Željka Cvijanović

Željka Cvijanović (Grabovac; Жељка Цвијановић, ; born 4 March 1967) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th and current Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2022. She previously served as the 9th president of Republika Srpska from 2018 to 2022.

A member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, Cvijanović was the 11th prime minister of Republika Srpska from 2013 to 2018. In the 2018 general election, she was elected president of Republika Srpska, assuming office on 19 November 2018.

In the 2022 general election, Cvijanović was elected as the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, becoming the first female member of the Presidency since the end of the Bosnian War. She was sworn in as Presidency member on 16 November 2022.

Early life and education
Cvijanović was born Željka Grabovac in Teslić, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina on 4 March 1967. Before going into full-time politics, she was an English teacher. Cvijanović studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Sarajevo, the Faculty of Philosophy in Banja Luka and the Faculty of Law in Banja Luka. She is a professor of English language and literature and also holds a master's degree in diplomatic and consular law from the Banja Luka Law School on "The International and legal status of the EU".

Career
Cvijanović worked as a teacher of English and as a senior interpreter and assistant for the European Union Monitoring Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then she was an advisor for European Integration and cooperation with international organizations to the prime minister of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik; as Chief of Cabinet Affairs of the prime minister; and managed the Unit for coordination and European integration.

In the 2010–2014 parliamentary term, Cvijanović was an expert-external member of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. On 29 December 2010, she was appointed to the position of minister of economic affairs and regional Cooperation in the Government of Republika Srpska led by prime minister Aleksandar Džombić. On 12 March 2013, Cvijanović was appointed prime minister of Republika Srpska, succeeding Džombić. As the new prime minister, she became the first woman to serve in that office.

In the 2014 general election, Cvijanović stood as a candidate of the incumbent coalition SNSD-DNS-SP for the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She lost against the opposition candidate Mladen Ivanić (PDP) by a narrow margin, and was later reappointed as prime minister of Republika Srpska in the entity's 15th cabinet.

In the 2018 general election, Cvijanović was elected president of Republika Srpska, assuming office on 19 November 2018. On 15 November 2022, Cvijanović was succeeded by Dodik as president of Republika Srpska.

On 11 April 2022, Cvijanović and Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, were sanctioned by the United Kingdom for attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stating that Dodik and Cvijanović "are deliberately undermining the hard-won peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Encouraged by Putin [Vladimir Putin], their reckless behavior threatens stability and security across the Western Balkans."

2022 general election
On 1 July 2022, Cvijanović announced her candidacy in the Bosnian general election, running again for Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-person Presidency member, representing the Serbs.

In the general election, held on 2 October 2022, she was elected to the Presidency, having obtained 51.65% of the vote and thus becoming the first female member of the Presidency as established after the Bosnian War. The Serb Democratic Party candidate Mirko Šarović, was second with 35.45%.

Tenure
Cvijanović was sworn in as Presidency member on 16 November 2022, alongside newly elected member Denis Bećirović and re-elected member Željko Komšić.

Following the 2022 general election, a coalition led by the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, the Croatian Democratic Union and the liberal alliance Troika reached an agreement on the formation of a new government, designating Borjana Krišto as the new Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers. The Presidency officially nominated her as chairwoman-designate on 22 December; Cvijanović and Bećirović voted for, while Komšić voted against.

On 31 July 2023, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Cvijanović under Executive Order 14033 for threatening regional security, peace, cooperation, and undermining the Dayton Agreement related to the Western Balkans.

Foreign policy


On 9 November 2023, Cvijanović met with French President Emmanuel Macron during an official visit to France. They discussed bilateral relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and France, as well as implementing economic reforms.

In January 2024, Cvijanović attended the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, during which she said that "the policy of non-alignment has obviously withstood the test of time, and its principles and values are still very much needed by the world today, just like sixty years ago."

European Union
On 15 December 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognised by the European Union as a candidate country for accession following the decision of the European Council, which Cvijanović supported.

On 8 February 2024, the Presidency unanimously adopted the decision to start negotiations with Frontex, one of the country’s key conditions for opening negotiations with the EU. On 21 March 2024, at a summit in Brussels, all 27 EU leaders, representing the European Council, unanimously agreed to open EU accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Council of Ministers adopted two more European laws. Talks are set to begin following the impeding of more reforms.

Personal life
Željka is married to Aleksandar Cvijanović, and together they have two sons. She is of paternal Bosnian Serb and maternal Bosnian Croat descent.

On 2 April 2021, Cvijanović received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, amid its pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.