Ivo Sanader facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ivo Sanader
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Sanader in 2009
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| Prime Minister of Croatia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 23 December 2003 – 6 July 2009 |
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| President | Stjepan Mesić | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy |
Cabinet I (2003–2008)
Cabinet II (2008–2009)
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| Preceded by | Ivica Račan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jadranka Kosor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Science and Technology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 August 1992 – 7 January 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Jure Radić | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Branko Jeren | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 8 June 1953 Split, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia |
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| Political party | Croatian Democratic Union (1989–2010) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Mirjana Šarić
(m. 1978) |
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| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Innsbruck | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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Ivo Sanader (born 8 June 1953) is a former politician from Croatia. He served as the Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009. He is currently serving a prison sentence related to his time in office.
Sanader was the second longest-serving prime minister since Croatia became independent. He held the position for over five and a half years. He is one of only two Croatian prime ministers who served more than one term. He won general elections in 2003 and 2007.
He led two government cabinets. His first cabinet was from December 2003 to January 2008. His second cabinet lasted from January 2008 until he resigned in July 2009.
Sanader studied literature in Austria. He also worked as a journalist and in marketing there. In the 1990s, he was briefly in charge of the Croatian National Theatre in Split. Later, he became the Minister for Science and Technology in 1992. This was as a member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party. In 1993, he started working in diplomacy. He served two terms as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.
After Franjo Tuđman passed away, Sanader became the leader of the HDZ party in 2000. He led the party to win the 2003 and 2007 elections. This made him Croatia's Prime Minister. In June 2009, he suddenly resigned. He did not give much explanation for his decision. In January 2010, he tried to return to the HDZ. However, he was removed from the party.
In December 2010, Croatian authorities started legal proceedings against Sanader. He left the country but was caught in Austria. He was then sent back to Croatia in July 2011. He was later found guilty in several cases related to his time in office. He is the first Croatian head of government to be tried and sentenced to a jail term.
Early Life and Education
Sanader was born in Split, Croatia. He came from a family that did not have much money. He was one of five children. His mother asked the local school to accept him because his family could not pay for his education. At school, Sanader was a very good student. He was especially good at history and languages.
After high school, Sanader spent a year in Rome studying philosophy. When he returned, he met Mirjana Šarić. They got married in 1978.
After their wedding, Ivo and Mirjana moved to Innsbruck, Austria. His wife studied archaeology. Ivo studied comparative literature and Romance languages at the University of Innsbruck. During this time, Sanader also worked as a reporter for a sports newspaper in Zagreb.
In 1982, Sanader earned his PhD degree. He and his wife then returned to Croatia. He worked in marketing for a short time. Then, he worked at a publishing house called Logos from 1983. He started as an editor and later became a chief editor.
In 1987, Sanader decided to move back to Austria with his family. He started two businesses there. One business closed in 1992. The other one operated until 2001. After his businesses did not succeed, Sanader decided to enter politics in the 1990s.
Besides his native Croatian, he can speak English, German, French, and Italian.
His Political Journey
Starting in Politics
Unlike many politicians of his time, Sanader was not involved in politics when he was younger. He did not join the ruling party of Yugoslavia.
In October 1990, when Croatia started having multiple political parties, Sanader started a branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in Austria. He also met Franjo Tuđman, who would become Croatia's first president. Sanader was good at organizing and spoke German well. This made a good impression on other HDZ members. He decided to return to Split, even though his wife was worried about the war in Croatia.
His first public job was being in charge of the Croatian National Theatre in Split. Soon after, his wife also got a job in Split.
In 1992, he was elected as an HDZ representative to the Croatian parliament. He became the Minister of Science and Technology from 1992 to 1993. From 1993 to 1995 and again from 1996 to 2000, he was a Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. He helped remove the need for visas for Croatians traveling to Greece. He also helped bring people from other parties to join the HDZ.
In November 1995, he became the Chief of Staff for the President of Croatia's office. He also became the General Secretary of the Croatian National Security and Defense Council. In January 1996, he joined the Council for Cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During his second time as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, he worked to improve relations between Croatia and Israel. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1997.
Leading the Opposition
In 2000, after President Tuđman passed away, the HDZ party lost the parliamentary election. Their candidate for president also did not do well. Sanader was then chosen as the new leader of the HDZ in April 2000.
At first, Sanader spoke out against some legal actions against Croatian Army generals. In 2001, he joined a large protest about one of these cases. However, he slowly started to change his stance. He began to make the party more modern and pro-European.
Some members of the party disagreed with his direction. This led to a struggle for leadership at the 2002 party meeting. Sanader won and was re-elected as party leader. Some members who disagreed with him left the party.
Sanader then focused on winning the 2003 parliamentary elections. The HDZ won the election, but they did not get a full majority in the parliament.
Becoming Prime Minister
First Term as Prime Minister
After the HDZ won the election, Sanader was named the Prime Minister-designate on 9 December 2003. He got support from representatives of ethnic minorities and other parties. The Croatian Parliament approved him with 88 votes. Sanader officially became Prime Minister on 23 December 2003.
The main goals of Sanader's government were for Croatia to join the European Union (EU) and NATO. Croatia became an official candidate for the EU. Sanader's party also worked to improve relations with minority groups and protect their rights. Croatia's cooperation with international courts and its economic growth helped it move closer to EU membership.
