Jadranka Kosor: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Croatian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Croatia from 2009 to 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=AugustJuly 20232024}}

| image = Kosor and Putin (2010-06-19) 04 (cropped).jpg

| death_date =

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| party = [[Independent politician|Independent]] {{small|(2013–2015; 2015–present)}}

| otherparty = [[League of Communists of Croatia|SKH]] {{small|(until 1990)}}<br />[[Croatian Democratic Union|HDZ]] {{small|(1995–2013)}}<br />[[Successful Croatia]] {{small|(2015)}}

Kosor started working as a journalist, following her graduation from the [[Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb|Zagreb Faculty of Law]]. During the [[Croatian War of Independence]], she hosted a radio show dealing with [[refugee]] problems and disabled [[war veteran]]s. She joined the [[centre-right]] [[Croatian Democratic Union]] (HDZ) in 1989 and quickly climbed up the party hierarchy. In 1995 she was elected party vice-president and was elected to serve in [[Croatian Parliament|Parliament]] for the first time. After the death of [[President of Croatia|president]] and longtime HDZ leader [[Franjo Tuđman]], Kosor supported [[Ivo Sanader]]'s successful party leadership bid in 2000. Three years later, her party won the [[2003 Croatian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]] and Kosor became the [[Ministry of Veterans' Affairs (Croatia)|Minister of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Inter-generational Solidarity]] in the [[Cabinet of Ivo Sanader I|Sanader's first]] and, later, [[Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II|Sanader's second cabinet]], during which time she served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia|deputy prime minister]] as well. In the [[2005 Croatian presidential election|2005 presidential election]] she ran as a representative of the HDZ, but lost to incumbent president [[Stjepan Mesić]] in the second round. After the abrupt resignation of Sanader, Kosor managed to form a functioning [[parliamentary majority]] and was approved to her new post as prime minister in July 2009, also becoming leader of her party. Kosor was the party's candidate for prime minister in the [[2011 Croatian parliamentary election|2011 general election]], but HDZ lost in a landslide over the [[centre-left]] [[Kukuriku coalition]], led by the [[Social Democratic Party of Croatia|Social Democratic Party]]. Kosor handed power to the new Primeprime Ministerminister, [[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 [[criminal code]] passed before her term began, opened the door to unprecedented efforts to combat corruption. This resulted in numerous arrests of numerous influential business-people and politicians from across the political spectrum, although most of them were members of HDZ, which severely damaged the party's reputation. The discoveries made by prosecutors were far-reaching and criminal charges were even raised against former Primeprime Ministerminister Ivo Sanader and Deputy Prime Minister [[Damir Polančec]], who would later be charged with lengthy prison sentences for criminal activity and abuse of power. In [[foreign policy]], Kosor and her [[Slovenia]]n counterpart [[Borut Pahor]] were successful in solving the long-standing border dispute and she is credited with successfully finishing the negotiating process of the [[Accession of Croatia to the European Union|Croatian accession]] to the [[European Union]]. On 9 December 2011, she and President [[Ivo Josipović]] signed the [[Treaty of Accession 2011|EU Treaty of Accession]] in [[Brussels]]. A [[Moderate|moderate conservative]], Kosor ran for another term as party leader after losing the election, however, was defeated by the more [[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.

