Ivo Baldasar

Ivo Baldasar
71st Mayor of Split
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2013
Preceded by	Željko Kerum
Personal details
Born	5 August 1958[1] Split[1]
Nationality	Croatian
Political party	Social Democratic Party (SDP)
Spouse(s)	Snježana Baldasar
Alma mater	University of Split
Occupation	Politician, businessman
Profession	Lawyer

Ivo Baldasar (born 5 August 1958) is a Croatian politician and current 71st Mayor of Split. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Political career

Baldasar spent his early career working as a lawyer within the tourism industry, concentrating mainly on maritime business.^[2] He joined the SDP in 1998, and in 2009 became a city councilor for the city of Split. In 2012 he became the party's candidate for mayor of the city, winning the second round of elections over Vjekoslav Ivanišević to become the 75th mayor of Split.

On 9 May 2014 Baldasar attended the ceremony of revealing the monument to the 9th Battalion "Rafael Boban" of the Croatian Defence Forces (Hrvatske obrambene snage – HOS) that participated in the defense of Croatian during the Croatian War of Independence.^[3] His presence was criticised because of the Ustaše inspired symbolism used by the HOS, including naming their unit after Rafael Boban who commanded the Black Legion, dressing in black uniforms and using the Za dom spremni motto.^[4] Some news reports suggested that after the commander of the Battalion ended his speech with Za dom spremni, the gathered crowd clapped, with Baldasar allegedly, reluctantly doing the same.^[5] This was denied by Baldasar himself explaining he didn't hear anything and that he had an agreement with the organizers that such things wouldn't happen during the ceremony.^[6] He later defended his actions explaining that the members of HOS were anti-fascists in a way, because they fought against a new form of fascism during the Croatian War of Independence. He concluded that his actions were an attempt overcoming historical differences and that he would do it again.^[7]

Ahead of 2013 referendum for changing constitution so it would define marriage as being a union between a man and a woman, Baldasar urged people to vote against proposed change.^[8]

References

1. "Ivo Baldasar: Kongresni centar bit će atrakcija istočne obale". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 6 May 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
2. "Ivo Baldasar novi ravnatelj Agencije za obalni linijski pomorski promet". Lider (in Croatian). 14 August 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
3. Brajević, Ines; Dadić, Joško (9 May 2014). "U Splitu otkriven spomenik IX. bojni HOS-a: "Pobijedili smo u Domovinskom ratu, pobijedit ćemo i u miru"" [Monument to the IX. HOS Battalion revealed in Split: "We won in the Homeland War, we will win in peace too"]. dalmacijanews.hr. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
4. "Baldasar na udaru zbog spomen-obilježja HOS-u" [Baldasar criticised because of the HOS monument]. vijesti.hrt.hr. Croatian Radiotelevision. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
5. "Skandalozni SDP-ov gradonačelnik Splita: Baldasar pobijedio antifašizam uz stijeg Rafaela viteza Bobana" [SDP's scandalous mayor of Split: Baldasar defeated antifascism with the flag of Rafael vitez Boban]. Index.hr. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
6. Vuković, Slavica (14 May 2014). "'Antifašist sam, ali HOS-ovcima bih opet došao'" ['I'm an anti-fascist, but I would come to the HOS's again']. vecernji.hr. Večernji list. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
7. Petranović, Damir (14 May 2014). "'Opet bih otišao s HOS-ovcima. I oni su antifašisti!'" ['I would go with the HOS's again. They are anti-fascists too!']. tportal.hr. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
8. http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/dalmacija/split/clanak/id/218377/ivo-baldasar-glasam-protiv-zato-jer-se-ogranicava-ljubav

External links

• Mayor of Split