Aleksandar Vučić facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Aleksandar Vučić
Александар Вучић
Vučić in 2024

President of Serbia
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 May 2017
Prime Minister	Ivica Dačić (acting) Ana Brnabić Ivica Dačić (acting) Miloš Vučević
Preceded by	Tomislav Nikolić
Prime Minister of Serbia
In office 28 April 2014 – 31 May 2017
President	Tomislav Nikolić
Deputy	Ivica Dačić Rasim Ljajić Zorana Mihajlović Kori Udovički Nebojša Stefanović
Preceded by	Ivica Dačić
Succeeded by	Ivica Dačić (acting) Ana Brnabić
First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia
In office 27 July 2012 – 27 April 2014
Prime Minister	Ivica Dačić
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Ivica Dačić
Minister of Defence
In office 27 July 2012 – 2 September 2013
Prime Minister	Ivica Dačić
Preceded by	Dragan Šutanovac
Succeeded by	Nebojša Rodić
Minister of Information
In office 24 March 1998 – 24 October 2000
Prime Minister	Mirko Marjanović
Preceded by	Radmila Milentijević
Succeeded by	Ivica Dačić Biserka Matić-Spasojević Bogoljub Pejčić

Personal details
Born	(1970-03-05) 5 March 1970 (age 55) Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Political party	SRS (1993–2008) SNS (2008–present)
Spouses	Ksenija Janković (m. 1997; div. 2011) Tamara Đukanović (m. 2013)
Children	3
Parents	Anđelko Vučić Angelina Milovanov
Relatives	Andrej Vučić (brother)
Alma mater	University of Belgrade
Signature

Aleksandar Vučić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Вучић, pronounced [aleksǎːndar vǔtʃitɕ]; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017. A member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as the president of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, and prime minister of Serbia from 2014 to 2017.

Early life and education
Political career
Personal life
Honours
Images for kids
See also

Early life and education

Aleksandar Vučić was born in Belgrade to Anđelko Vučić and Angelina Milovanov. He has a younger brother, Andrej.

His paternal ancestors came from Čipuljić, near Bugojno, in Central Bosnia. They were expelled by the Croatian fascists (Ustaše) during World War II and settled near Belgrade, where his father was born.

His mother was born in Bečej in Vojvodina. Both of his parents were economics graduates. His father worked as an economist, and his mother as a journalist.

Vučić was raised in New Belgrade, where he attended the Branko Radičević Elementary School, and later a gymnasium in Zemun. He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. He learned English in Brighton, England, and worked as a merchant in London for some time. After returning to Yugoslavia, he worked as a journalist in Pale, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. There, he interviewed politician Radovan Karadžić and once played chess with general Ratko Mladić. As a youngster, Vučić was a fan of Red Star Belgrade, often attending their matches, including the one played between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star on 13 May 1990, which turned into a huge riot. The homes of his relatives were destroyed in the Bosnian War.

Political career

Vučić began his political career in 1993, as a member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) in the National Assembly of Serbia. In 1995, he became the secretary-general of SRS. He was appointed minister of information in 1998. During his tenure as minister, which lasted until the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, Vučić introduced restrictive measures against journalists and banned foreign TV networks. After 2000, he was one of the most prominent figures in the Serbian opposition. Together with Tomislav Nikolić, Vučić left SRS and co-founded SNS in 2008, initially serving as its deputy president. SNS became the largest party in the 2012 election and SNS soon formed a government with the Socialist Party of Serbia. Vučić was appointed first deputy prime minister and elected president of SNS, becoming the leader of the largest party in the government. He was one of the crucial figures in cooperation and European Union (EU)-mediated dialogue between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, advocating the implementation of the Brussels Agreement on the normalization of their relations. Vučić became prime minister in 2014.

During his tenure, Vučić continued the accession process to the EU by privatizing state businesses and liberalizing the economy. In 2017, Vučić was elected president of Serbia. He was re-elected in 2022.

