Jadranka Kosor

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Jadranka Kosor
Kosor in 2010
Prime Minister of Croatia
In office
6 July 2009 – 23 December 2011
PresidentStjepan Mesić
Ivo Josipović
DeputySlobodan Uzelac
Božidar Pankretić
Darko Milinović
Domagoj Ivan Milošević
Petar Čobanković
Gordan Jandroković
Preceded byIvo Sanader
Succeeded byZoran Milanović
Minister of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity
In office
23 December 2003 – 6 July 2009
Prime MinisterIvo Sanader
Preceded byIvica Pančić
Succeeded byTomislav Ivić
Further offices held
Leader of the Opposition
In office
23 December 2011 – 21 May 2012
Prime MinisterZoran Milanović
Preceded byZoran Milanović
Succeeded byTomislav Karamarko
President of the Croatian Democratic Union
In office
4 July 2009 – 21 May 2012
DeputyDarko Milinović
Preceded byIvo Sanader
Succeeded byTomislav Karamarko
Member of Parliament
In office
23 December 2011 – 28 December 2015
ConstituencyV electoral district
In office
2 February 2000 – 22 December 2003
ConstituencyV electoral district
In office
28 November 1995[1] – 2 February 2000
Preceded byBranko Mikša
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
ConstituencyXXVI electoral district
Personal details
Born (1953-07-01) 1 July 1953 (age 70)
Lipik, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
Political partyIndependent (2013–2015; 2015–present)
Other political
affiliations		SKH (until 1990)
HDZ (1995–2013)
Successful Croatia (2015)
Spouses
  • Hrvoje Markulj
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1977; div. 1981)​
  • Ivo Škopljanac
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1984; div. 1993)​
Children1
Parents
  • Mirko Kosor
  • Zorica Belan
Alma materUniversity of Zagreb
Signature

Jadranka Kosor (Croatian pronunciation:

first and so far only woman to become Prime Minister of Croatia since independence.[2]

Kosor started working as a journalist, following her graduation from the

Kukuriku coalition, led by the Social Democratic Party. Kosor handed power to the new Prime Minister, Zoran Milanović
, in December 2011.

As prime minister, Kosor failed to commit to structural reforms although she managed to prevent the country's budgetary meltdown with two budget revisions and the introduction of new taxes as a response to the ongoing economic crisis. During her tenure, she strongly advocated a zero-tolerance policy to political corruption and organized crime. This uncompromising stance, along with the new

conservative Tomislav Karamarko
. After months of criticizing his leadership and the new party platform, she was expelled from HDZ by the party's High Court for damaging the party's reputation.

In 2021, Kosor was awarded with the Grand Order of Queen Jelena with Sash and Morning Star by President of Croatia Zoran Milanović for "extraordinary contribution to the international position and reputation of the Republic of Croatia" and for "the development of relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian people and other states and peoples."[3]

Early life

Jadranka Kosor was born in

war veterans.[6] She also worked briefly as a correspondent for the BBC
during this time.

Politics

Kosor with German Chancellor Angela Merkel

In 1995, Kosor became a representative in the Croatian Parliament as a member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). She was also the vice-president of the Croatian Parliament. From 1999 to 2000, she was president of the HDZ's Women's Association Katarina Zrinski. She is credited with the number of female candidates from the HDZ in the 2000 elections doubling.[7]

Kosor was the vice-president of the HDZ party between 1995 and 1997, and from 2002 up to 2009 when she became the president of the party. In 2003, she became the minister in the Croatian department for Family, Veterans and

Croatian Government of Ivo Sanader.[6]

HDZ nominated her as their presidential candidate for the

Stipe Mesić
in the second round, but lost.

In July 2009, she was politically installed as the head of the Croatian Democratic Union following the resignation of Ivo Sanader.[8]

Prime minister

On 1 July 2009, Croatian Prime Minister

Opposition
was not pleased with this development calling Sanader a coward and Kosor his puppet saying that an early general election was necessary.

Domestic policy

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
in May 2010
Kosor with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov at an EPP summit in Meise, September 2010

In the first month of her term Kosor, faced with a huge deficit and high unemployment, introduced an emergency budget aimed to reduce spending and the national debt. One of the most unpopular austerity measures taken along with the introduction of the budget was a new income tax called the "crisis tax" (krizni porez).

harač, a historical Turkish loanword representing a tax implemented during the Ottoman Empire in the late Middle Ages.[13]
Indeed, the government's handling of finances was unpopular among the public resulting in the Prime Minister's dismal approval rating of 32% by the end of her first month.

