Željka Cvijanović

Biography

Željka Cvijanović (née Grabovac) was born on March 4, 1967, in Teslić, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is a well-known Bosnian Serb politician who has held several top positions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. Throughout her career, she has been a leading member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), which is one of the main political parties in Republika Srpska.

Cvijanović's political career took off when she was appointed Prime Minister of Republika Srpska in 2013, a role she served in until 2018. As Prime Minister, she managed various government projects and policies focused on the entity's economic growth and administrative duties. Her leadership during this period made her an important figure within the SNSD party and the political scene of Republika Srpska.

In the 2018 general election, Cvijanović ran for and won the presidency of Republika Srpska, becoming the entity's 9th president. She took office on November 19, 2018, moving from her role as Prime Minister to the more ceremonial but still influential position of president. Her presidency lasted until 2022, during which she represented Republika Srpska's interests and maintained its political autonomy within the larger Bosnian state.

The 2022 general election was another key moment in Cvijanović's career when she was elected as the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This three-member rotating presidency represents the country's main ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. Her election made her the first female member of the Presidency since the end of the Bosnian War in the 1990s. She was sworn in as a Presidency member in November 2022, becoming the 8th person to hold this position and continuing her role in both entity and national-level politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.