Andreja Mladenović

Andreja Mladenović (Serbian Cyrillic: Андреја Младеновић; 15 March 1975) is a Serbian politician. He was the deputy mayor of Belgrade from 2014 to 2018 and is currently one of the city's three assistant mayors. For many years a prominent member of the Democratic Party of Serbia (Demokratska stranka Srbije, DSS), he was expelled from the party in 2015 and subsequently founded his own Independent Democratic Party of Serbia (Samostalna Demokratska stranka Srbije, Samostalni DSS). He is now aligned with the Serbian Progressive Party.

Early life and private career

Mladenović was born in Belgrade, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He has a master's degree from the Faculty of International Engineering Management at the European University in Belgrade and has enrolled in doctoral studies at the same institution.[1]

Political career

Democratic Party of Serbia

Mladenović was a member of the Zemun municipal assembly and deputy mayor of the municipality from 2000 to 2004, with responsibility for sports and youth, refugees and social issues, and relations with religious communities.[2] He was subsequently elected to the Assembly of the City of Belgrade in the 2004 city election after receiving the second position on the DSS's list.[3] The DSS participated in the city's coalition government after the election, and Mladenović was appointed to city council (i.e., the executive branch of municipal government) with responsibility for sports and youth.[4]

DSS spokesperson in the first Koštunica ministry

Mladenović received the fifty-seventh position (out of 250) on the DSS's electoral list in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election.[5] The list won fifty-three mandates, and he was not selected for its assembly delegation. (From 2000 to 2011, Serbian parliamentary mandates were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than to individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be awarded out of numerical order. Mladenović could have been awarded a mandate despite his relatively low position, although in the event he was not.)[6] He was appointed as media spokesperson for the party in 2004.[7] The DSS emerged from the election at the head of a coalition government, with party leader Vojislav Koštunica as prime minister.

Following the 2004 Kosovo parliamentary election, which was largely boycotted by Serbs in the aftermath of anti-Serb violence earlier in the year in the disputed region, Mladenović said that Kosovo Serbs would never accept a multi-ethnic governance agreement "that gives them only the right to vote." He added that the Serbian government would continue to negotiate its own plan for resolving the status of Kosovo and Metohija with the international community.[8] In April 2005, he rejected outright a plan by the International Commission on the Balkans for the gradual independence of Kosovo.[9]

Mladenović said in January 2005 that Sreten Lukić would surrender voluntarily to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague to face charges of war crimes. He added that the DSS supported the principle of voluntary surrender for ICTY indictees and opposed a policy of arrests.[10][11]

He later criticized the European Union (EU)'s pressure tactics to persuade Serbia to surrender prominent suspects such as Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić (both of whose whereabouts were unknown at the time), saying, "What will [additional conditions on Serbia's bid for EU membership] bring if Mladić is dead? What if he has left the country?"[12] Notwithstanding this, he later said that Serbia was co-operating with the ICTY in hunting for Mladić and other suspects, and that he was confident they would be extradited to the ICTY immediately after being located on Serbian territory.[13] He rejected charges that Serbia's security forces needed to be "purged" to facilitate the extradition of Mladić and others, saying that "a serious country would never allow anyone from outside to dictate the country's most important positions. That would mean that we are not a country, but a colony."[14]

The National Assembly of Serbia observed a moment of silence for all victims of the 1990s Yugoslav Wars on 11 July 2005; critics noted that the ceremony did not include specific reference to the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Mladenović stated on this occasion, "Serbia has an interest in exposing and condemning all war crimes in the history of the former Yugoslavia, in which the Serbian people were the biggest victims."[15]

In August 2006, United Nations Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari's was quoted as saying that Serbs were culpable as a people for crimes committed in the Kosovo War. Mladenović described this statement as "scandalous, shameful, and racist."[16] In November of the same year, he asked for Ahtisaari's resignation.[17] He supported the protests of Kosovo Serbs against Ahtisaari's plan for the final resolution of the status of Kosovo in February 2007, describing the actions of the community as democratic and legitimate.[18] The following month, he described a revised version of Ahtisaari's plan as "worse than the previous one," stating that it, "fully corresponds with the stance of the Albanian separatists."[19][20]

DSS spokesperson in the second Koštunica ministry

The 2007 Serbian parliamentary election did not produce a clear winner, and an unstable coalition government was eventually formed, led by the DSS and the rival Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka, DS). Koštunica continued to serve as prime minister. Mladenović, who provided regular media updates during the negotiations for a new government,[21] remained the DSS's media spokesperson, although from July 2007 he shared this responsibility with Branislav Ristivojević.[22]