In the last quarter of 2009, many public officials, as well as members of the boards of various government agencies, became suspected of participating in corrupt activities. An unprecedented number[quantify] of officials were detained and arrested under these allegations which resulted in both praise and criticism of Kosor's government. The praise was mostly directed by those[who?] who believed that the government had finally taken a stronger stance against political corruption, while others[who?] criticized the fact that most suspects were, in fact, members of Kosor's own Croatian Democratic Union. The Opposition accused the government, especially the prime minister, for political responsibility, claiming that it was impossible that Kosor didn't know what was happening around her when she was a vice president of the government almost seven years before becoming prime minister.[citation needed] The accusations grew louder as more and more corruption affairs were tied with the former prime minister, Ivo Sanader.[citation needed] On 30 October 2009 Damir Polančec, member of the HDZ Presidency, resigned as deputy prime minister and minister of the economy following allegations of corruption.[14]

On 3 January 2010, Ivo Sanader announced he was returning to active politics, saying it was a mistake he ever left. He accused Kosor and the members of the HDZ Presidency of failed leadership citing

first round of the presidential election held just a week earlier.[15] Hebrang received, for HDZ as the largest party in the country, an embarrassing 12% of the votes claiming third place, the lowest result for an HDZ presidential candidate ever. Ivo Josipović, the candidate of the largest opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, won a landslide victory in the resulting runoff on 10 January.[16] Most political pundits, as well as the majority of the public, believed the true reason of Sanader's surprise return was fear that he will eventually be tied with the numerous corruption scandals which have emerged since he left office. On 4 January, the day after Sanader's coup as it was called by the press, the HDZ Presidency decided to evict Sanader from the party.[17] The Croatian public quickly rallied in support of Kosor against the hugely unpopular former prime minister, resulting in the highest support for any Prime Minister since polling began, topping at 77% by the end of February.[18]

Throughout 2010, the economy topped corruption as the biggest concern of the government, and the enthusiasm for Kosor and her government soon wore off. Industry shed tens of thousands of jobs, and unemployment soared. Consumer spending reduced drastically compared to record 2007 levels, causing widespread problems in the trade as well as transport industries. The import/export balance did derive a benefit from a large decrease in imports and a more tempered decrease in exports. The continuing declining standard resulted in a quick fall in both the Prime Minister's as well as government's support. In June, Kosor proposed loosening the labor law and making it more business-friendly. This was greatly opposed by the unions who have organized a petition against the proposed changes demanding a referendum on the issue. The petition was signed by over 700,000 citizens, unprecedented in Croatia. Just as the

2010 Croatian labour law referendum was being prepared, the government decided to drop the proposed changes.[19] The Constitutional Court ultimately declared the referendum issue moot, but ordered the government not to subject any changes to the labor law in the following year.[20]
This was seen as a legal way to avoid the referendum which many speculated would be a referendum on the Government rather than on the labor law. The unions criticized the move calling it undemocratic, announcing protests.

In August 2011, at the official celebration of Victory Day, Kosor sent a public greeting to Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač who were in April of the same year found guilty in a first instance verdict of war crimes and crimes against humanity by ICTY.[21] In 2012, they were both acquitted by the ICTY's Appeals Panel and released from custody. Kosor's statement was criticized by Serbian president Boris Tadić,[22] leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) Milorad Pupovac,[23] Deputy Prime Minister Slobodan Uzelac (SDSS), as well as by leaders of the opposition Social Democratic Party and Croatian People's Party.[24] Amnesty International expressed concerns.[25][26]

Foreign relations

Jadranka Kosor signed an agreement with

Croatian EU entry negotiations to proceed. On 9 December 2011, Prime Minister Kosor and President Ivo Josipović signed EU Accession Treaty in Brussels.[27]

Standing in opinion polls

Kosor's approval ratings (IpsosPuls November 2009 – December 2011)
Jadranka Kosor's approval ratings
Date Event Approval (%)
1 August 2009 First month in office 32[28]
29 January 2010 After expelling Sanader from the party 71[29]
30 June 2010 Labour Union referendum 39[30]
25 December 2010 Arrest of Ivo Sanader 33[31]
25 November 2011 Last poll before losing the election 23[32]
27 February 2010 Personal High 77[33]
29 October 2010 Personal Low 22[34]
Career Average 39

Post-premiership

Kosor with Serbian President Boris Tadić and Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor

Following HDZ's defeat at the

better source needed] On 12 June 2012, Kosor and Vladimir Šeks were removed from the positions of Deputy Speakers.[38] In 2013, she was expelled from HDZ for "damaging the reputation of the party".[39]

