Tomislav Nikolić facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tomislav Nikolić
Томислав Николић
Official portrait, 2012
President of Serbia
In office 31 May 2012 – 31 May 2017
Prime Minister	Mirko Cvetković Ivica Dačić Aleksandar Vučić
Preceded by	Boris Tadić Slavica Đukić Dejanović (acting)
Succeeded by	Aleksandar Vučić
President of the National Assembly
In office 8 May 2007 – 13 May 2007
Preceded by	Predrag Marković Borka Vučić (acting)
Succeeded by	Milutin Mrkonjić (acting) Oliver Dulić
Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
In office 12 August 1999 – 9 October 2000
Prime Minister	Momir Bulatović
Preceded by	Vuk Drašković
Succeeded by	Miroljub Labus
Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia
In office 24 March 1998 – 12 August 1999
Prime Minister	Mirko Marjanović
Preceded by	Dragan Tomić
Succeeded by	Nebojša Čović
Personal details
Born	(1952-02-15) 15 February 1952 (age 73) Kragujevac, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Political party	NRS (1990–1991) SRS (1991–2008) SNS (2008–present)
Spouse	Dragica Ninković
Children	2, including Radomir
Signature

Tomislav Nikolić (born on February 15, 1952) is a Serbian politician. He served as the President of Serbia from 2012 to 2017.

He was once a member of the Serbian Radical Party. In 2008, he left that party. He then started a new party called the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). He led this new party until 2012.

Nikolić was born in a village near Kragujevac. He was a member of parliament for a long time. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister for Serbia and later for Yugoslavia. In 2007, he was briefly the President of the National Assembly of Serbia.

In 2008, he disagreed with his party leader about Serbia joining the European Union. Nikolić supported joining the EU, but his leader did not. This led him to leave and form the SNS. Many members from his old party joined him.

Nikolić ran for president several times. In 2012, he won the election. He became the President of Serbia.

Early Life and Education

Tomislav Nikolić was born in Kragujevac, a city in Serbia. His father, Radomir, was a worker. His mother, Živadinka, was a homemaker.

When he was young, he enjoyed athletics. He finished a technical high school in Kragujevac. His first job was supervising a cemetery. Later, he worked for construction companies. He also managed the Investment and Maintenance Department for a company. He was also a technical director for a utility company in Kragujevac.

He is married to Dragica Ninković. They have two sons together.

Political Journey

Starting in Politics

Nikolić began his political journey as a vice-president of the People's Radical Party. He helped merge part of this party with another group. This created the Serbian Radical Party.

He was elected as a deputy in the National Assembly of Serbia in 1991. He was the only person to be elected continuously since then. In 1998, his party joined a government coalition. He became the vice-president of the Serbian government. Later, he became the vice-president of the government of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Presidential Elections

Nikolić ran for president of Serbia many times. In the 2000 election for Yugoslavia's president, he came in third place.

He ran for President of Serbia in 2003. He received the most votes in the first round. However, the election was canceled because not enough people voted. He ran again in 2004. He won the first round but lost in the second round to Boris Tadić.

In 2003, he became the deputy leader of the Serbian Radical Party. He focused on issues like poverty and unemployment. He wanted the party to pay more attention to these topics.

Speaker of Parliament

On May 8, 2007, Nikolić was elected as the Speaker of Parliament. He won with 142 votes. He resigned from this role on May 13, 2007. This happened after other parties formed a new alliance.

Leaving the Radical Party

In 2008, Nikolić suddenly resigned from the Radical Party leadership. News reports said he disagreed with the party leader, Vojislav Šešelj. Their disagreement was about Serbia joining the European Union. Nikolić supported Serbia joining the EU. Šešelj and his group strongly opposed it.

After leaving, Nikolić formed a new group in parliament. He told the media that the "old Serbian Radical Party no longer exists." On September 12, 2008, Nikolić and his group were officially removed from the Radical Party. Nikolić then announced he would start his own political party.