In September 2007, Mladenović said that Serbian Army forces would not be deployed to international missions in either Afghanistan or Iraq.[23] In November 2007, he said that a new European Union (EU) mission to Kosovo and Metohija would be unacceptable for Serbia prior to the resolution of the disputed area's status.[24]

The DSS offered to support DS incumbent Boris Tadić in the second round of the 2008 Serbian presidential election if Tadić agreed to abandon Serbia's Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union in the event of the EU sending a new mission to Kosovo. Tadić rejected the offer, and the DSS remained neutral in the runoff vote. Mladenović stated that Tadić and the DS were to blame for this outcome, arguing that the DSS proposal was a legitimate offer and not a form of blackmail.[25] Tadić won a narrow victory in the election despite the absence of a DSS endorsement.

Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008 and its subsequent recognition by EU countries created a crisis for the DSS–DS government. Mladenović expressed the DSS's view that Serbia should hold a referendum on whether the country should continue its efforts to join the EU "with or without Kosovo." He added that "official policy thus far has been that Kosovo is Serbia and that we will join the EU with Kosovo as a constituent part."[26] The crisis ultimately led to the breakdown of the coalition government and to early elections in 2008. The DSS contested the election on a joint list with New Serbia, and Mladenović received the sixty-second position on their combined list.[27] Boris Tadić announced during the campaign that he would sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU; Mladenović responded by saying, "his signature is not the signature of Serbia. He is in fact putting a seal of Judas of his party coalition to the [agreement]."[28]

The 2008 election again failed to produce a clear winner. The DSS–NS alliance won thirty seats, and Mladenović indicated that it would not negotiate with any pro-EU parties for a new coalition government.[29] The DSS came close to forming a new government with the far-right Serbian Radical Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia, during which time Mladenović again provided regular updates on the status of negotiations.[30] The talks between the parties ultimately failed, and the Socialists instead formed a coalition government with the For a European Serbia alliance led by the DS. The DSS moved into opposition, and Mladenović did not participate in the party's assembly delegation.

At the municipal level, Mladenović was re-elected to the city assembly in the 2008 Belgrade election after being included on a combined DSS–NS list, which won twelve mandates (out of 110).[31][32] Mirroring developments at the republic level, the DSS held talks with the Radicals and Socialists for a new municipal government, and Mladenović indicated that the DSS would be ready to support Radical Aleksandar Vučić as mayor.[33] Mladenović, Vučić, and Milan Krkobabić (representing the Socialist alliance) announced an agreement for a new municipal government on 28 May 2008, and rumours circulated that Mladenović would become deputy mayor.[34] This arrangement fell apart when the DS and Socialists finalized their coalition at the republic level, which was subsequently repeated at the municipal level. The DSS moved into opposition in Belgrade, and Mladenović led the DSS group in the municipal assembly.[35]

DSS spokesperson in opposition

In July 2008, Mladenović announced that the DSS would support a rally organized by the Radical Party against the recent arrest of Radovan Karadžić.[36][37] The following month, he said that Russia's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was a reaction to the recognition of Kosovo's independence by the western powers.[38]

Mladenović announced in November 2008 that the DSS had signed a new co-operation agreement with New Serbia and Maja Gojković's People's Party, and that the parties would fight for "enduring democratic principles and national values."[39] In June 2009, he said that the DSS was prepared to align itself with the newly established Serbian Progressive Party to form new administrations in the Belgrade municipalities of Zemun and Voždovac.[40] He appears to have stood down as DSS media spokesperson in early 2010.

Later years (2010–15)

Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that parliamentary mandates were awarded in numerical order to candidates on successful lists. Mladenović received the forty-fourth position on the DSS's electoral list in the 2012 Serbian parliamentary election.[41] The list won twenty-one mandates, and he was not elected. He received the second position on the DSS's list in the concurrent 2012 Belgrade city election, and was re-elected when the list won ten mandates.[42][43] The DS and Socialists initially maintained their municipal coalition agreement following the election, and the DSS again served in opposition. In late 2013, the party participated in a key vote of non-confidence that forced the resignation of mayor Dragan Đilas.[44] The government of Serbia dissolved the Belgrade assembly in November 2013 pending new elections, and Mladenović was appointed to the city's provisional authority.[45]

