Name Miroslav Rozic | Role Politician | |
Miroslav Rozic (born August 31, 1956) is a Croatian right-wing politician. As a former vice-president of Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), he served as a representative in Croatian Parliament between 2001 and 2007. He was previously a member of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) and is currently a member of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS).
Rozic was born in Zagreb, as a fourth generation Agramer. His family was very well-to-do before the communists nationalised their property in 1945. His father was considered to be an Ustasha sympathizer and bourgeois, so in socialist Yugoslavia he had to accept jobs he was over-qualified for.
Rozic obtained a degree in biology from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at the University of Zagreb and pursued a scientific career. He planned to defend his doctoral dissertation in 1991 when war erupted in Croatia. Rozic joined the Croatian Army where he served as a translator, due to his fluent use of English, German and Italian.
He was also a member of Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), and in 1993 he was elected to Zagreb city council. In 1995, Rozic and his close friend Tonci Tadic left HSLS because of conflicts with party's president Drazen Budisa and party's positioning on the centre-left part of the political spectrum. The same year they joined the HSP.
In 1997, Rozic was elected to the now non-existing upper house of Croatian Parliament. He and Tadic became major figures in HSP and refreshed party's image. Rozic became a party leader in Zagreb and ran for mayor in 2005, finishing solid third. In September 2007, after a spat with Anto Dapic, both Rozic and Tadic left HSP.
In October 2009, Rozic joined the Zagreb branch of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS).