Vuk Jeremić

Vuk Jeremić
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 18 September 2012 – 17 September 2013
Preceded by	Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
Succeeded by	John William Ashe
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 15 May 2007 – 27 July 2012
Prime Minister	Vojislav Koštunica Mirko Cvetković
Preceded by	Vuk Drašković
Succeeded by	Ivan Mrkić
Personal details
Born	3 July 1975 Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia)
Political party	Democratic Party (Before 2013) Independent (2013–present)
Alma mater	Queens' College, Cambridge Imperial College London Harvard University
Religion	Serbian Orthodoxy[1]

Vuk Jeremić (Serbian Cyrillic: Вук Јеремић, Serbian pronunciation: [ʋûːk jěremitɕ]; born 3 July 1975) is Serbian politician and diplomat. Jeremić was President of the Sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia. Also Jeremić was president of the Tennis Federation of Serbia (2011–2015).^[2][3] Currently he is the President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) and Editor-in-Chief of Horizons, a global public policy English-language magazine. Jeremić is one of nine candidates on 2016 United Nations Secretary-General selection.^[4]

Early life and education

Jeremić was born in Belgrade on 3 July 1975.^[5] His parents are Mihajlo and Sena Jeremić (née Buljubašić). His father is a Belgrade Serb and his mother is a Muslim Bosniak with roots in northwestern Bosnia.^[6] Jeremić completed his elementary schooling in Belgrade, moving on to the First Belgrade Gymnasium where he began his high school studies.^[7] He continued his post-secondary studies at the University of Cambridge (Queens' College), graduating with a bachelor's degree in theoretical physics in 1998.^[5] Jeremić began his Ph.D studies in quantitative finance at the University of London (Imperial College), and worked for Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort and AstraZeneca in the British capital.^[1] Beginning in 2001, he studied under Jeffrey Sachs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government as a Fellow of the Kokkalis Foundation's Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, graduating in 2003 with a master's degree in public administration and international development.^[8]

Political career

In July 1997, Jeremić co-founded and became the financial manager of the Organization of Serbian Students Abroad (OSSA),^[9] the first international organization of Serbian students, which at the time had several thousand members. He was an active supporter of Otpor! (“Resistance!”), the Serbian civic youth movement that employed non-violent civil disobedience tactics against the regime of Slobodan Milošević.^[7]

In the wake of Belgrade's 5 October 2000 democratic revolution, Jeremić was appointed as an Advisor to the Minister of Telecommunications of the FR Yugoslavia. During the summer of 2002, Jeremić served in the cabinet of the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Serbia, Zoran Djindjić. He helped organize the first international investment conference for the Serbian government in New York, which took place in September of that year in cooperation with JP Morgan and Brian Mulroney, a former Prime Minister of Canada and head of the International Council for Supporting Reforms in Serbia.^[10]

In June 2003, Jeremić became Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Defense of the Serbia and Montenegro. From July 2004 to May 2007, Jeremić served as a Senior Advisor to the then-President of Serbia, Boris Tadić.^[11]

Foreign Minister

Jeremić with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, November 2011

Following Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008, Jeremić traveled to 90 countries in his capacity as Foreign Minister, lobbying foreign governments against recognition. In 2009 alone, he spent over 700 hours – roughly 29 days – flying.^[7] The Economist described Serbian diplomacy under Jeremić as being "on steroids".^[12] In his five years in office, Jeremić boarded 1,000 flights and visited over 100 countries, remarking that he "pretty much knew 90% of the world's foreign ministers".^[13] In 2009, Jeremić asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an advisory opinion on the declaration.^[14] The court ruled that the declaration of independence was legal in July 2010.^[15] Jeremić was the first foreign official to visit the new Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou following his election.^[16]

A map of Jeremić's foreign visits

United Nations General Assembly presidency

EU High Representative Dame Catherine Ashton and Vuk Jeremić, February 2013

Jeremić was elected president of the Sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly (starting in September 2012) in the 2012 election. Notably, under his watch, United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 granted Palestine non-member observer state status. In addition, Jeremić facilitated the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in the UN General Assembly.^[17]