Founding the Serbian Progressive Party

On September 24, 2008, Nikolić announced the name of his new party: the Serbian Progressive Party. The party's first meeting was held on October 21, 2008.

In 2011, Nikolić and his supporters organized a protest. They asked for early parliamentary elections. He even went on a hunger strike to push for this. He stopped the strike later, citing a holiday.

Nikolić with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Belgrade, 2012.

Nikolić led the Serbian Progressive Party in the 2012 parliamentary election. He also ran for president in the 2012 Serbian presidential election. His campaign slogan was Let's Get Serbia Moving. During the campaign, there were questions about his education. Nikolić responded by suing newspapers that made claims about his degree.

On May 6, 2012, Nikolić came in second in the first round of the presidential election. He then faced the current president, Boris Tadić, in a second round on May 20. Nikolić won the election. Boris Tadić congratulated him and wished Serbia continued progress.

Nikolić with Catherine Ashton in Brussels, 2013.

On May 24, 2012, Nikolić resigned as the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party. He also left the party. He said he wanted to be a president for all citizens of Serbia.

Nikolić meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, 2016.

In 2013, the Belgrade pride parade was canceled due to safety concerns. Nikolić later called for efforts to organize the parade for the next year.

Presidency (2012–2017)

Nikolić became the President of Serbia on May 31, 2012. Many officials and ambassadors attended his inauguration. However, leaders from some neighboring countries did not attend.

In 2012, Nikolić made a statement about events in Srebrenica. He said that "grave war crimes were committed by some Serbs" there. He also said he would not attend the annual commemoration. His predecessor, Boris Tadić, had recognized the events as genocide.

Bakir Izetbegović, a leader from Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Nikolić's comments were insulting. Catherine Ashton, a European Union official, also criticized his statements. The United States Department of State expressed disapproval.

On April 25, 2013, Nikolić apologized for crimes committed in the name of Serbia. He specifically mentioned crimes in Srebrenica. Some people in Bosnia and Herzegovina were still disappointed because he did not use the word "genocide."

As President, Nikolić honored many people and organizations. In 2016, he honored the President of Sudan. This was because Sudan did not recognize Kosovo's independence. Some groups asked Nikolić to take back the medal. They pointed out that the Sudanese president was wanted by the International Criminal Court.

In February 2017, Nikolić announced he would not seek re-election. He supported Aleksandar Vučić in the upcoming elections.

Awards and Recognitions

Tomislav Nikolić has received many awards and honors from different countries. These awards recognize his work and contributions.

Award or decoration		Country	Date	Place
	Order of Makarios III	Cyprus	13 January 2013	Belgrade
	Order of Merit	Ukraine	6 June 2013	Belgrade
	Order of the Redeemer	Greece	18 June 2013	Belgrade
	Order of Glory	Armenia	11 October 2014	Yerevan
	Order of José Martí	Cuba	19 May 2015	Havana
	National Order of Merit	Algeria	17 May 2016	Algiers
	Order of Friendship	Kazakhstan	24 August 2016	Belgrade
	Order of Prince Henry	Portugal	25 January 2017	Lisbon
	Order of the Friendship of the Peoples	Belarus	20 May 2017	Minsk
	Order of the Republika Srpska	Bosnia and Herzegovina:  Republika Srpska	9 January 2018	Banja Luka

Honorary Citizenship

He has also been given honorary citizenship in several cities. This means he is recognized as a special citizen of those places.

Country	City	Year
Serbia	Honorary citizen of Čačak	2013
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republika Srpska)	Honorary citizen of Trebinje	2013
Montenegro	Honorary citizen of Berane	2015
China	Honorary citizen of Beijing	2017

Images for kids

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  Former President of the National Assembly Tomislav Nikolić and former Minister of Information of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić at the founding convention of SNS, circa 2008–09

See also

In Spanish: Tomislav Nikolić para niños