Jadranka Kosor was born in [[Lipik]] to Zorica Belan and Mirko Kosor. She finished primary education in [[Pakrac]].<ref name="slobodna-2009">{{cite news | url = http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/60602/Default.aspx | language = hr | newspaper = [[Slobodna Dalmacija]] | title = Djetinjstvo Jadranke Kosor: ljepotica i vunderkind | date = 4 July 2009-07-04 | access-date = 2011-03-14 March 2011}}</ref> Her parents divorced when she was two, and she spent her childhood living with her grandmother.<ref name="Jadranka Kosor">{{Cite news |url=https://www.vecernji.hr/enciklopedija/jadranka-kosor-18120|title=Jadranka Kosor|access-date=2017-11-14 November 2017|language=hr}}</ref> Her childhood friends describe her as a pretty, smart, and sociable girl that loved poetry and wrote songs. She contested ona beauty pageant and was selected runner up for Miss Swimming Pool of Lipik.<ref name="Jadranka Kosor"/> She studied in [[Zagreb]], where she graduated in law and began working as a journalist from 1972 as a correspondent for ''[[Večernji list]]'' and [[Radio Zagreb]]. In 1971, her book of poetry ''Koraci'' was published by the Pakrac branch of [[Matica hrvatska]].<ref name="slobodna-2009" /> During the [[Croatian War of Independence]], she worked as a radio-journalist and her show exploitedexplored war topics such as [[refugee]] problems and disabled [[war veteran]]s.<ref name="vlada">{{cite web |url=http://www.vlada.hr/en/naslovnica/o_vladi_rh/clanovi_vlade/jadranka_kosor_dipl_iur |title=Jadranka Kosor (Members of Government) |access-date=2008-08-24 August 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119232039/http://www.vlada.hr/en/naslovnica/o_vladi_rh/clanovi_vlade/jadranka_kosor_dipl_iur |archive-date=19 January 2008 }}. Vlada.hr. Retrieved on 2013-03-16 March 2013.</ref> She also worked briefly as a correspondent for the [[BBC]] during this time.

In July 2009, she was politically installed as the head of the [[Croatian Democratic Union]] following the resignation of Ivo Sanader.<ref name="Croatia closer to first woman PM">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8134577.stm |title=Croatia closer to first woman PM |date=4 July 2009-07-04 |access-date=7 July 2009-07-07 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

On 1 July 2009, Croatian Primeprime Ministerminister [[Ivo Sanader]] suddenly and unexpectedly resigned, and suggested Kosor as the next prime minister. With the support of the [[Cabinet of Ivo Sanader II|coalition partners]] Kosor went to the President [[Stjepan Mesić]] who invited her to form a government. This resulted in the formation of the [[Cabinet of Jadranka Kosor|Kosor cabinet]] which contained most members of the previous Sanader administration. On July 6 July, [[Croatian Parliament|Parliament]] approved the proposed cabinet with 83 votes in favor out of 153 members and Kosor was confirmed as the first female Prime Minister of Croatia after independence - actually the third in the history of the republic after two female Prime Ministers of Socialist Republic of Croatia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.javno.com/en-croatia/kosor-approved-croatia-pm-vows-to-tackle-budget_268947|title=Kosor Approved Croatia PM, Vows To Tackle Budget|date=7 July 2009-07-07|access-date=7 July 2009-07-07|publisher=[[javno]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120529163521/http://www.javno.com/en-croatia/kosor-approved-croatia-pm-vows-to-tackle-budget_268947|archive-date=29 May 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://hidran.hidra.hr/hidrarad/rh/rh6.htm | language = hr | title = Jedanaesta vlada | publisher = Croatian Information-Documentation Referral Agency | access-date = 2010-12-10 December 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120708181153/http://hidran.hidra.hr/hidrarad/rh/rh6.htm | archive-date = 8 July 2012 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> The [[Opposition (Croatia)|Opposition]] was not pleased with this development calling Sanader a coward and Kosor his puppet saying that an early general election was necessary.

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 [[Andrija Hebrang (son)|Andrija Hebrang's]] poor result in the [[Croatian presidential election, 2009-2010|first round of the presidential election]] held just a week earlier.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/sanader-odluka-da-se-povucem-iz-aktivne-politike-bila-je-pogreska-74610|title=Sanader: Odluka da se povučem iz aktivne politike bila je pogreška}}</ref> 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 of Croatia|Social Democratic Party]], won a landslide victory in the resulting runoff on 10 January.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/josipovic-uvjerljivo-pobijedio-za-bandica-samo-lika-i-dijaspora/2212542/|title=Josipović uvjerljivo pobijedio, za Bandića samo Lika i dijaspora|date=10 January 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/ivo-sanader-izbacen-je-iz-hdz-a/2210571/|title=Ivo Sanader izbačen je iz HDZ-a!|date=4 January 2010}}</ref> The Croatian public quickly rallied in support of Kosor against the hugely unpopular former prime minister, resulting in the highest support for any Primeprime Ministerminister since polling began, topping at 77% by the end of February.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/milanovic-preskocio-premijerku-kosor-po-popularnosti-149285|title=Milanović preskočio premijerku Kosor po popularnosti}}</ref>