Kosor continued as an independent, considerably more liberal, politician and eventually formed a deputy club with two

Bridge of Independent Lists party for their indecisiveness.[46][47][48][49][50][51][52] In February 2016, she called on Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković to remove Zlatko Hasanbegović from the position of the Minister of Culture after photograph of him wearing a cap with an Ustaše badge was published.[53] In August 2016, Kosor stated that yelling Za dom spremni was "an insult to war veterans and their friends who gave their lives for a democratic, independent, and free Croatia".[54]

Kosor is very active on Twitter[55] where she writes on daily events and statements by politicians. She also maintains a personal blog - "Day After Yesterday - On Obverses and Reverses of Politics".[56] In 2017, she published a book which included texts she wrote on her blog and columns written for the Slovenian leftist newspaper Dnevnik in the period from 2015 to 2017 in which she commented on Croatian interior and foreign politics.

In 2023, she reached the semi-final of Croatia's Masked Singer.[57]

Personal life

Jadranka Kosor was married twice; between 1971 and 1981 to Hrvoje Markul, an editor of the HTV Entertainment Program, and between 1984 and 1993 to Ivo Škopljanac, the radio host. Her son Lovro Škopljanac (b. 1984) works as a senior assistant at the Department of Comparative Literature at the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.[58]

She has published five books - two of poetry, two related to the Croatian War of Independence and one containing her comments on Croatian politics. Kosor received The Golden Pen Award of the Croatian Journalists' Association, European Union's Humanitarian Award, European Circle Award of the Croatian European House and HRT's Lifetime Achievement Award "Ivan Šibl". She is an honorary member of the Association of Parents of Deceased Veterans, Honorary Vice President of the Association of the Deafblind "Dodir", Honorary President of the Association of Homeland Defence War Veterans - HVIDRA, Honorary President of the Association of Croatian Homeland Defence War Veterans Treated for PTSD of the Šibenik-Knin County - "Tvrđava Knin" and Honorary President of the International Committee of Humanists for the Protection of Children and Families from Abuse and Violence.[35]