President (2017–present)

Vučić was sworn in as President of Serbia on 31 May, in front of Parliament. He promised to continue with reforms and said Serbia will remain on a European path. Vučić also said Serbia will maintain military neutrality, but continue to build partnerships with both NATO and Russia.

President Vučić with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez during his official visit to Spain (2022)

Economy

Open Balkan Summit

Vučić at the opening of the TANAP pipeline with regional leaders in Turkey (2018)

After his election as Prime Minister in 2014, Vučić promoted austerity-based economic policies, whose aim was to reduce Serbia's budget deficit. Vučić's policy of fiscal consolidation was primarily aimed at cuts in the public sector. One of the measures was the reduction of pensions and salaries in the public sector as well as a ban on further employment in the public sector. On 23 February 2015, Vučić's government has concluded a three-year stand-by arrangement with the IMF worth €1.2 billion as a precautionary measure to secure the country's long term fiscal stability. The IMF has praised the reforms as has the EU calling them one of the most successful programmes the IMF has ever had. The GDP of Serbia has surpassed the pre crisis of 2008 levels as have the salaries. The economic prospects are good with GDP growth rising above 3% and the debt to GDP ratio falling below 68%

President Aleksandar Vučić with Prime Minister of Slovenia Robert Golob and Charles Michel President of the European Council

EU and Immigration policy

During the 2015 – 2016 European migrant crisis, Vučić strongly aligned himself with the policies of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and publicly praised German migration policy. Vučić also stated that Serbia will cooperate with the EU in solving the migrant stream going from the Middle East to EU member countries through the Balkan route, and that Serbia will be ready to take some portion of the migrants. "Serbia will receive a certain number of migrants. This makes us more European than some member states. We don't build fences," Vučić wrote on Twitter, while criticizing the migrant policies of some EU member countries.

Policy towards Kosovo

Vučić was one of the key political figures in the negotiation process on Serbia's bid for EU accession, traveling to Brussels for talks with the EU's Foreign Affairs High Commissioner, Baroness Ashton, as well as to North Mitrovica to discuss the details of a political settlement between on behalf of the Government of Serbia and Kosovo administration. During his visit to North Kosovo, to garner support for the Brussels-brokered deal, he urged Kosovo Serbs to "leave the past and think about the future".

Vučić (left), Donald Trump, President of the United States (middle), and Avdullah Hoti, Prime Minister of Kosovo (right), signing the 2020 Kosovo and Serbia economic agreement in the White House

On 20 January 2020, Serbia and Kosovo agreed to restore flights between their capitals for the first time in more than two decades. The deal came after months of diplomatic talks by Richard Grenell, the United States ambassador to Germany, who was named special envoy for Serbia-Kosovo relations by President Donald Trump the year before. Vučić welcomed the flights agreement and tweeted his thanks to American diplomats.

On 4 September 2020 Serbia and Kosovo signed an agreement at the White House in Washington D.C., in the presence of US President Donald Trump. In addition to the economic agreement, Serbia agreed to move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv starting in June 2021 and Israel and Kosovo agreed to mutually recognise each other.

Open Balkan

On 10 October 2019, together with Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, and Zoran Zaev, Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Vučić signed the so-called Mini Schengen (now known as Open Balkan) deal on regional economic cooperation, including on the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labor between their three countries, while they await progress on EU enlargement. A month later, the leaders presented a set of proposals to achieve the "four freedoms" and the first steps towards them, including the possibility to the open border area. In December, the three leaders also met with Milo Đukanović, President of Montenegro, opening the possibility for the country to join the zone. Following the 2020 Kosovo and Serbia economic agreement the two sides pledged to join the Mini Schengen Zone.

Relations with Russia

President Vučić with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belgrade

President Aleksandar Vučić with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 2018 Moscow Victory Day Parade

Vučić has maintained traditional good relations between Serbia and Russia, and his government refused to enact sanctions on Russia, following the crisis in Ukraine. Vučić has repeatedly announced that Serbia will remain committed to its European integration, but also maintain historic relations with Russia.

During Vučić's mandate, Serbia has continued to expand its economic ties with Russia, especially by increasing Serbian exports to Russia.

