Tomislav Nikolić (Serbian Cyrillic: Томислав Николић, Serbian pronunciation: [tǒmislaʋ nǐkolit͡ɕ]; born 15 February 1952) is a Serbian politician who served as the President of Serbia from 2012 to 2017. He is also the founder of the Serbian Progressive Party, and he led the party until his election as President. In the 2012 presidential election, he was elected to a five-year term as President in a second round of voting.
Born in Kragujevac, Nikolić was a long-time member and MP of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS). He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia from 1998 to 1999 and Deputy Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia in the coalition government from 1999 to 2000. Nikolić was the Radical Party’s deputy leader from 2003, and he briefly served as the President of the National Assembly of Serbia in 2007. In 2008 he resigned following a disagreement with party leader Vojislav Šešelj regarding Serbia’s relations with the European Union, as Nikolić became in favor of Serbia’s accession to the EU, a move that was staunchly opposed by Šešelj and his faction. Nikolić formed the Serbian Progressive Party, which several SRS members joined.
Nikolić ran for the President of Yugoslavia in the 2000 elections and was placed third. He also ran four times for President of Serbia (in 2003, 2004, 2008 elections, and 2012 elections). In 2003 he garnered the most votes, but the election was cancelled due to low turnout, while in 2004 and 2008 he was placed second behind Boris Tadić. In 2012, he won the runoff against Tadić to become President of Serbia.
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