Mladenović was promoted to the tenth position on the DSS's list in the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election, in which the party failed to cross the electoral threshold to win representation in the assembly.[46] He again received the second position on the party's list for the Belgrade assembly in the concurrent 2014 city election and was re-elected when the list won nine mandates.[47][48] The Progressive Party won a majority in the municipal elections, and Siniša Mali became the city's new mayor. On Mali's proposal, Mladenović was elected by the assembly as the city's deputy mayor.[49]

Independent Democratic Party of Serbia

Mladenović and six other DSS members of the Belgrade assembly were expelled from the party in July 2015 by leader Sanda Rašković Ivić, on the grounds that they were attempting to turn the DSS into a satellite of Aleksandar Vučić's Progressive Party.[50] Mladenović subsequently created a breakaway party called the Independent Democratic Party of Serbia and entered into negotiations with the Progressives for an alliance at both the republic level and in Belgrade.[51][52] He was included in the tenth position on the Progressive Party's coalition list in the 2016 Serbian parliamentary election and was elected to the assembly when the list won a majority victory with 131 out of 250 mandates.[53] His term in this office was brief; he could not hold a dual mandate as a member of the National Assembly and deputy mayor of Belgrade, and he resigned his seat on 3 October 2016.[54][55] He was the party's sole representative in the National Assembly during this time and appears to have been its only candidate on Vučić's electoral list; his replacement in the assembly was Radoslav Jović of the Progressives.[56][57]

Aligned with the Progressive Party

Mladenović was re-elected to a fifth term in the Belgrade assembly in the 2018 city election after receiving the eighth position on the Progressive Party's coalition list, which won a majority victory with sixty-four out of 110 mandates.[58] His endorsement was from the Progressive Party.[59] He subsequently served as acting mayor of Belgrade from 28 May to 7 June 2018, following Siniša Mali's resignation to accept a cabinet position and before Zoran Radojičić's confirmation as his replacement. Following Radojičić's appointment, Mladenović was re-assigned as one of the city's three new assistant mayors.[60]

