Boško Obradović
Бошко Обрадовић
Obradović in 2021
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
1 August 2022
In office
3 June 2016 – 3 June 2020
Personal details
Born (1976-08-23) 23 August 1976
Vranići, Čačak, SFR Yugoslavia
Political partyDveri
Spouse(s)
Vesna Obradović
​
(div. 2016)​

Julija Obrenović
​
(m. 2016)​
Children5
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade
Occupation
  • Politician
  • writer
  • columnist
  • librarian
  • publisher
Profession
  • Philologist
  • political scientist
Signature

Boško Obradović (Serbian Cyrillic: Бошко Обрадовић; pronounced [bôʃko obrǎːdoʋit͜ɕ]; born 23 August 1976) is a Serbian politician. He is the co-founder and former president of the right-wing political party Dveri. He was the party's nominee for the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.

Early life

Obradović was born on 23 August 1976 in Vranići, Čačak, SFR Yugoslavia.[1] He studied philology in the University of Belgrade, where he graduated in 2002 after writing his thesis titled "Miloš Crnjanski and the New Nationalism".[1] In 1999, he and some of his classmates started their own publication, Dveri Srpske ("Serbian Gates" in Serbian).[2] The publication group turned into Srpski sabor Dveri ("The Serbian Assembly of Gates" in Serbian) in 2003, after which it eventually became the political party Dveri in 2011.[2]

Political career

The first election during which Obradović ran for higher office was the 2012 Serbian parliamentary election, where his party won 4.34% of the total national vote.[3] Obradović became the leader of Dveri on 25 June 2015. In the 2016 Serbian parliamentary election, Obradović agreed for Dveri to run in a coalition with the Democratic Party of Serbia, who also ran on a eurosceptic platform. The Dveri-DSS coalition received 5% of the national vote, and so Dveri got into the Serbian parliament for the first time.[4]

After Dveri failed to cross the threshold in the 2023 elections, Obradović resigned as president of Dveri on 23 December.[5]

2017 presidential campaign

In September 2016, Dveri announced that Obradović would be their candidate for the Serbian presidential election in 2017.[6] Obradović officially started his ground campaign in Čačak on 13 January 2017.[7]

On 3 March 2017, Federica Mogherini visited the Serbian parliament as an envoy of the European Union to discuss Serbia's accession into the European Union. During her speech, Obradović and his party members silently held up signs saying "Serbia does not believe Brussels" written in both English and Serbian.[8] This was in stark contrast to Vojislav Šešelj and the MPs from the Serbian Radical Party, who chanted in protest throughout Mogherini's speech.[8] After the speech, Obradović suggested that he thought the chanting was secretly agreed in advanced as a political stunt between Šešelj and Prime Minister Vučić.[9]

On 28 March 2017, Obradović attended a protest on pensions after being invited by pensioners due to their state-mandated pension reductions.[10] One of Obradović's opponents in the presidential race, Vuk Jeremić, also attended the protest.[10] The next day, he travelled to Germany, where he was invited to visit the parliament of Baden-Württemberg by Jörg Meuthen from the political party Alternative for Germany.[11] In return, Obradović invited Meuthen to visit Serbia as a guest of Dveri.[11]

Obradović placed sixth overall out of the eleven candidates in the presidential election, recording 2.29% of the national vote.[12] After the election, he stated that he was unsatisfied with the results, and that the elections should be held again due to irregularities.[13]

Political positions

Foreign policy

Republika Srpska

After the referendum on whether or not Republika Srpska should have its own holiday, Obradović articulated his support for Republika Srpska in an interview with an online YouTube channel Balkan Info which was organised on 18 September 2016. He explained that he would welcome Republika Srpska gaining independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina and subsequently uniting with Serbia. In a later interview with Pravda, Obradović said that the unification of Republika Srpska and Serbia should take the form of a confederacy.[14]

In June 2016, Obradović rejected the "Proposal for a Resolution on Genocide in Srebrenica" in the Serbian parliament, which suggested that 11 July become a national memorial day for the Srebrenica massacre.[15] His party issued a statement regarding the Srebrenica massacre, saying that "genocide did not happen in Srebrenica."[15]

Montenegro

In an interview with Pravda, Obradović criticised Aleksandar Vučić for arresting 18 Serbian citizens who allegedly participated in the 2015-16 Montenegrin protests, saying that Vučić supports Milo Đukanović remaining in power in Montenegro.[14] In both interviews with Pravda and Balkan Info, Obradović suggested that a referendum in Montenegro should be held on re-unification with Serbia.[14]

