Tomislav Nikolić

Tomislav "Toma" Nikolić (Serbian Cyrillic: Томислав Николић; born 15 February 1952) is a Serbian politician, President of the Serbian Progressive Party. He is also a former member of the Serbian Radical Party, where he served as deputy leader of the party and parliamentary leader during the absence of Vojislav Šešelj. During his leadership of the party, Nikolić favored pushing the SRS towards focusing on issues such as poverty and unemployment, rather than militant nationalism. Nikolić held this post from 23 February 2003 to 6 September 2008, when he resigned following a disagreement with Šešelj regarding Serbia's relations with the European Union. Nikolić then formed the Serbian Progressive Party, which several SRS politicians joined.

He served as President of the National Assembly of Serbia between 8 and 13 May 2007 and was Deputy Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia in the coalition government from 1999 to 2000. Nikolić ran for the President of Yugoslavia in the 2000 elections and placed third. As a perennial candidate he also ran three times for the President of Serbia (in 2003, 2004 and 2008 elections). In 2003 he garnered the most votes, but the election was cancelled due to low turnout. In 2004 and 2008 he placed second, behind Boris Tadić.

Nikolić has published thirteen books as of 2005[update]. He and his wife Dragica (née Ninković) have two sons. Nikolić became a candidate for the 2012 Serbian Presidential Elections, after the resignation of former president Boris Tadić. His campaign literature promised that he would be a non-political head of state who would unite all citizens, as did a speech by his colleague, Aleksandar Vučić.

Biography

Nikolić was born in Kragujevac. In the 1990s, he became a member of the People's Radical Party, which merged with the Serbian Chetnik Movement to form the Serbian Radical Party. Nikolić became a member of the new party on 23 January 1991. He was soon elected the party's vice-president, and at the last three Congresses of Serbian Radicals he was elected deputy president. He has been a deputy in the National Assembly of Serbia since 1991, the only one to be elected continuously since that year. During the rule of Slobodan Milošević and the Socialist Party of Serbia, he and Šešelj were sentenced to three months in prison which he served in Gnjilane. However, in March 1998 Nikolić's Serbian Radical Party formed a coalition with the Socialist Party of Serbia and Nikolić became the vice-president of the Government of Serbia and, by the end of 1999, the vice-president of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Parliamentarians elected Nikolić the Speaker of Parliament on 8 May 2007, defeating Milena Milošević of the Democratic Party by 142 to 99 votes out of 244 members of Parliament. The Democratic Party of Serbia endorsed him. Hajredin Kuci of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Ylli Hoxha of the Reformist Party ORA, and Prime Minister of Kosovo Agim Çeku condemned the election of Nikolić as "counterproductive and dangerous for Kosovo". On 9 May, Nikolić met with Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Alekseyev and gave a speech to Parliament in which he advocated making Serbia part of a Belarus-Russia superstate, saying that together they would "stand up against the hegemony of America and the European Union."

He resigned from his position as speaker on 15 May after the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia formed a preliminary alliance in preparation for a coalition government. He was the Speaker with the shortest mandate in the history of parliamentary democracy in the Balkans. Nikolić told the Democratic parties that if they "peacefully accept" the independence of Kosovo the Radical Party "will not sit calmly and wait".

On 28 February 2003, about 20 days before the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, Nikolić said: "If anyone of you, in the following month or two, sees Zoran Đinđić, tell him that Tito also had a problem with a leg before his death". Nikolić stated that Serbian president Boris Tadić was an Ustasha, and that he was not sorry for the death of Serbian journalist Slavko Ćuruvija. His public statements include that he still dreams about Greater Serbia as a state where all Serbs will once live in, and that Russian troops should be allowed to build a military base in Serbia at the strategic location Pasuljanske livade.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Mirko Cvetković

Mirko Cvetković (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирко Цветковић, born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and the Prime Minister of Serbia as well as the Minister of Finance.

Biography

Mirko Cvetković was born in the small city of Zaječar in eastern Serbia. His father Srboljub was economist, mother Stana worked as a pharmacist. His grandfather, Mirko, a school teacher, was killed in 1941, by German soldiers during the Kragujevac massacre.

He completed his elementary and high school education in Zaječar. Mirko Cvetković graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics where he also received his MComm and PhD.