References
  1. Андреја Младеновић, помоћник градоначелника, City of Belgrade, accessed 27 July 2018.
  2. Андреја Младеновић, помоћник градоначелника, City of Belgrade, accessed 27 July 2018.
  3. Službeni list, City of Belgrade, 8 September 2004, p. 6; and Službeni list, City of Belgrade, 29 November 2004, p. 2.
  4. Андреја Младеновић, помоћник градоначелника, City of Belgrade, accessed 27 July 2018.
  5. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА СРБИЈЕ - ВОЈИСЛАВ КОШТУНИЦА) Archived 2017-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 28 April 2017.
  6. Serbia's Law on the Election of Representatives (2000) stipulated that parliamentary mandates would be awarded to electoral lists (Article 80) that crossed the electoral threshold (Article 81), that mandates would be given to candidates appearing on the relevant lists (Article 83), and that the submitters of the lists were responsible for selecting their parliamentary delegations within ten days of the final results being published (Article 84). See Law on the Election of Representatives, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 35/2000, made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 28 February 2017.
  7. See for instance "Serbian party official: SCG searching for solutions for cooperation with Hague," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 16 August 2004 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0957 gmt 16 Aug 04); Jovana Gec, "Kostunica rejects coalition offer from ultranationalists," Associated Press Newswires, 24 September 2004.
  8. "Serbia: DSS official says government to insist on Kosovo decentralization plan," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 27 October 2004 (Source: Glas javnosti, Belgrade, in Serbian 26 Oct 04 p 3). See also "Kosovo power cuts amount to ethnic cleansing of Serbs - DSS spokesman," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 27 December 2004 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1220 gmt 27 Dec 04).
  9. "Balkan Commission's idea for Kosovo independence unacceptable - Serbian DSS," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 18 April 2005 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1153 gmt 18 Apr 05).
  10. "Serbian general reportedly prepared to surrender to Hague tribunal," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 24 January 2005 (Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1209 gmt 24 Jan 05).
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  14. Dusan Stojanovic, "Serbian official: Security services must be purged to capture Mladic," Agence France Presse, 19 February 2007.
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  18. "Kosovo Serbs to stage rallies against UN envoy's Kosovo plan," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 February 2007.
  19. "UN envoy's amended Kosovo plan is 'worse than previous one' - Serbian PM's party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 March 2007 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1737 gmt 7 Mar 07).
  20. "Angry Serbia says Kosovo plan doomed to fail," Agence France Presse, 8 March 2007.
  21. See for instance "Serbian president rejects 'sixth principle' of sharing power in new government," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 March 2007 (Source: Blic, Belgrade, in Serbian 13 Mar 07); "Serbia's Kostunica 'acceptable' as new PM, portfolios 'questionable' - paper," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 29 March 2007 (Source: Politika, Belgrade, in Serbian 29 Mar 07 pp 1, 7); "Serbian PM's party denies secret talks on government formation," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 20 April 2007 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1535 gmt 20 Apr 07).
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  25. "Serbian PM's party blames Democrats for rejecting deal ahead of election," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 24 January 2008 (Source: Radio B92, Belgrade, in Serbian 1400 gmt 24 Jan 08).
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  27. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Демократска Странка Србије - Нова Србија - Војислав Коштуница) Archived 2018-04-30 at the Wayback Machine, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 26 April 2017.
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  30. See for instance "Nationalist Premier of Serbia Teams Up With Radical Party," New York Times, 14 May 2008, p. 8; "Serbia: Kostunica's party lists five goals of proposed new 'national' government," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 15 May 2008 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1849gmt 15 May 08).
  31. Službeni list, City of Belgrade, 30 April 2008, p. 3.
  32. Službeni list, City of Belgrade, 15 June 2008, p. 2.
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  43. Službeni list, City of Belgrade, 25 May 2012, p. 3.
  44. "Serbian opposition parties set to dismiss belgrade [sic] mayor," British Broadcasting Corporation Broadcasting European, 24 September 2013 (Source: Blic website, Belgrade, in Serbian 0000 gmt 24 Sep 13).
  45. Андреја Младеновић, помоћник градоначелника, City of Belgrade, accessed 27 July 2018.
  46. Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Демократска странка Србије - Војислав Коштуница) Archived 2018-05-06 at the Wayback Machine, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 28 April 2017.
  47. "ИЗБОРНА ЛИСТА - КАНДИДАТА ЗА ОДБОРНИКЕ СКУПШТИНЕ ГРАДА БЕОГРАДА 16. МАРТ 2014. ГОДИНЕ (ИВИЦА ДАЧИЋ – Социјалистичка партија Србије (СПС) – Партија уједињених пензионера Србије (ПУПС) – Јединствена Србија (ЈС) – Милан Кркобабић)," City of Belgrade p. 1.
  48. Изборне листе (3. ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА СРБИЈЕ – ВОЈИСЛАВ КОШТУНИЦА (2014), City of Belgrade, accessed 27 July 2018.
  49. Namanja Cabric, "Serbian capital elects new mayor Sinisa Mali," Xinhua News Agency, 24 April 2014.
  50. "Experts see expulsions from Serbian right-wing parties as power struggle," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 15 July 2015 (Source: Politika website, Belgrade, in Serbian 12 Jul 15).
  51. "Paper views divisions among Serbian rightists despite shared views on EU, NATO," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 8 January 2016 (Source: Politika website, Belgrade, in Serbian 6 Jan 16).
  52. "Serbian pundits explain ruling parties' campaign against conservative party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 8 March 2016 (Source: Politika website, Belgrade, in Serbian 5 Mar 16).
  53. Избори за народне посланике 2016. године » Изборне листе (АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ - СРБИЈА ПОБЕЂУЈЕ) Archived 2018-04-27 at the Wayback Machine, Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 17 February 2017.
  54. "Mladenović posle pisanja 'Blica': Podneću ostavku na jednu od funkcija", Blic, 18 August 2016, accessed 27 July 2018.
  55. Current legislature, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 27 July 2018.
  56. "Lider Samostalnog DSS Andreja Mladenović na listi SNS", Blic (Source: Tanjug), 4 March 2016, accessed 28 July 2018.
  57. Serbia's 2011 electoral law stipulates that, in the event of the departure from the assembly of a member elected on a coalition list, the vacant mandate will fall to the next candidate on the list from the same party. If there are no further candidates on the list from the party in question, however, the accepted practice is for the mandate to be awarded to the next candidate on the list from any party. See Law on the Election of Members of the Parliament (2000, as amended 2011) (Article 92) made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 28 February 2017.
  58. Službeni list, City of Belgrade, 28 March 2018, p. 2.
  59. Изборне листе (1. АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ – Зато што волимо Београд!), City of Belgrade (Election 2018), accessed 27 July 2018.
  60. "RADOJIČIĆ PROMEŠAO KARTE Gradonačelnik izabrao nove pomoćnike, van tima su ostala DVA POZNATA IMENA", Blic, 18 June 2018, accessed 27 July 2018.
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