaković said that he only wanted to point out to the students the necessity of buying domestic products.[6]

During his studies, he won the oratory competition at the Faculty of Law three times. He was a member of the team at the international competition in the field of international public law "Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition", and in 2007 he received the first prize of the Alan Watson Foundation for the project "Dušan's Code and Legal Transcripts".[7]

Selaković is the founder, and in the period from 2011 to 2012, he was also the president of the Serbian Cultural Circle "Despot Stefan Lazarević". Since 2010, he has been the president of the "Oratoria" Institute - Center for Rhetoric. He has been a member since 2003, and since 2005 he has been the secretary of the Club of Lovers of Ancient and Roman Law at the Faculty of Law "Forum Romanum".[7]

Political career

According to some sources, Selaković joined the Serbian Radical Party in 2001 out of revolt against the ruling DOS coalition after his father, a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia was fired from his job, because he was a member of that party.[7]

He has been a member of the Serbian Progressive Party since 2008, a member of the party's Executive Board and president of the party's Legal Council.

Selaković (right) with Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Russia, 15 December 2020

He served as Minister of Justice and State Administration in the Government of Serbia and the cabinet of Ivica Dačić in the period from 2012 to 2014, and then as Minister of Justice in the period from 2014 to 2016 in the first cabinet of Aleksandar Vučić.[2]

While he was the Minister of Justice, together with the then Minister of Defense Bratislav Gašić, Selaković organized the transfer of Vladimir Lazarević, a convicted war criminal by plane from The Hague and the ceremonial reception of the retired general who was released after serving two thirds of his sentence.[8] He was Serbia's first Minister of Justice who visited Serbian detainees awaiting final ICTY verdicts. Selaković visited Ratko Mladić, Radovan Kadadžić, Dragoljub Ojdanić, Zdravko Tolimir, Vinko Pandurević, Vlastimir Đorđević, Nikola Šainović, Sreten Lukić, Nebojša Pavković, Vladimir Lazarević and Momčilo Perišić.[9]

By the decision of President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić of 31 May 2017, he was appointed to the position of Secretary General of the President of the Republic, which he held until 27 October 2020.[2]

Since 28 October 2020, he has been serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second cabinet of Ana Brnabić.[2]

On 13 November 2020, Selaković warned that Serbs are still discriminated against in Croatia.[10]

Personal life

He has a brother Velimir Selaković.[11] He is married to Milica and is the father of Lazar, Vasilije and Ljubica.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Marković served as minister of public administration.
  2. ^ Udovički served as minister of public administration.
  3. ^ The ministry was known as ministry of justice and public information until 2014.

References

  1. ^ "Aleksandar Vučić: Ovo su ministri nove Vlade". Vreme (in Serbian). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic". www.mfa.gov.rs. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  3. ^ srbija.gov.rs. "Nikola Selakovic". www.srbija.gov.rs. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. ^ Naprednjaci izabrali kandidate za ministre RTS 22 July 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012. (in Serbian)
  5. ^ Spisak nastavnika i saradnika Faculty of Law, assistants profile (in Serbian)
  6. ^ "Nikola Selaković". Nedeljnik Vreme. October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Nikola Selaković". Istinomer (in Serbian). Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Kad četnici slave Dan pobjede nad fašizmom". Al Jazeera Balkans (in Bosnian). 10 May 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. ^ "OVO JE NOVI ŠEF DIPLOMATIJE SRBIJE: Nakon višesatnog sastanka s ratnim zločincem Ratkom Mladićem, na svom Twitter nalogu je napisao..." slobodna-bosna.ba. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  10. ^ "MINISTAR SELAKOVIĆ UPOZORIO: Srbi i dalje diskriminisani u Hrvatskoj". Pink.rs | Najbrži portal u Srbiji (in Serbian). Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  11. ^ [1] Archived 9 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Ministry of Justice web site Official biography of Minister.
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