- Tonino Picula
Tonino Picula (born
August 31 ,1961 inMali Lošinj ,SR Croatia ,Yugoslavia ) is a Croatian politician of the left-orientedSocial Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP). Currently, he is serving asmayor ofVelika Gorica .Biography
Early biography and professional background
Picula completed both primary and secondary education at
Šibenik . He graduatedsociology atZagreb 's University. He is a long-time member of the SDP and was the party's Secretary of international relations from1993 to2000 . He also led the SDP branch in Velika Gorica from1997 to 2000. He has been member of theCroatian Parliament for several mandates.Minister of foreign affairs
After the year 2000 elections in which SDP, under
Ivica Račan , won in a broad coalision, he was appointed to beForeign Minister until the end of the governments mandate in2003 .During his term in office, Croatia had several important foreign-relation successes, including becoming a candidate for
NATO and theEuropean Union .Later biography
During local elections in
2005 , he was elected mayor ofVelika Gorica . After Ivica Račan died in mid-2007 , Picula ran to succeed him as president, but lost during the first round of elections toZoran Milanović andŽeljka Antunović .References
* [http://www.javno.com/hr/hrvatska/clanak.php?id=49369 Javno.com biography]
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