Cvetković worked at the Mining Institute for ten years and later at the Economics Institute for another six years, followed by seven years at the advisory and research firm CES Mecon where he worked as a consultant.

In the 1980s he was external consultant for the World Bank on a number of projects in Pakistan, India and Turkey and worked on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia.

In the period 1998–2001 he was employed as adviser for economic issues at the Mining Institute, and in 2005 he became the Special Advisor at CEO Intercom Consulting.

He has published a number of papers and articles on privatization in Serbia and abroad.

Cvetković is married and has two children. Apart from his native tongue, he speaks English and French fluently and, as a hobby, plays piano, saxophone and clarinet.

Early Years

After the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, from January 2001 Cvetković worked as Deputy Minister of Economy and Privatisation in the Government of Serbia of Zoran Djindjić. From 2003 to 2004 he was the Director of the Privatisation Agency. After the fall of Zoran Živković's government on 2003 elections, Cvetković withdrew from politics.

Cvetković served as the Minister of Finance from May 15. 2007, until July 2008. in the coalition Government of Vojislav Koštunica.

He was best remembered as being the first to doubt the way money from the central budget was spent in Kosovo. Back then, he told his colleagues in the government: “You can raise the salaries of employees in Kosovo if you give up a part of your salary”.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Boris Tadić

Boris Tadić (Serbian Cyrillic: Борис Тадић; born 15 January 1958 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February. Prior to Presidency, Tadić served as the last Minister of Telecommunications of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and as the first Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro. He is a psychologist by profession.

Boris Tadić advocates the integration of Serbia into the European Union but he also believes Serbia should only join the EU with his country's sovereignty over Kosovo. He is seen as a pro-Western leader but who favours balanced relations with Russia, the United States, and the EU.

Early Career

Boris Tadić was born in Sarajevo, the capital of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a republic within the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. His father, Ljubomir, is a philosopher and a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. His mother, Nevenka, is a psychologist. His maternal grandfather and six other relatives were killed by the Croatian Ustaše during World War II at the Jasenovac concentration camp.

The Tadić are descendants of the Serb clan of Old Herzegovina in Piva (pl. Pivljani) and their family venerate Saint John (Serbian tradition Krsna slava of Jovandan).

His parents frequently relocated between various cities and had moved to Sarajevo from Paris, where they were pursuing their doctoral studies, only a few days prior to his birth. The Tadić family moved to Belgrade when Boris was three years old, and his father got a job at the newspaper Liberation.

Tadić finished Pera Popović Aga (today Mika Petrović Alas) elementary school and matriculated at First Belgrade High School in the Belgrade neighbourhood of Dorćol. During his teenage years he played water polo for VK Partizan but had to quit due to injuries. He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy with a degree in psychology, specifically social psychology in the department of clinical psychology. Tadić was arrested during his studies for "participating in the demonstrations demanding that arrested students be released from detention" and spent one month in penal labour prison in Padinska Skela. He worked as a journalist, military clinical psychologist and as a teacher of psychology at the First Belgrade Gymnasium.

Until 2003, Tadić also worked at the Faculty of Drama at the University of Belgrade as a lecturer of political advertising.

Personal Life

Tadić has a sister, Vjera, who is also a psychologist and currently teaches psychology in the First Belgrade Gymnasium. Besides his native language, Tadić is fluent in English, French and Italian. He enjoys watching football and supports FK Partizan.

He was previously married to journalist Veselinka Zastavniković from 1980 to 1996, but they divorced, having had no children. Throughout their marriage they were actively involved in various socio-political activities including protests and petitions against human rights abuses and so-called 'verbal delict' in SFR Yugoslavia in the 1980s as well as anti-Milošević protests in the 1990s. Veselinka became a nun in October 2008, as Irina, in the Patriarchate of Peć.

He is married to Tatjana Tadić (née Rodić), with whom he has two daughters: Maša and Vanja. Tatjana has roots in Knin.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Janko Tipsarević

Janko Tipsarević (born 22 June 1984) is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high ranking is No. 9, achieved on 14 November 2011. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10.

In his career, he has won two ATP tour championships, two Futures and nine tournaments in the ATP Challenger Series. Tipsarevic has also won the 2001 Australian Open Junior title.