Relations with the United States

In July 2017 Vučić visited the United States and met with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, where they discussed U.S. support for Serbia's efforts to join the European Union, the need for continued reforms, and further progress in normalizing the relationship with Kosovo.

Relations with China

Vučić has sought closer cooperation with China. He has met with Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2016, 2018, and 2019. He secured Chinese help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia through delivery of PPE and CoronaVac vaccine doses. In October 2023, he signed a free-trade deal with China.

Vučić and Mike Pompeo address reporters before their bilateral meeting in Washington (2020)

Personal life

Tamara Đukanović, who married Vučić in 2013

At tall, Vučić is one of the tallest world leaders.

On 27 July 1997, Vučić married Ksenija Janković, a journalist at Radio Index and Srpska reč. The couple had two children before divorcing in 2011. Janković died on 29 January 2022. On 14 December 2013, Vučić married Tamara Đukanović, a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia. On 9 June 2017, a week after Vučić took the presidential office, his wife gave birth to a son.

Apart from Serbian, he is fluent in Russian, English, and German. He learned Russian in a Belgrade high school and every second day of the week took a Russian language course to improve his knowledge.

Honours

Orders

	Country	Date	Place
Order of the Republika Srpska	Bosnia and Herzegovina → Republika Srpska	15 February 2018	Banja Luka
Order of Makarios III	Cyprus	20 May 2018	Nicosia
Order of Friendship	Kazakhstan	9 October 2018	Astana
Order of Alexander Nevsky	Russia	17 January 2019	Palace of Serbia, Belgrade
Order of St. Sava	Serbian Orthodox Church	8 October 2019	Sava Centar, Belgrade
Order of the White Lion	Czech Republic	18 May 2021	Prague
Order of the Venerable Prohor Pčinjski	Serbian Orthodox Church	13 June 2021	Vranje
Order of Saint-Charles	Monaco	22 February 2022	Monaco City
Order of the Eparchy of Buda	Serbian Orthodox Church	19 August 2023	Szentendre
Order of the Slovak Evangelical Church	Slovak Evangelical Church	13 December 2023	Novi Sad
Hungarian Order of Merit	Hungary	23 August 2024	Budapest

Honorary doctorates

Date	University	Note
2017	Moscow State Institute of International Relations
2018	Azerbaijan University of Languages

Honorary citizenship

Country	City	Date
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Leskovac	10 October 2013
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Novi Pazar	20 April 2015
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Krupanj	24 July 2015
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Svrljig	8 May 2017
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Loznica	16 June 2018
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Honorary citizen of Trebinje	22 October 2018
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Honorary citizen of Drvar	21 July 2019
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Honorary citizen of Sokolac	29 July 2019
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Aleksandrovac	7 February 2020
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Honorary citizen of Banja Luka	22 April 2021
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Šabac	22 April 2021
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Smederevska Palanka	28 June 2021
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Zvečan	12 July 2021
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Valjevo	28 July 2021
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Jagodina	29 September 2021
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Rekovac	17 October 2021
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Honorary citizen of Gradiška	18 April 2022
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Gornji Milanovac	23 April 2023
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Kladovo	27 April 2023
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Subotica	6 July 2023
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Sjenica	16 August 2023
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Prijepolje	7 July 2024
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Honorary citizen of Stanari	27 August 2024

Other

Gold Medal of Merit of the City of Athens
Friends of Zion Award
The key of the city of Banja Luka, 2021
The Great Cross of vožd Đorđe Stratimirović, 2021
The Hippocratic Medal, for contributions to the advancement of healthcare, Society of Physicians of Vojvodina, 2022
Gold Medal for Merit, First Class, Security Intelligence Agency, 2024.

Images for kids

Vučić and Tomislav Nikolić on the founding congress of the Serbian Progressive Party, Belgrade, 2008
Vučić with US Vice President Mike Pence (2017)
President Aleksandar Vučić with Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi
Vučić with journalists during European People's Party Congress in Helsinki (2018)
Vučić at the EPP Congress Madrid (2015)
Vučić attending the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, 11 July 2015