References

  1. ^ http://www.sabor.hr/sites/default/files/uploads/inline-files/HS_1995-1999_ZD_1_ocr.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ISBN 978-1-44731-578-0
    , pp. 326-33
  3. ^ "President Milanović Confers Grand Order of Queen Jelena with Sash and Star on Former Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor". 9 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Djetinjstvo Jadranke Kosor: ljepotica i vunderkind". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 4 July 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Jadranka Kosor" (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "Jadranka Kosor (Members of Government)". Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Vlada.hr. Retrieved on 2013-03-16.
  7. ISBN 0754640892
    .
  8. ^ "Croatia closer to first woman PM". BBC News. 4 July 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  9. ^ "Kosor Approved Croatia PM, Vows To Tackle Budget". javno. 7 July 2009. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  10. ^ "Jedanaesta vlada" (in Croatian). Croatian Information-Documentation Referral Agency. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  11. ^ "Jadranka Kosor: Krizni porez zahvatit će sve!". 27 August 2009.
  12. ^ "Vlada uvodi krizni porez od 3% i povećava PDV na 23%!". 22 July 2009.
  13. ^ "Prva godina: Kosor uvela harač i produljila recesiju".
  14. ISBN 978-1-5443-2712-9
    .
  15. ^ "Sanader: Odluka da se povučem iz aktivne politike bila je pogreška".
  16. ^ "Josipović uvjerljivo pobijedio, za Bandića samo Lika i dijaspora". 10 January 2010.
  17. ^ "Ivo Sanader izbačen je iz HDZ-a!". 4 January 2010.
  18. ^ "Milanović preskočio premijerku Kosor po popularnosti".
  19. ^ "Kosor: Milanoviću, ja i tebi skupljam plaću".
  20. ^ "Ustavni sud sindikatima: Vi ste neznalice koje pozivaju na rušenje države". 20 October 2010.
  21. ^ "Croatian prime minister hails convicted war crimes generals". The Daily Telegraph. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  22. ^ "Serbia. Tadić potępia Kosor za pozdrowienie skazanych generałów" (in Polish). Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  23. ^ "Pupovac osudio premijerkin pozdrav Gotovini" (in Croatian). T-Portal. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  24. ^ "Zbog pozdrava Gotovini na premijerku Jadranku Kosor ljuti i lijevi i desni" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  25. ^ "Amnesty International zabrinut zbog 'posebnog pozdrava' Jadranke Kosor Gotovini i Markaču" (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  26. ^ Document – Croatia: Praise for "Operation Storm" creates climate of impunity . Amnesty.org (2011-03-09). Retrieved on 2013-03-16.
  27. ^ Komunikacije, Neomedia (9 December 2011). "Josipović i Kosor potpisali pristupni ugovor s Europskom unijom! / Novi list". www.novilist.hr.
  28. ^ "Nikad veća razlika: SDP 'potukao' HDZ".
  29. ^ "Nakon svih afera: SDP i HDZ čvrsto drže svoje pozicije".
  30. ^ "Pesimizam i nepovjerenje: Kosor snažno gubi popularnost!".
  31. ^ "SDP najjači, potpora Jadranki Kosor pala za 44 posto".
  32. ^ "Izbori 2011. - Crobarometar: Kampanja nikome nije donijela ništa - Odluka 2011". Archived from the original on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  33. ^ "U ovom trenutku Kosor se 'dobro prodaje'".
  34. ^ "Ekskluzivno: Dramatičan pad i HDZ-a i SDP-a!".
  35. ^ a b "Hrvatski sabor". www.sabor.hr.
  36. ^ "Dvije kutije prebrojane: Karamarko ima 371, a Kujundžić 342". 21 May 2012.
  37. better source needed
    ]
  38. ^ "HDZ smijenio Šeksa i Kosor s mjesta potpredsjednika Sabora: Nagodit će se u slučaju Fimi-media?".
  39. ^ "Jadranka Kosor jednoglasno izbačena iz HDZ-a!".
  40. ^ "Jadranka Kosor homofob godine" [Jadranka Kosor homophobe of the year]. Index.hr (in Croatian). 24 January 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  41. ^ Damjan Tadić/CROPIX (11 May 2012). "Kosor: Pričom o gay brakovima žele zasjeniti činjenicu da sve poskupljuje. Burić: Za nas gay nije OK! -Jutarnji List". Jutarnji.hr. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  42. ^ "'Zbog referenduma o braku dobivala sam uvredljive poruke!'". tportal.hr. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  43. ^ "Kosor: Zakon o životnom partnerstvu razrada je ustavne ideje o jednakosti – CroL". Crol.hr. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  44. ^ "Jadranka Kosor ima policijsku zaštitu".
  45. ^ "Kosor još ne zna s kim će na izbore, Milanović ne isključuje ponudu na SDP-ovoj listi".
  46. ^ "Jadranka Kosor otvorila blog pa oštro udarila po pregovorima MOST-a i koalicija".
  47. ^ "Kosor "ubola" studenticu Kolindu zbog Visoke: Ako stalno učiš, ne možeš gubiti vrijeme na preseljenje".
  48. ^ "Jadranka Kosor oplela po Petrovu: Predbacuje Čačiću da može s jednima i drugima, a sam to predlaže".
  49. ^ "Kosor: Ne smije se reći koalicija, ali ovo valjda smije - potpisali su za mandatara kojeg ne poznaju".
  50. ^ "Kosor ironično o Karamarku: E, da, tako se i on meni kleo na vjernost prije upisivanja".
  51. ^ "Kosor na Twitteru bocnula Kolindu jednim pitanjem".
  52. ^ "Kolinda na Fejsu lupetala o Orjunašima, Kosor je poklopila: Neki ljudi nisu dorasli funkciji".
  53. ^ "Kosor: Ako Hasanbegović ne bude smijenjen, onda je ovo karikatura od Vlade".
  54. ^ "Jadranka Kosor: Svaki "Za dom spremni!" danas u Kninu je uvreda braniteljima".
  55. ^ "FOTO Jadranka Kosor iznenadila fotografijom: "Ovo je već raspojasanost"". www.index.hr.
  56. ^ "Dan nakon jučer". Dan nakon jučer.
  57. ^ "'ŠTETA ŠTO JE ISPALA, BAŠ JE BILA MOĆNA': Kosor je i dalje glavna tema u državi, svi su oduševljeni njezinim nastupima". Insider (in Croatian). Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  58. ^ "JADRANKA KOSOR POSTAJE BAKA Sin Lovro Škopljanac (31) tajno se vjenčao s djevojkom Mateom, čekaju bebu". 9 October 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jadranka Kosor.
Party political offices
Preceded by Croatian Democratic Union nominee for President of Croatia
2005 		Succeeded by
Andrija Hebrang
Preceded by President of the Croatian Democratic Union
2009–2012 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Croatia
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Leader of the Opposition

2011–2012 		Succeeded by
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