Tipsarević has achieved one victory over a World No. 1 player, having defeated fellow compatriot Novak Djokovic. He also has eleven (11) victories against other players from the top 10, consisting of three wins against Tomáš Berdych, two against Andy Roddick, and one against Fernando González, Mikhail Youzhny, David Ferrer, James Blake, Gaël Monfils, and Andy Murray. He also has wins against former world no. 1 players, Carlos Moyá, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Arguably his most notable match to date was his third-round match at the 2008 Australian Open, where he lost to Roger Federer 6–7, 7–6, 5–7, 6–1, 10–8. He has also defeated former top-ten players Andy Roddick and Fernando González at Grand Slam level, and was a quarter-finalist at the 2011 US Open.

Personal Life

Tipsarević was born in Belgrade, Serbia (then SFR Yugoslavia). His father, Pavle, is a professor, and his mother, Vesna, is a homemaker. He also has a younger brother, Veljko. He finished high school and in 2006 completed his degree in Sports Management at the University of Belgrade. Commentators and the press often mention his love of classic literature as something unusual for a high-level athlete. He has a quotation, tattooed in Japanese, from Dostoyevsky ("Beauty will save the world", from The Idiot) on his left arm. He also has a Japanese tattoo on his right arm, which represents the first two letters of the names of his father, his mother, his brother, and himself in katakana. According to US Open announcers Ted Robinson and John McEnroe, he also has a tattoo of a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer on his back. He has been in a relationship with Biljana Sesevic since 2007, and they married on July 4, 2010. In his free time he plays music as a DJ.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic (born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open. By winning three Majors in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player in the open era to win three Majors in a calendar year. He is the first player representing Serbia to win a Major singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively. Amongst other titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and was also on the team which won the 2010 Davis Cup. He is considered the best male tennis player to come out of the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans. Djokovic is also a double winner of The Best Sportsperson of Serbia award and the award for The Best Sportsman by the Olympic Committee of Serbia. He has been awarded the Order of St. Sava, the highest decoration of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Djokovic is a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia. He is the only player to defeat Nadal in two consecutive Grand Slam finals (2011 Wimbledon and 2011 US Open).

Biography

Novak was born 22 May 1987, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to father Srđan (Срђан) and mother Dijana (Дијана). His two younger brothers, Marko and Đorđe (Ђорђе), are also tennis players with professional aspirations. Since the end of 2005, Novak has dated Jelena Ristić.

He started playing tennis at the age of four. In the summer 1993, the six-year-old was spotted by Yugoslav tennis legend Jelena Genčić at Mount Kopaonik where Djokovic's parents ran a fast-food parlour. Upon seeing the dedicated and talented youngster in action, she stated: "This is the greatest talent I have seen since Monica Seles." Genčić worked with young Djokovic over the following six years before realizing that, due to his rapid development, going abroad in search of increased level of competition was the best option for his future. To that end, she contacted Nikola Pilić, and in September 1999, the 12-year-old moved to the Pilić tennis academy in Oberschleißheim, Germany, spending four years there. At age 14, he began his international career, winning European championships in singles, doubles, and team competition.

He resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco and has been coached since 2006 by a former Slovak tennis player, Marián Vajda.

Djokovic is known for his often humorous off-court impersonations of his fellow players, many of whom are his friends. This became evident to the tennis world after his 2007 US Open quarterfinal win over Carlos Moyà, where he entertained the audience with impersonations of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. He also did an impression of American tennis great John McEnroe after his final preliminary game at the 2009 US Open, before playing a brief game with McEnroe, much to the delight of the audience. It is because of this jovial personality that he earned the nickname "Djoker", a portmanteau of his surname and the word joker. Novak Djokovic is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Similar to fellow pro Roger Federer, Djokovic is a self-described fan of languages, speaking four himself: his native Serbian, English, German, and Italian.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Ana Ivanović

Ana Ivanović (born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open. Competing as a professional since 2003, she has won 11 WTA Tour singles titles. When on form, Ana is known for her aggressive style of play.

Early Life

Ivanović's mother Dragana (Драгана), a lawyer, supports her daughter during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav (Мирослав), a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš (Милош), with whom she loves to play basketball.

Personal life

Aside from her tennis career, Ivanović also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monika Seleš, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.

On September 8, 2007, Ivanović became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Đorđević, Jelena Janković and Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanović visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said that she is "also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids."

From : www.wikipedia.org