Sanader was the last statesman to visit Pope John Paul II in February 2005, shortly before the Pope passed away.
In October 2005, after EU membership talks officially began, Sanader was very popular among Croatian politicians.
As Prime Minister, Sanader had good relationships with other conservative leaders in Europe. These included leaders from Austria, Germany, and Ireland. His government faced some challenges, including growing doubts about joining the EU in the country.
Second Term as Prime Minister
After a very close election in 2007, Sanader was again given the chance to form a government. This time, he formed a coalition with other parties.
During Sanader's second term, the global economic recession began. Croatia's economic growth slowed down. Talks for Croatia to join the EU were expected to finish in 2009. However, they were delayed for 10 months because of a disagreement with Slovenia.
On 1 July 2009, Sanader announced he was resigning as Prime Minister. He also said he would leave politics completely. He stated that it was "time for others to take over." This announcement surprised many people. He named his deputy, Jadranka Kosor, as his successor.
The Croatian Parliament accepted his resignation on 2 July 2009. Sanader was made an Honorary President of the HDZ for life.
Leaving and Returning to Politics
In September 2009, Sanader spoke about Croatia's economy. He talked about how Croatia was moving from a controlled economy to one based on knowledge. He said that encouraging competition was important for this change.
On 3 January 2010, Sanader announced he would return to politics. He said his decision to leave was a mistake. He felt the HDZ should be a winning party.
The next day, on 4 January 2010, Ivo Sanader was removed from the Croatian Democratic Union party. He was not present at the meeting where this decision was made.
In October 2010, Sanader returned to his seat in parliament. This meant he got back his parliamentary immunity, which protects politicians from certain legal actions.
Facing Legal Challenges
On 9 December 2010, Sanader was seen crossing the border into Slovenia. This happened shortly before the Croatian parliament voted to remove his immunity. The next day, Croatian police issued an arrest warrant for him. He was arrested near Salzburg, Austria, on 10 December 2010. Croatian authorities froze his money and bank accounts. They formally asked for him to be sent back to Croatia.
Austrian authorities questioned Sanader while he was in custody. Croatian authorities also expanded their investigation into him.
Sanader was accused of receiving money related to a loan from an Austrian bank in 1995. He was also accused of receiving money from a Hungarian oil company to help them gain control in a Croatian oil company.
Legal Outcomes and Current Status
Sanader was sent back to Croatia on 18 July 2011. He was taken to a prison in Zagreb.
At his first court hearing, he mentioned having heart problems. The judge rescheduled the hearing. He was later released on bail in December 2011. In January 2012, new accusations were made against Sanader. He was accused of involvement in financial issues with Croatia's state-owned electric company.
In May 2012, it was announced that Sanader could face more accusations. These were related to selling electricity at low prices to a company, which reportedly harmed the state electricity company.
In September 2012, a fifth accusation was filed against Ivo Sanader. This was for causing financial damage to the state budget.
By 2012, it was estimated that the total financial damage from cases involving Sanader was significant. He faced five accusations in total.
On 20 November 2012, Sanader was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a first ruling for some of the cases. He was the highest-ranking official in Croatia to be found guilty of such charges. Sanader said he did nothing wrong and that his trial was politically motivated. The judge stated that Sanader had used his position for his own benefit. Sanader was then transferred to prison.
In June 2014, a higher court confirmed the 2012 ruling. However, Sanader's prison sentence was reduced to 8 and a half years. In 2015, this ruling was overturned due to mistakes made during the trial. After spending almost 5 years in custody and prison, he was released and set to have a new trial.
In 2017, he was sentenced to 4 and a half years in another case. In April 2019, this conviction was confirmed by the Supreme Court, and his sentence was increased to 6 years. Since then, Sanader has been in prison.
In 2020, he was found guilty again in a new trial for one of the cases and sentenced to an additional 8 years in prison. That same year, he was found guilty in another case and sentenced to an additional 6 years in prison. These rulings were confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2021, though one sentence was slightly reduced. He was found not guilty in another case that same year.
In 2022, he was found not guilty in one case, but this still needs to be confirmed by the Supreme Court. In 2023, his sentences from the different cases were combined into one total sentence of 18 years and 8 months. This was later reduced to 18 years by the Supreme Court.
As of 2024, he is serving his sentence at Lipovica prison. He cannot be released before 2033.
Honors and Awards
| Award or decoration | Country | Awarded by | Date | Place | |
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Honorary Colonel of Armed Forces of Croatia |  Croatia |
Franjo Tuđman | 1993 | Zagreb |
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Bavarian Order of Merit |  Germany |
Edmund Stoiber | 2007 | Munich |
Revoked Honors
On 15 July 2014, President Ivo Josipović took away all of Sanader's national awards. This happened after the Supreme Court confirmed his prison sentence for his actions as Prime Minister.
Order of Duke Trpimir
Grand Order of Queen Jelena
Order of the Croatian Trefoil
Homeland's Gratitude Medal
Order of Ante Starčević
Order of Danica Hrvatska with the face of Marko Marulić
Images for kids
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Sanader with Angela Merkel and Jyrki Katainen, at an EPP summit in 24 March 2007
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See also
In Spanish: Ivo Sanader para niños
- Cabinet of Ivo Sanader I
- Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II