Social issues

LGBT rights

Shortly after his party entered parliament for the first time in 2016, Obradović was invited to support the Gay Parade in Belgrade on 18 September 2016. However he publicly declined the invitation and denounced the parade, stating that "sexual orientation is not a human right".[16] Obradović attended his party's counter-march to the Gay Parade, called the "Family Walk".[17] In March 2017, a human rights organisation called DA SE ZNA ("Let it be known" in Serbian) sent questionnaires to all 11 of the presidential candidates of the 2017 Serbian presidential election, and Obradović was one of five candidates who responded.[18] In his response, Obradović said that he believed that the LGBT community in Serbia enjoy the same rights as other citizens.[18] He said that he considered sexual orientation a private matter, and that it should not be spoken about publicly.[18] When asked about violence against LGBT people, he responded that he condemns every act of violence.[18] However, he did not support gay marriage in the response, and said that neither he nor his party would support the proposed Law on Birth Identity,[18] a proposed law that would expand transgender people's rights.[19]

Military service

In 2015, Obradović argued for returning compulsory military service in Serbia.[20] He referred to military service as "one of the most important schools of life", and added that another crucial reason for returning conscription was so that "men can become men again, so that men won't be slackers but men."[20] The issue of conscription has a historical context in Serbia, since in the state of Yugoslavia required conscription when most adults in Serbia were growing up. From 10 to 17 December 2016, sociologist Srećko Mihailović conducted a nationwide survey with a sample size of 1,200 adults on whether Serbia should return conscription, with the results being that 75% of respondents supported a return of conscription in Serbia.[21]

Personal life

Obradović is married with Julija Obrenović since August 2016 and has three children from his first marriage with Vesna Obradović.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 Biografija.org (27 March 2017). "Boško Obradović". Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 Istinomer. "BOŠKO OBRADOVIĆ" (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  3. ↑ B92 (8 May 2012). "Dveri: Izbori nisu bili regularni". Retrieved 19 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Izbori: RIK potvrdio da su Dveri-DSS prešli cenzus". 021.rs. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Boško Obradović podneo ostavku na mesto predsednika Dveri" [Boško Obradović resigns as president of Dveri]. Euronews (in Serbian). 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  6. ↑ B92: Dveri: Boško Obradović kandidat za predsednika Srbije (in Serbian). 3 September 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  7. ↑ B92 (13 January 2017). "Obradović: Počinjem ovde, iz svog rodnog grada..." (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. 1 2 Lana Gedošević (3 March 2017). "Blic: HAOS U PARLAMENTU Mogerini u Beogradu, Šešelj i radikali vikali: "Srbija, Rusija, ne treba nam Unija!"" (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  9. ↑ Нова српска политичка мисао (New Serbian Political Thought) (3 March 2017). "Војислав Шешељ: Бошко Обрадовић је идиот, Вучић нам је ближи од остале опозиције" (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  10. 1 2 Nedeljnik (28 March 2017). "Protest zbog smanjenja penzija: Jeremić i Obradović uz penzionere" (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  11. 1 2 Tanjug (29 March 2017). "Obradović: Štitiću i zastupati prava penzionera" (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Blic: RIK prebrojao 98,79 glasova: Vučiću 55,07 odsto, Jankoviću 16,36 (in Serbian). 6 April 2017. Accessed 13 April 2017.
  13. ↑ Archived 13 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Nedeljnik: Obradović nezadovoljan rezultatom: Izbore treba poništiti (in Serbian). 2 April 2017. Accessed 13 April 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 Pravda (30 January 2017). "INTERVJU SA BOŠKOM OBRADOVIĆEM: Naša vizija je najtesnija saradnja SRB, RS i CG" (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  15. 1 2 NoviMagazin.rs (29 June 2016). "Boško Obradović: U Srebrenici se nije desio genocid" (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  16. ↑ Blic: Obradović: Seksualna orjentacija nije ljudsko pravo, apsolutno ne podržavam Paradu ponosa. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  17. ↑ B92: Završena porodična šetnja Dveri. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 Gayten-LGBT (29 March 2017). "Izveštaj o stavovima predsedničkih kandidata o položaju i unapređenju prava LGBTI osoba u Srbiji" (in Serbian). Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  19. ↑ Blic: Transrodne osobe za Zakon o rodnom identitetu (in Serbian). 15 September 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  20. 1 2 B92 (8 November 2015). "Dveri: Obavezna vojska, muškarci ne mlitavci" (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ Marko Tašković (21 December 2016). "Blic: EKSKLUZIVNO ISTRAŽIVANJE Zašto Srbi žele vraćanje obaveznog vojnog roka" (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  22. ↑ "Boško Obradović (Romeo) se oženio drugi put: Evo kako izgleda njegova Julija!". espreso.rs (in Serbian). 11 August 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
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