Denis Bećirović

Denis Bećirović (born 28 November 1975) is a Bosnian politician, professor and historian serving as the 8th and current Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2022. He has also been serving as its chairman since March 2024. Previously, Bećirović was a member of the national House of Peoples from 2019 to 2022. He is also the current vice-president of the Social Democratic Party.

Born in Tuzla, Bećirović graduated from the city's University in 1998. He enrolled in postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Sarajevo in 2000. Prior to his political engagement, Bećirović was a history teacher at a primary school in Tuzla. From 1998 to 2002, he worked at the Secondary School of Economics in his hometown.

Bećirović has been a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1993. In 1998, he became a member of the Federal Parliament. Two years later, he entered the Tuzla Cantonal Assembly and was appointed member of the Federal House of Peoples. In the 2006 general election, Bećirović was elected to the national House of Representatives. In the 2018 general election, he ran for a seat in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Bosniak member, but was not elected. Following the general election, he became a member of the national House of Peoples.

In the 2022 general election, Bećirović ran once again for a seat in the Presidency as a Bosniak member and was elected, defeating former Presidency member Bakir Izetbegović. Bećirović was sworn in as Presidency member on 16 November 2022.

Education
Bećirović graduated in 1998 from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Tuzla. He enrolled in postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Sarajevo in 2000. He defended his master's thesis in 2004, and his doctorate in 2010 at the Faculty of Humanities in Sarajevo.

Career
Bećirović joined the Social Democratic Party in 1993 and has held several positions within the party. Prior to his political engagement, Bećirović was a history teacher at a primary school in his hometown of Tuzla, and from 1998 to 2002, he worked at the Secondary School of Economics in his hometown. He has been an assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities in Tuzla since 2010. In 1998, Bećirović became a member of the Federal Parliament. Two years later, in the 2000 parliamentary election, he entered the Tuzla Cantonal Assembly and the Federal House of Peoples.

In the 2002 general election, Bećirović was re-elected to the Cantonal Assembly, and four years later, in the 2006 general election, he became a member of the national House of Representatives. He renewed his term in the 2010 general election as well. In the 2014 general election, Bećirović won his third consecutive term in the national Parliament.

In the 2018 general election, Bećirović ran for a seat in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Bosniak member, but was not elected, obtaining 33.53% of the vote, with Šefik Džaferović of the Party of Democratic Action getting elected with 36.61% of the vote. In February 2019, following the election, Bećirović was appointed member of the national House of Peoples.

2022 general election
The three-party liberal coalition of the Social Democratic Party, the People and Justice party and Our Party, known as Troika, additionally supported by the Union for a Better Future and the People's European Union, announced Bećirović's candidacy in the Bosnian general election on 21 May 2022, running once more for Presidency member and representing the Bosniaks.

In the general election, held on 2 October 2022, he was elected to the Presidency, having obtained 57.37% of the vote. The Party of Democratic Action candidate and former Bosniak Presidency member, Bakir Izetbegović, was second with 37.25%.

Domestic policy
Bećirović was sworn in as Presidency member on 16 November 2022, alongside newly elected member Željka Cvijanović 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 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 Krišto as chairwoman-designate on 22 December; Bećirović and Cvijanović voted for, while Komšić voted against. Bećirović said after the vote that "It's time to give a chance to development, cooperation and dialogue in Bosnia and Herzegovina" and that the "Citizens and peoples of Bosnia must no longer be held hostages of permanent blockades, blackmails and quarrels."

On 27 June 2023, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska voted to suspend rulings by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and stopping publishing the High Representative's decrees and laws in the official gazette. Bećirović later called on the High Representative to sanction Republika Srpska president Milorad Dodik and his allies for derogating the peace agreement.

Foreign policy


On 4 July 2023, Bećirović met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during an official visit to the United Kingdom. They discussed bilateral relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Kingdom, implementing economic reforms, strengthening democracy and reforming the rule of law. In October 2023, he met with Pope Francis in Vatican City.

Following the United Nations General Assembly designating July 11 as the annual International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica in May 2024, Bećirović bolstered up the decision, declaring that truth and justice had won.

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 Bećirović strongly 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
Denis is married to Mirela Bećirović, and together they have two children. They live in Tuzla.

Works
Bećirović has written several books and papers dealing with the modern history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some of his work include: