Ivan Vejvoda
Ivan Vejvoda is vice president for programs. From 2003 to 2010, he served as executive director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund dedicated to strengthening democratic institutions in Southeastern Europe. Vejvoda came to GMF in 2003 from distinguished service in the Serbian government as senior advisor on foreign policy and European integration to Prime Ministers Zoran Djindjic and Zoran Zivkovic. Prior to that, he served as executive director of the Belgrade-based Fund for an Open Society from 1998 to 2002.
During the mid-1990s, Vejvoda held various academic posts in the United States and the U.K., including one-year appointments at Smith College in Massachusetts and Macalester College in Minnesota, and a three-year research fellowship at the University of Sussex in England. Vejvoda was a key figure in the democratic opposition movement in Yugoslavia through the 1990s, and is widely published on the subjects of democratic transition, totalitarianism, and post-war reconstruction in the Balkans. He is a member of the Serbian Pen Club and is a board member of American social science journals Constellations and Philosophy and Social Criticism.
Education:
Vejvoda holds a Diploma from Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and completed postgraduate studies in philosophy at Belgrade University.
Languages:
He speaks fluent English, French, and Italian in addition to his native Serbian.
Honors:
He has been awarded the French National Order of Merit in the rank of Officer; the Order of the Italian Star of Solidarity, second rank (Commendatore).
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News Articles
Ivan Vejvoda Testifies on Balkans and the 2012 NATO SummitJanuary 18, 2012In testimony before the U.S. Helsinki Commission, GMF's Ivan Vejvoda highlighted the progress made in security and democratization in the Balkans and called for Macedonia and Montenegro membership at the Chicago NATO Summit.
State of Affairs in the BalkansNovember 15, 2011In his testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, GMF Vice President for Programs Ivan Vejvoda outlines the progress made and challenges ahead for Balkan nations...
We Need Positive Signals from the EUOctober 11, 2011
GMF vice-president for programs Ivan Vejvoda is interviewed in CORD on Serbia’s future in European, regional and Euro-Atlantic relations.
Obama’s crucial moment in PolandMay 26, 2011President Obama’s visit to Europe this week is giving him the opportunity to bury once and for all perceptions that have dogged his administration from the outset: that the United States has lost interest in Europe, and has put a higher priority on resetting relations with an authoritarian Russia than it has on the completion of a Europe whole, free, and at peace. A Social Democrat Wins In Croatia – And The Balkans Move ForwardJanuary 22, 2010
The landslide victory of Ivo Josipovic in the January 10 presidential elections in Croatia bodes well, not just for the country, but also for the Western Balkans as a whole -- not least for the region’s hopes for membership in the European Union.
La Europa balcánicaJuly 24, 2008Ivan Vejvoda, Executive Director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, discusses the recent capture of former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. The article is written in Spanish.Serbia After Four Years of TransitionOctober 01, 2004Democrats struggling against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s made an important political choice for the future of Serbia: they would use exclusively political, non-violent, peaceful, electoral means. On 24 September 2000, a historic victory against Milosevic was achieved in the presidential elections, in extremely adverse circumstances in which the whole opposition, civil society and independent media were being harassed. The result was con-tested by Milosevic and his acolytes; but then hundreds of thousands of people turned out onto the streets of Belgrade on 5 October to defend their victory in front of the Parliament building. These events testified to the commitment to that consensual political decision: Serbia would go forward into the future in an evolutionary way and break with the past of violence and revolutionary methods of change in truly democratic fashion.
U.S. Policy Toward Southeast Europe: Unfinished Business in the BalkansJuly 14, 2004Publications
Kosovo: The Balkans’ Moment of Truth: Testimony before Senate Committee on Foreign RelationsMarch 04, 2008Ivan Vejvoda, executive director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding Kosovo and the Balkans.
Serbia’s Current Issues and Future Direction: Testimony before the House Committee on International RelationsSeptember 20, 2006Testimony by Ivan Vejvoda, executive director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, before the Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations on September 20.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Unfinished Business: Testimony Before the House Committee on International RelationsApril 06, 2005Testimony by Ivan Vejvoda, executive director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, before the Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations.
No Magic WandAugust 01, 2004
As the Balkan countries move away from being zones of conflict and post-conflict towards stability and democratic consolidation, so some private and public funders have moved away from the Balkans to regions of greater need. But others, in particular some bilateral donors and the European Union, remain steadfast in their support. The Balkan Trust for Democracy, now one year old, is a partnership between some of the key funders that have remained. What has it achieved so far?
