Zlatko Lagumdžija

Zlatko Lagumdžija (born 26 December 1955) is a Bosnian diplomat and politician serving as Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations since July 2023. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2002 and from 2012 to 2015. Lagumdžija was also Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2001 to 2002. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP BiH) from 1997 to 2014.

Lagumdžija was born in Sarajevo in 1955. His father Salko was mayor of Sarajevo in the 1960s. Lagumdžija graduated from the University of Sarajevo in 1981. He did postdoctoral research at the University of Arizona. Subsequently, he taught at the University of Sarajevo and later chaired the department of management information system at the Economics Faculty.

Lagumdžija began his political career during the Bosnian War as deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, advising then-president Alija Izetbegović. He accompanied Izetbegović at almost all of the peace plan negotiations during the war.

In the 2000 parliamentary election, the SDP BiH formed a coalition with the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina to gain the majority and force the nationalist parties out of power. Lagumdžija became both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The SDP BiH-led government facilitated the passage of the Election Law, a prerequisite to Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the Council of Europe. Lagumdžija's party led the government until the 2002 general election, when the nationalist parties were elected back into power. He then served as member of the national House of Representatives.

As president of the SDP BiH, Lagumdžija took part in many constitutional reform talks, most notably in those regarding the 2010–2012 government formation. Following the 2010 general election and the SDP BiH's emergence as the largest party in the House of Representatives, a government was formed around the SDP BiH and the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, with Lagumdžija once again becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until 2015. Following the 2014 general election and a poor showing of the SDP BiH, he resigned as president of the party. In 2019, he was removed from the SDP BiH due to political activity in his own new political party.

Lagumdžija is a member of the Club of Madrid, an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community.