Boris Tadić, Serbian psychologist and politician, 16th President of Serbia
Boris Tadić (Serbian Cyrillic: Борис Тадић, pronounced [bǒris tǎdiːt͡ɕ]; born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012.
Tadić was a member of the Democratic Party since its establishment in 1990, and has been their president from 2004 until 2012. After the downfall of Milošević, he was appointed in the government as the Minister of Telecommunications of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and would later serve as the first Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro before being elected as the president in 2004. He was re-elected for his second term in 2008. Following his defeat in the 2012 presidential election and poor party ratings, he stepped down in November 2012, to take the position of the party's Honorary President. After a split with the new leadership in January 2014, Tadić left the Democratic Party and formed his own New Democratic Party (later renamed Social Democratic Party) for the 2014 parliamentary election.
Tadić strongly advocates close ties with the European Union (EU) and Serbia's European integration. During his presidency, the EU has abolished visas for Serbian citizens traveling to the Schengen Area countries, Serbian government signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and received an EU candidate status, as well as, Serbia has completed obligations to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He became the first Serbian head of state or head of government to visit the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial and he launched an initiative for the Serbian parliament to adopt a resolution condemning the Srebrenica massacre. The period of a coalition government led by the Tadić's Democratic Party was characterized by the challenges of the Kosovo declaration of independence and the global financial crisis, leading to low rates of economic growth. He is widely regarded as a pro-Western leader, who also favors balanced relations with Russia, the United States and the EU.