In honor of the 16th birthday of Malala Yousafzai, Jeremić convened a United Nations Youth Assembly.^[18] At the UN, Malala delivered her first public remarks since recovering from the attack.^[19][20] The Youth Assembly took place on 11 July 2013, and was organised together with UN's Special Envoy for Global Education and former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

During Jeremić's presidency, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus Resolution 67/296 proclaiming 6 April as the annual International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.^[21][22] Proclaiming the International Day of Sport was a joint initiative by Jeremić and Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).^[23][24] UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Novak Djoković and Rogge attended the session as special guests and addressed the General Assembly: Djoković speaking on behalf of world athletes and Rogge on behalf of Olympic Movement.^[25][26]

Post-UN General Assembly Presidency

After completing the mandate of the United Nations, Jeremic founded the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, Belgrade in November 2013. In May 2014, he joined the Leadership Council of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN),^[27] the network launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in August 2012.^{[28] [29]}

Democratic Party

At the 2012 parliamentary election, he has been elected MP of the Democratic Party. During the regime change with Tadić's withdrawal and rise of the new leader Dragan Đilas, as member of the pro-Tadić camp, Jeremić withdrew from all positions in the Democratic Party. Jeremić was excluded from the Democratic Party on 14 February 2013.^[30]

After the decision to exclude him, Jeremić filed suit at the Constitutional Court, claiming that the party's decision is unconstitutional.^[31] After the rejection of the appeal by the Constitutional Court, Jeremić complied with the decision and left the party but kept his parliamentary seat.^[32]

UN Secretary-General candidature

Press reports have mentioned Jeremić as a candidate for the future UN Secretary-General. It is assumed that the next UN chief will come from the Group of Eastern European States.^[33]

By October 2012, a number of UN diplomats were mentioning Jeremić as a potential candidate to succeed Ban Ki-moon as Secretary-General. According to Reuters, Jeremić "declined to comment on his future plans apart from returning to Serbia, […] but he did not rule out the idea of running for the top UN post."^[34] On 19 November 2013, former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos described Jeremić as the best candidate for the post, saying "his election would be great news for the 21st century." He added that Jeremić would "succeed in changing the current structure of the UN and enable it to play a new role in the world."^[35]

On 12 April 2016, the Government of Serbia officially backed Jeremić's candidacy for UN Secretary-General.^[36]

Personal

Vuk Jeremić is married to Nataša Lekić, a journalist and news anchor for Radio-Television Serbia. His paternal grandfather, Bogoljub Jeremić, was an officer in the Royal Yugoslav Army, spending much of World War II at the Matthausen and Dachau concentration camps.^[7][37] For nearly five years, Bogoljub Jeremić was jailed at the Goli otok prison and labor camp, which was used to incarcerate political prisoners by the Yugoslav communist government in the wake of World War II.^[38]

Through his maternal grandmother Sadeta Buljubašić (née Pozderac), the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Vuk Jeremić stems from the Pozderac family, considered the most influential Bosnian Muslim political family during communist Yugoslavia.^[39] In November 2012, Jeremić's great-grandfather and great-grandmother, Nurija and Devleta Pozderac, were posthumously awarded the honorific of Righteous among the Nations by the Jewish victims memorial Yad Vashem for helping to save the lives of Jews during World War II in Cazin inside the Ustaše-run Independent State of Croatia. The Jews whom the couple had sheltered had escaped during transport to the Jasenovac concentration camp. (Nurija Pozderac was killed in 1943 while fighting alongside anti-Nazi partisans.)^[40]

