Aleksandar Vučić
Who was Aleksandar Vučić?
Current President of Serbia since 2017, previously serving as Prime Minister from 2014 to 2017. He leads the Serbian Progressive Party and has been a dominant figure in Serbian politics.
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Aleksandar Vučić (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Aleksandar Vučić was born on March 5, 1970, in Belgrade, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He went to Zemun Gymnasium for high school and studied law at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Law, graduating as a lawyer. Instead of pursuing a career in law, he quickly entered party politics.
Vučić started his political career in 1993 with the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), where he secured a seat in the National Assembly of Serbia. He quickly climbed the ranks and became the party's secretary-general in 1995. In 1998, he became the Minister of Information under President Slobodan Milošević in Mirko Marjanović's government. During this time, Vučić imposed strict media controls, targeting independent journalists and banning foreign TV networks in Serbia. His term ended with the October 2000 uprising that ousted Milošević.
After Milošević was overthrown, Vučić stayed active in opposition politics and remained a key player in the SRS. In 2008, he and Tomislav Nikolić left the SRS and co-founded the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), with Vučić initially serving as deputy president. The SNS became the largest party in the 2012 elections and formed a governing coalition with the Socialist Party of Serbia. Vučić was named First Deputy Prime Minister in 2012 and led the SNS until 2023. Though not formally the head of government, he was the most influential figure due to his leadership of the dominant coalition.
Vučić became Prime Minister of Serbia in 2014 and served until 2017. During this time, he pushed for Serbia to join the European Union, opening the first accession chapters in 2015. He also worked on privatizing state-owned enterprises and broader economic reforms. Vučić was a key player in EU-mediated talks between Belgrade and Pristina, backing the Brussels Agreement to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo. His time as prime minister saw the SNS become the dominant force in Serbian politics.
In April 2017, Vučić was elected President of Serbia, a position he still holds. As president, he has kept Serbia's EU membership bid on track while fostering strong ties with Russia and China, a policy mix that has drawn both praise and criticism at home and abroad. He has been married twice, first to Ksenija Vučić and later to Tamara Vučić, and has received several international honors from countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Monaco, Cyprus, and Egypt.
Before Fame
Aleksandar Vučić grew up in Belgrade during the final decades of socialist Yugoslavia, a time marked by economic instability, rising nationalism, and the weakening of the federal state. He attended Zemun Gymnasium and later the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Law. He came of age politically when Yugoslavia was falling apart and Serbian nationalist politics were on the rise. These early years were shaped by the wars following Yugoslavia's breakup, events that deeply affected the political arena in which he built his career.
He officially entered politics in 1993 by joining the Serbian Radical Party, one of the most nationalist groups in Serbian politics then. At just 23, he became part of the National Assembly of Serbia, and within two years, he rose to the party's senior leadership as its secretary-general. His appointment as Minister of Information in 1998 was a significant step in moving from a party role to a government position, though his actions in that role would later become controversial in discussions about his political path.
Key Achievements
- Elected President of Serbia in 2017 and re-elected, becoming the dominant figure in Serbian governance across more than a decade
- Led Serbia's EU accession negotiations as Prime Minister, overseeing the opening of the first formal accession chapters in 2015
- Co-founded the Serbian Progressive Party in 2008, building it into the largest and most electorally dominant political force in Serbia
- Played a central role in EU-mediated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, supporting the 2013 Brussels Agreement on normalization of relations
- Received state honors from over six countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, Monaco, Cyprus, and Egypt, reflecting an active multi-directional foreign policy
Did You Know?
- 01.As Minister of Information in 1998, Vučić banned foreign television networks including CNN from broadcasting in Serbia and imposed heavy fines on independent domestic outlets under a restrictive public information law.
- 02.Vučić co-founded the Serbian Progressive Party in 2008 after splitting from the Serbian Radical Party alongside Tomislav Nikolić, rebranding himself politically from a hardline nationalist toward a pro-European reformist platform.
- 03.He received an honorary doctorate from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, one of Russia's most prestigious foreign-affairs universities, reflecting the dual-track foreign relationships he has maintained as president.
- 04.In 2019 alone, Vučić received both the Russian Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Serbian Orthodox Church's Order of St. Sava, illustrating the breadth of his ceremonial diplomatic and religious recognitions.
- 05.Vučić served as president of the Serbian Progressive Party for over a decade, from 2012 to 2023, maintaining simultaneous leadership of both the party and the Serbian state for the duration of his presidency up to that point.
Family & Personal Life
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Alexander Nevsky | 2019 | — |
| Dostyk Order of grade I | 2018 | — |
| Order of the Republika Srpska | 2018 | — |
| honorary doctor of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations | — | — |
| Collar of the Order of the White Lion | 2021 | — |
| Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles | 2022 | — |
| Order of Makarios III | — | — |
| Order of Saint Mark of Alexandria | 2017 | — |
| Order of St. Sava | 2019 | — |
| Order of the White Lion | — | — |
| Order of Saint-Charles | — | — |
| Hungarian Order of Merit | — | — |