Tomislav Nikolić

Tomislav Nikolić ( Serbian Cyrillic Томислав Николић; * February 15, 1952 in Kragujevac ) is a Serbian politician (Serbian Progressive Party ). From 8 to 13 May 2007, he was briefly president of the Serbian Parliament. Since 11 June 2012, he is President of Serbia.

Life

From 1998 to 2000 Nikolić was in the reign of Slobodan Milošević Vice Prime Minister of Serbia, as well as the end of 1999 Vice Prime Minister of Yugoslavia. In the presidential election in 2000 won Nikolić third place behind Vojislav Kostunica and Slobodan Milošević. In the presidential election on 13 June 2004 he was awarded in the first round 30.1 percent of the vote, but was defeated in the runoff election on 27 June 2004 against Boris Tadić, who received 53.5 percent of the votes cast.

After the parliamentary elections of 21 January 2007 from the SRS again emerged as the strongest party, Tomislav Nikolić was elected on 8 May 2007 as the new President of the Parliament of Serbia. He received additional to those of his party, the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS ) led by Vojislav Kostunica. After the unification of the so-called democratic bloc of DS, DSS and G17Plus to the formation of a coalition government, he resigned on 13 May 2007 back from this office.

In the presidential elections 20 January 2008 Nikolić won against the incumbent Boris Tadić received the most votes, but later succumbed to him almost two weeks in the run-off election for the presidency. In the parliamentary elections of 2008, again led by Nikolić party, whilst able to maintain its share of the vote, but the electoral alliance achieved by the Democratic Party with almost 38 % of the vote, the best result. Due to the rhetorical fought by the SRS Kosovo declaration of independence had expected a gain of voting participation observer.

In September 2008, he resigned from the faction and party vice- chair and founder of a new group under the name " Napred Srbijo " ( German forward Serbia ), but without quitting the SRS. Previously there had been a fierce intra-party dispute about the attitude of the group to the Association Agreement between Serbia and the European Union. While Nikolić voted in Parliament for this, the party leader Vojislav Seselj refused strictly and called from prison in The Hague out Nikolić's expulsion from the party. On 12 September 2008 as Nikolić and 17 other leading party members from the SRS were excluded. Nikolić subsequently announced the founding of a new party. On 10 October 2008, the new party Srpska Napredna Stranka (SNS, dt Serbian Progressive Party ) has been registered. On 16 April 2011, he began a hunger strike to force new elections.

On 20 May 2012, Nikolić sat in the Serbian presidential election in a runoff election against Boris Tadić through.

Nikolić was before his election as a conservative nationalist. He was from 1991 to 2008 vice-president of the nationalist SRS. As President but he tried successfully to continue the pro-European course of his predecessor Tadić. So Nikolić supported signed in April 2013 agreement for the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, he nevertheless emphasize that Serbia will not recognize Kosovo's independence continue. The Kosovo agreement is a prerequisite for the continuation of Serbia's EU accession negotiations.

Also in April 2013 Nikolić asked in an interview with the Bosnian television about that Serbia is forgiven in 1995 committed the Srebrenica massacre. Nikolić avoided the term " genocide ", but realized like its predecessor Tadić as the massacre committed by Serb crimes against. Serbia 's official candidate for EU membership since 1 March 2012.

Nikolić is married and has two sons.