References

1. T. Nikolić (19 May 2007). "Vuk Jeremić (Ljubitelj ptica)" (in Serbian). Glas javnosti. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
2. http://www.teniskisavez.com/o-nama/svi-predsednici/
3. http://www.telegraf.rs/sport/1532432-mirko-petrovic-je-novi-predsednik-teniskog-saveza-srbije
4. Procedure of Selecting and Appointing the next UN Secretary-General
5. "Više od polovine kandidata za genseka UN iz eks-Ju" (in Serbian). B92. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
6. "Najvažniji politički lideri regije porijeklom su iz BiH: Milanović, Bandić, Jeremić, Tadić..." (in Croatian). Index.hr. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
7. Nicholas Kulish (15 January 2010). "Recasting Serbia’s Image, Starting With a Fresh Face". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
8. "The Soul of Democracy: Vuk Jeremić MPA/ID 2003 fights for Serbia’s future" (PDF). Kennedy School Bulletin. Spring 2008. p. 5. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
9. Organization of Serbian Students Abroad website; accessed 28 April 2015.(Serbian)
10. International Council for Supporting Reforms in Serbia website, invest-in-serbia.com; accessed 28 April 2015.
11. Boris Tadić profile, un.org; accessed 28 April 2015.
12. "Better troublesome than dull". The Economist. 22 October 2009.
13. "Vuk Jeremic is standing for the presidency of the UN General Assembly". The Economist. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
14. "JEREMIC: ICJ RULING NOT BEFORE MID 2010". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
15. "Kosovo independence declaration deemed legal". Reuters. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
16. Jeremić on visit to Greece, isria.com; accessed 28 April 2015.
17. Arms Trade Treaty, un.org; accessed 29 April 2015.
18. United Nations Youth Assembly convened by Jeremić, un.org; accessed 28 April 2015.
19. "Malala at U.N.: Taliban failed to silence us". CNN. 12 July 2013.
20. Malala Yousafzai speech at UN Youth Assembly, ibnlive.in.com; accessed 28 April 2015.
21. UN General Assembly Resolution 67/296, un.org; accessed 28 April 2015.
22. International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, olympic.org; accessed 28 April 2015.
23. Highlights of the Week, olympic.org; accessed 28 April 2015.
24. Novak Djokovic and Vuk Jeremić, sport.blic.rs; accessed 28 April 2015.(Serbian)
25. Peace Through Sport, olympic.org; accessed 28 April 2015.
26. Novak Djokovic addresses UN, novakdjokovic.com; accessed 28 April 2015.
27. "Sustainable Development Solutions Network". Unsdsn.org. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
28. "Press Releases August 2012 - UN Launches Sustainable Development Network to Help Find Solutions to Global Problems - United Nations Environment Programme". UNEP. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
29. Millennium Goals (PDF), un.org; accessed 28 April 2015.
30. "I Vuk Jeremić isključen iz DS-a" (in Serbian). B92. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
31. "Odluka DS o mandatima krši Ustav" (in Serbian). B92. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
32. "USS nenadležan za mandat Jeremića" (in Serbian). B92. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
33. East-West battle already brewing over Ban's UN successor, worldpoliticsreview.com; accessed 28 April 2015.
34. Jeremić as potential candidate to succeed Ban Ki-moon, reuters.com; accessed 29 April 2015.
35. Miguel Ángel Moratinos endorses Jeremić, blic.rs; accessed 28 April 2015.(Serbian)
36. "Jeremic thanks government for backing his top UN job bid". B92. B92. April 12, 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
37. Vuk Jeremić remarks delivered to the Lauder School of Government, mfa.rs; accessed 28 April 2015.(Serbian)
38. Bogoljub Jeremić info, noviplamen.files.wordpress.com, December 2013; accessed 28 April 2015.
39. Slobodna Bosna (7 June 2006). "Vuk Jeremić and Bosnian Kennedys" (in Bosnian); accessed 28 April 2015.
40. Memorijalni centar Jad Vašem odlikovao Jeremićeve pradedu i parababu, blic.rs, 11 November 2012.(Serbian)

External links

• Official biography
• Works by or about Vuk Jeremić in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Recasting Serbia's Image, Starting With a Fresh Face, nytimes.com, 16 January 2010.