Vladimir Đukanović is a politician in Serbia. He has served in the National Assembly of Serbia since 2014 as a member of the Serbian Progressive Party. He is on the right wing of the party and has sometimes clashed with the party's leadership.
Early life and career
Đukanović has a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Belgrade and was a political commentator of some notoriety prior to his election to the assembly. He was at one time the host of a radio program called Fokus on Svet Plus Info; this program was known for, among other things, celebrating the birthday of Ratko Mladić and commemorating events organized by the far-right Obraz group. Đukanović became chair of the assembly of Serbia's state lottery commission in 2013, a position he held until 2015. He hosts a talk show called Na kraju dana sa Đukom on .
Political career
Đukanović was originally a member of the Serbian Radical Party and sought election to the Belgrade city assembly under its banner in 2008. Goran Miletić wrote an extended piece on his candidacy and right-wing policy positions on B92's website during the campaign. The Radical Party split later in 2008, and Đukanović joined the breakaway Serbian Progressive Party. He received the twenty-third position on the Progressive Party's Aleksandar Vučić — Future We Believe In coalition electoral list in the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election and was elected when the list won a majority with 158 out of 250 mandates. In late 2014, Đukanović and fellow MP Branislav Blažić went on an unauthorized mission as international observers for elections in the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in Ukraine. This caused some diplomatic embarrassment for the Serbian government. Đukanović said that he and Blažić went on the mission as private citizens, adding that he had not informed Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vučić of the visit and that he was "ready to suffer the consequences" if the Progressive Party disapproved of his actions. The government of Ukraine later banned him from entering the country. Đukanović was a prominent critic of Saša Janković in the latter's capacity as Serbia's official ombudsman. In early 2015, Janković accused Serbia's Military Security Agency of illegal wiretapping political parties, union leaders, and judges. Đukanović responded that these accusations should be discussed openly but added that the matter was being discussed "tendentiously" and accused Janković of having ignored earlier reports about Progressive Party leaders being put under surveillance prior to 2012, when the party was in opposition. He later sought to reduce the ombudsman's budget. In October 2015, Đukanović praised filmmaker Emir Kusturica for making a speech in opposition to the European Union and criticized UK ambassador Denis Keefe for walking out during the speech. He later indicated that he supported China's claims to disputed territories in the South China Sea, arguing that efforts by the Philippines would simply prolong the conflict and give the United States of America an excuse for intervening in the area. Đukanović received the seventeenth position on the Progressive Party's Aleksandar Vučić – Serbia Is Winning list for the 2016 election and was easily re-elected when the list won 131 mandates. In July 2016, Đukanović described the annual memorial ceremonies for the Srebrenica massacre as "a show for the public" intended to pressure the Serbian government to recognize the event as an act of genocide. He also stated that the government of Serbia wanted to have good relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina but that this would be difficult while the latter country's government was acting under pressure from the United States of America and the United Kingdom in these matters. During the 2016–20 assembly, Đukanović was a member of the parliamentary defence and internal affairs committee and the security services control committee; a member of Serbia's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly ; the leader of Serbia's parliamentary friendship group with North Macedonia; and a member of its parliamentary friendship groups with Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Montenegro, North Korea, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Venezuela, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Đukanović announced in July 2019 that he was suspending all political activities within the Progressive Party until certain individuals criticized by Aleksandar Vučić at a recent meeting of the party's main board were removed from their roles. He did not ultimately leave the party. In May 2020, Đukanović encouraged supporters of the Progressive Party's administration to respond to opposition protesters by lighting torches from their roofs. An opposition political group subsequently filed criminal charges against him for hooliganism; he denied the charge – saying that he instigated the action but was not an organizer – and described the criminal report as a "badge of honour." He received the twenty-seventh position on the Progressive Party's list in the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election and was elected to a third term when the list won a landslide majority with 188 mandates.