In August 2011, at the official celebration of [[Victory Day (Croatia)|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 [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|ICTY]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/croatia/8684853/Croatian-prime-minister-hails-convicted-war-crimes-generals.html|title=Croatian prime minister hails convicted war crimes generals|date=5 August 2011|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=7 August 2011}}</ref> 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]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,91446,10079398,Serbia__Tadic_potepia_Kosor_za_pozdrowienie_skazanych.html|title=Serbia. Tadić potępia Kosor za pozdrowienie skazanych generałów |publisher=[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]|language=pl|access-date=7 August 2011}}</ref> leader of the [[Independent Democratic Serb Party]] (SDSS) [[Milorad Pupovac]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/142147/Pupovac-osudio-premijerkin-pozdrav-Gotovini.html|title=Pupovac osudio premijerkin pozdrav Gotovini|date=7 August 2011|publisher=T-Portal|language=hr|access-date=7 August 2011}}</ref> Deputy Prime Minister [[Slobodan Uzelac]] (SDSS), as well as by leaders of the opposition [[Social Democratic Party of Croatia|Social Democratic Party]] and [[Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats|Croatian People's Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/zbog-pozdrava-gotovini-na-premijerku-jadranku-kosor-ljuti-i-lijevi-i-desni/964326/|title=Zbog pozdrava Gotovini na premijerku Jadranku Kosor ljuti i lijevi i desni|publisher=[[Jutarnji list]]|language=hr|access-date=7 August 2011|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230706/http://www.jutarnji.hr/zbog-pozdrava-gotovini-na-premijerku-jadranku-kosor-ljuti-i-lijevi-i-desni/964326/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Amnesty International]] expressed concerns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/amnesty-international-zabrinut-zbog--posebnog-pozdrava--jadranke-kosor-koji-je-uputila-anti-gotovini-i-mladenu-markacu/965034/|title=Amnesty International zabrinut zbog 'posebnog pozdrava' Jadranke Kosor Gotovini i Markaču|language=hr|access-date=10 August 2011|archive-date=10 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610194450/http://www.jutarnji.hr/amnesty-international-zabrinut-zbog--posebnog-pozdrava--jadranke-kosor-koji-je-uputila-anti-gotovini-i-mladenu-markacu/965034/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur64/010/2011/en/ Document – Croatia: Praise for "Operation Storm" creates climate of impunity] . Amnesty.org (9 March 2011-03-09). Retrieved on 2013-03-16.</ref>

