Oliver Ivanović

Oliver Ivanović
Native name	Оливер Ивановић
Born	(1953-04-01) 1 April 1953 Rznić, SAP Kosovo, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Alma mater	University of Priština
Occupation	Politician
Political party	Social Democratic Party

Oliver Ivanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Оливер Ивановић; born 1 April 1953) is a Kosovo Serb politician. He served as the State Secretary of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija from 2008 to 2012. He was affiliated with the Social Democratic Party. He was a member of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija.

Ivanović was accused of war crimes and sentenced to nine years in jail on 21 January 2016 for war crimes by judges from the EU's Rule of Law Mission (Eulex) in Kosovo.^[1] However, the Appeals Court in Pristina annulled^[2] the guilty verdict on 12 February 2017 and ordered a new trial.

Early years and education

Ivanović was born Rznić, a village near Dečani in western Kosovo and Metohija, at the time part of the People's Republic of Serbia of FPR Yugoslavia, on 1 April 1953. His father, Bogdan, was a history professor, and his mother, Olga, was a professor of Serbian language and literature. His maternal heritage is Montenegrin. Ivanović lives in Kosovska Mitrovica with his wife and three children.^[3]

He attended primary and secondary mechanical-technical school in Kosovska Mitrovica. Ivanović enrolled in the Zagreb Military Academy to become a pilot. During his studies he started training karate and quickly became an instructor. Three years into his studies he was diagnosed with congenital vision deficiency and left the Military Academy. He returned to Kosovo and finished his studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Mitrovica, University of Priština. He also studied at the Faculty of Economics in Priština. He continued, parallel to his studies, professionally training in karate. He received higher belts and achieved recognition as an honorary international karate judge. He speaks, apart from Serbian, English, Albanian and Italian.

Political career

Ivanović began his political career in June 1999 during the Kosovo War, when he was appointed president of the Serbian National Council of North Kosovo and Metohija. He held this position until 6 June 2001. He was also president of the Municipality Board until the end of October 2001. He became a member of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija on 2 August 2001.

He was appointed a minister in the Assembly of Kosovo after the Parliamentary elections in November 2001, and a member of the Presidency of the Assembly of Kosovo on 2 December. He was a leader of the Serb List for Kosovo and Metohija in the Parliamentary elections in October 2004. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Nebojša Čović. From 2008 to 2012 he served as the State Secretary of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija.

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