Ivo Sanader

Prime Minister of Croatia

(Moljac.hr; SE Times.com)

Ivo Sanader was appointed prime minister after his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won the country's general election in late November 2003. He has listed EU and NATO integration among his key priorities.

Sanader was born on June 8, 1953 in Split, Croatia. He attended the University of Innsbruck in Austria, where he studied Comparative Literature and Romance Languages.

Upon his return to Croatia, Sanader worked in the Dalmacijaturist tourist agency's marketing office. In 1988 he became editor-in-chief of the Logos publishing house. At the time, he was also one of the editors of the magazine Mogucnosti (Possibilities). In 1991, Sanadar took up a management position at the National Theatre in Split.

In August of 1992, after being elected to the House of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament, Sanader became minister of science and technology, a position he held until January 1993.

Sanader was subsequently appointed deputy foreign minister. In this new post, he participated in the bilateral talks which led to the establishment of the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). He also helped negotiate the elimination of the visa regime for Croatian citizens traveling to Greece. During this period, Sanader joined his party's Central Committee.

At the end of November 1995, following the Dayton Peace Accords, Sanader left the cabinet to become chief of staff to then Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, who also appointed him secretary general of the Defense and National Security Council and a member of the Presidential Council.

In January 1996, he became a member of the Joint Council for Co-operation between the Croatia and FBiH. Later, Sanader was appointed a second time as deputy foreign minister.

In 1998, he was elected president of HDZ, and worked to modernise and strengthen his party.

"My priorities are raising the living standards at home, gaining membership in NATO and the EU and resolving open issues with our neighbours," Sanader said following his designation as prime minister by Croatian President Stipe Mesic. He emphasised that the HDZ has broken with its authoritarian past and become a mainstream conservative party.

Sanader is married with two daughters.