Preceded by Jozo Rados Spouse Zoran Antunovic Prime Minister Ivica Racan Role Croatian Politician | Succeeded by Zoran Milanovic Name Zeljka Antunovic Preceded by Ivica Racan Succeeded by Berislav Roncevic | |
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Similar People Ivica Racan, Durda Adlesic, Antun Vujic, Tonino Picula | ||
Radio 101 na vrucem stolcu zeljka antunovic 28 01 2010
Željka Antunović ([ʒɛ̂ːʎka antǔːnɔʋit͡ɕ]) (born 15 September 1955) is a former Croatian centre-left politician and the deputy president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the largest opposition party in Croatia. She also served as the 9th Minister of Defence from 2002 until 2003, the first, and, to date, only, female holder of this office.
Antunović was born in Virovitica, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Republic of Croatia) She entered the political scene in 1990 when she joined the Social Democrats of Croatia (SDH), a centre-left party - formed after establishment of democracy across Yugoslavia - and originally a major rival of the SDP, who had in turn recently succeeded the League of Communists of Croatia. However, following disastrous results of the SDH in parliamentary elections, the party accepted the SDP's offer of unification, which occurred in 1994. Antunović, together with Antun Vujić, gradually rose through the ranks of SDP.
Antunović has served as a member of Croatian Parliament from 1995 to 1999, and from 2003 onwards. At the party conference in 2000, she was elected as a deputy president of SDP. Between 2000 and 2003, she served as a deputy Prime Minister and was named the first woman to hold the portfolio of Defence in the second cabinet of Ivica Račan, serving from 2002 until the end of the cabinet's term in 2003.
On 31 January 2007, Račan announced that he was temporarily leaving politics due to health reasons. Antunović then took over the chairmanship of the Party; and, on 11 April, following further deterioration in Račan's health, he resigned as leader of the party, leaving Antunović as head of the SDP until the next party convention. She ran for president at the party convention on 2 June 2007, together with Milan Bandić, Zoran Milanović and Tonino Picula. She was defeated by Milanović in the second round of voting.
After her retirement from politics, she started a consulting company. She took part in the Ivo Josipović's campaign for the Croatian presidential election, 2014–15.
