| Vuk Jeremić Вук Јеремић |
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|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 15, 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Vuk Drašković |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 3, 1975 Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Nataša Jeremić |
| Residence | Belgrade, Serbia |
| Alma mater | BA from Univ. of Cambridge MPA/ID from Harvard Univ. |
| Religion | Serbian Orthodox |
Vuk Jeremić (Serbian: Вук Јеремић; born on July 3, 1975[1]) is a Serbian politician and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Serbia. He was sworn in on May 15, 2007 and reelected on July 7, 2008.
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Jeremić was born in Belgrade in 1975 to Miško Jeremić and Sena Buljubašić. Growing up in privileged circumstances as his father was a CEO of a large Jugopetrol state-owned oil company, he began his high school studies in Belgrade, but completed them in London. He stayed in England for his post-secondary education and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Theoretical Physics as a member of Queens' College.
He did not complete his PhD in the field of Finance from the University of London, during which time he worked for a number of institutions as a student temp in London, including Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.
Jeremić attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, graduating with a degree of Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID).
He was a co-founder and the financial manager of the Organisation of Serbian Students Abroad, founded in 1997.[2]
Following the democratic changes in Belgrade in October 2000, he worked as an adviser to the Minister of Telecommunications of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and then in June 2003 joined the Ministry of Defense of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in the capacity of the special envoy for Euro-Atlantic Affairs.
From July 2004 to May 2007, he served as senior foreign policy sdviser to Boris Tadić, President of Serbia. In February 2004 he was appointed chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Democratic Party, and in February 2006 to the main board of the Democratic Party.
On May 19, 2007 Jeremić said the current administration in Serbia will lose its mandate if Kosovo is granted independence. The European Union and the United States support a proposed plan of United Nations-supervised independence for Kosovo but Russia, Serbia's traditional ally, continues to oppose any resolution granting independence.[3]
During the period after the Kosovo independence declaration in 2008, Jeremić lobbied across the world against the recognition. He traveled to countries with which Serbia enjoys good relations from the times of Yugoslavia and some of these visits were the first after a lengthy economic and political crisis in Serbia, during which the normal diplomacy development was prevented. His visits included those to Central and South America (Argentina,[4] Brazil,[5] Chile,[6] Cuba,[7] Jamaica,[8] Venezuela[9] and Mexico[10]), Africa (Egypt,[11] Libya,[12] Gabon,[13] DR Congo,[14] South Africa,[15] Ghana[16] Morocco,[17] Algeria,[18] Lesotho,[19] Namibia[20] and Nigeria[21]) and Asia (China,[22] India,[23] Indonesia,[24] Malaysia,[25] Singapore,[26] Vietnam,[27] Kuwait,[28] Azerbaijan,[29] Thailand,[30] Philippines,[31] Pakistan,[32] Syria,[33] Oman[34] and Lebanon[35]). He also traveled to summits of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran, Iran,[36] African Union in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea,[37][38] Thirty-eight regular session of the Organization of American States in Medellín, Fortieth regular session of the Organization of American States in Lima, Regional economic forum in Mexico, 2010 Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Rio de Janeiro and the Arab League meeting in Egypt.[39] In Tehran he had meetings with Foreign Ministers of Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Brunei, Kenya, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, Bhutan, Laos, Bangladesh, Singapore, Venezuela, Panama, Chile, Colombia, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Bolivia. In Mexico Jeremić had meetings with Felipe Calderón, Daniel Ortega, Antonio Saca, Álvaro Colom Caballeros, Manuel Zelaya and Fernando Araújo Perdomo. In 2009, he met with Vatican prelate Pietro Parolin in order to confirm and approve the non-recognition of Kosovo by the Holy See.[40]
British journal The Economist has said that Serbian diplomacy, led by Jeremić, is "on steroids"[41] due to frenetic activity. Serbian media have frequently reported that Western leaders are increasingly nervous about the alleged successes of Serbian diplomacy and issued a stern warning to Jeremić to "cool down" his activities in the wake of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision on legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence,[42] hoping that this will increase their chances. However, these reports were never confirmed and are largely believed to be a public relations spin in order to increase the popularity of Vuk Jeremić himself. As the ICJ subsequently ruled "that the declaration of independence [of Kosovo] on the February 17, 2008 did not violate general international law.", the result of Jeremić's policy has been described as "profoundly bad for Serbia" by members of the Serbian opposition and even "disastrous" by a large number of experts in the field of international relations.
Vuk Jeremić was the first foreign official to visit the new Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou following his election.[43]
He is married to Nataša Jermić, a journalist and news anchor on Radio Television of Serbia[44]. Jeremić is fluent in English and German.[45].
Through his maternal grandmother Sadeta Buljubašić (née Pozderac), the daughter of wealthy land-owner from Cazin Nurija Pozderac, Jeremić also stems from a long lineage of Pozderac family, considered the most influential Bosnian political family during communist Yugoslavia (Nurija's sons and Sadeta's brothers Hamdija Pozderac and Hakija Pozedrac occupied some of the most powerful political posts for years in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina).[46]
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Vuk Drašković |
Minister of Foreign Affairs 2007–present |
Incumbent |
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