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Kosor continued as an independent, considerably more liberal, politician and eventually formed a deputy club with two [[Croatian Civic Party]] MPs. Kosor voted in favour of presenting the issue of the [[2013 Croatian constitutional referendum|2013 referendum on banning same-sex marriage]] before the Constitutional Court, and against the proposed Constitutional change which represented a change from her previous position on homosexuality and same-sex marriage since she had been known for being against the expansion of LGBT rights. She also voted for the Life Partnership Act which gave same-sex couples in Croatia rights equal to heterosexual married couples.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/black/clanak/jadranka-kosor-homofob-godine/471979.aspx |title=Jadranka Kosor homofob godine |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2010-01-24 January 2010 |website=Index.hr |language=hr |trans-title=Jadranka Kosor homophobe of the year |access-date=2 February 2018-02-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Damjan Tadić/CROPIX |url=http://www.jutarnji.hr/kosor--pricom-o-gay-brakovima-zele-zasjeniti-cinjenicu-da-sve-poskupljuje--buric--za-nas-gay-nije-ok/1027463/ |title=Kosor: Pričom o gay brakovima žele zasjeniti činjenicu da sve poskupljuje. Burić: Za nas gay nije OK! -Jutarnji List |publisher=Jutarnji.hr |date=2012-05-11 May 2012 |access-date=2016-05-19 May 2016 |archive-date=12 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712205402/http://www.jutarnji.hr/kosor--pricom-o-gay-brakovima-zele-zasjeniti-cinjenicu-da-sve-poskupljuje--buric--za-nas-gay-nije-ok/1027463/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/304768/Zbog-referenduma-o-braku-dobivala-sam-uvredljive-poruke.html |title='Zbog referenduma o braku dobivala sam uvredljive poruke!' |newspaper=tportal.hr |date=2013-12-16 December 2013 |access-date=19 May 2016-05-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crol.hr/index.php/politika-aktivizam/5894-kosor-zakon-o-zivotnom-partnerstvu-razrada-je-ustavne-ideje-o-jednakosti |title=Kosor: Zakon o životnom partnerstvu razrada je ustavne ideje o jednakosti – CroL |publisher=Crol.hr |access-date=2016-05-19 May 2016}}</ref> After receiving death threats in 2015, Kosor was granted police protection.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/jadranka-kosor-ima-policijsku-zastitu/845942.aspx|title=Jadranka Kosor ima policijsku zaštitu}}</ref> After speculation that she might be the [[Social Democratic Party of Croatia|SDP's]] candidate,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kosor-jos-ne-zna-s-kim-ce-na-izbore-milanovic-ne-iskljucuje-ponudu-na-sdpovoj-listi-/845123.aspx|title=Kosor još ne zna s kim će na izbore, Milanović ne isključuje ponudu na SDP-ovoj listi}}</ref> Kosor eventually decided to participate in the [[2015 Croatian parliamentary election|2015 parliamentary election]] as a candidate for the liberal [[Successful Croatia]] coalition in the [[Croatian Parliament electoral districts|5th electoral district]]. She wasn't elected to the parliament. She continued to criticize Tomislav Karamarko and [[Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović]] as well as [[Bridge of Independent Lists]] party for their indecisiveness.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/jadranka-kosor-otvorila-blog-pa-ostro-udarila-po-pregovorima-mosta-i-koalicija/860351.aspx|title=Jadranka Kosor otvorila blog pa oštro udarila po pregovorima MOST-a i koalicija}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kosor-ubola-studenticu-kolindu-zbog-visoke-ako-stalno-ucis-ne-mozes-gubiti-vrijeme-na-preseljenje/859395.aspx|title=Kosor "ubola" studenticu Kolindu zbog Visoke: Ako stalno učiš, ne možeš gubiti vrijeme na preseljenje}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/jadranka-kosor-oplela-po-petrovu-predbacuje-cacicu-da-moze-s-jednima-i-drugima-a-sam-to-predlaze/858227.aspx|title=Jadranka Kosor oplela po Petrovu: Predbacuje Čačiću da može s jednima i drugima, a sam to predlaže}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kosor-ne-smije-se-reci-koalicija-ali-ovo-valjda-smije--potpisali-su-za-mandatara-kojeg-ne-poznaju/864282.aspx|title=Kosor: Ne smije se reći koalicija, ali ovo valjda smije - potpisali su za mandatara kojeg ne poznaju}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kosor-ironicno-o-karamarku-e-da-tako-se-i-on-meni-kleo-na-vjernost-prije-upisivanja/863512.aspx|title=Kosor ironično o Karamarku: E, da, tako se i on meni kleo na vjernost prije upisivanja}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kosor-na-twitteru-bocnula-kolindu-jednim-pitanjem/862193.aspx|title=Kosor na Twitteru bocnula Kolindu jednim pitanjem}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kolinda-na-fejsu-lupetala-o-orjunasima-kosor-je-poklopila-neki-ljudi-nisu-dorasli-funkciji/900542.aspx|title=Kolinda na Fejsu lupetala o Orjunašima, Kosor je poklopila: Neki ljudi nisu dorasli funkciji}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kosor-ako-hasanbegovic-ne-bude-smijenjen-onda-je-ovo-karikatura-od-vlade/874185.aspx|title=Kosor: Ako Hasanbegović ne bude smijenjen, onda je ovo karikatura od Vlade}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/jadranka-kosor-svaki-za-dom-spremni-danas-u-kninu-je-uvreda-braniteljima/910832.aspx|title=Jadranka Kosor: Svaki "Za dom spremni!" danas u Kninu je uvreda braniteljima}}</ref>

[[Category:Prime Ministersministers of Croatia]]