Dubravka Šuica

Dubravka Šuica (born 20 May 1957) is a Croatian politician who has been Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography since 2019. She previously served as a member of the European Parliament from 2013 to 2019, and as mayor of Dubrovnik from 2001 to 2009.[1]

Dubravka Šuica
Šuica in 2017
Vice-President of the European Commission
Assumed office
1 December 2019
PresidentUrsula von der Leyen
European Commissioner for Democracy and Demography
Assumed office
1 December 2019
Member of the European Parliament
In office
1 July 2013 – 30 November 2019
Succeeded bySunčana Glavak
ConstituencyCroatia
Mayor of Dubrovnik
In office
October 2001 – June 2009
Preceded byVido Bogdanović
Succeeded byAndro Vlahušić
Member of the Croatian Parliament
In office
2 February 2000 – 22 December 2011
Prime MinisterIvica Račan
Ivo Sanader
Jadranka Kosor
ConstituencyX electoral district
Personal details
Born (1957-05-20) 20 May 1957
Dubrovnik, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalityCroatian
Political party Croatian
Croatian Democratic Union
 EU
European People's Party
Spouse(s)Stijepo Šuica
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Zagreb

As a member of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Šuica served two consecutive terms as mayor of Dubrovnik between 2001 and 2009. She was the first female mayor of Dubrovnik and one of the first female mayors of major Croatian cities in modern Croatia. She served as a member of the Croatian Parliament in three terms from 2001 to 2011. Since 2004, she has been elected five times in a row as Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. She has been elected to the European Parliament in 2013 election and reelected in 2014 and 2019. In October 2012, she was elected Vice-President of the EPP Women's association and in June 2019 Vice-President of the EPP's EU parliament group.

Biography

Šuica was born in a modest family in Dubrovnik, FPR Yugoslavia (present-day Croatia). Her father used to make a living doing housework in Konavle, while her mother was a housekeeper.[2] She graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1981, majoring in English and German language. She worked as a high school teacher, university professor and principal in Dubrovnik up until her mayoral election win in 2001.[3] Šuica's wealth amounts to over 5 million euro, according to her own declaration to the Croatian parliament. She owns three houses and two apartments in Croatia, a cottage in Bosnia, a yacht, and three cars. The origins of her wealth have been subject of controversy. While Šuica claims these derive from inheritance and from her husband's life savings as a navy captain, journalists have contested this account as untenable. Šuica has not released documents to corroborate the origin of her personal wealth. The Croatian anticorruption inspectorate USKOK investigated Šuica's wealth but the outcome of the procedure has not been made public.[2]

Political career

Šuica became active in politics in 1990, when she joined Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). In 1998, she became head of the party's Dubrovnik branch and she was re-elected several times, most recently in March 2012.

In 2001, she was elected mayor of Dubrovnik for the HDZ. Out of the 46 percent of voters who participated in the election (17,846), 3,944 (22%) expressed their preference for the HDZ list headed by Šuica.[4] She served as the mayor till 2009. Her mayoral tenure attracted several controversies, including with Croatian media, in regards to the growth of her personal wealth over the same period.[2] She left office in 2009 and was succeeded by Andro Vlahušić (HNS).

Šuica was elected as the member of Croatian Parliament on HDZ ticket three times in the 2000, 2003 and 2007 parliamentary elections. She held several positions in Croatian Parliament Committees.

In 2004, she was elected one of the vice-presidents of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. She was reelected to that position in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

In May 2012, Šuica was elected vice-president of the HDZ. She is also the president of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of HDZ.

In October 2012, she was elected vice-president of EPP Women.[5]

Member of the European Parliament

In the 2013 European election, Šuica was elected Member of the European Parliament. She was sworn in on 1 July 2013, after Croatia joined the European Union. She was re-elected MEP following the 2014 European election, placing 2nd on the HDZ list. She served as one of the deputy chairs of the EP's Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo (DSEE), as well as taking part in various committees such as ENVI, AFET, TRAN, FEMM and the Delegation for relations with the United States (D-US).[6]

She was re-elected MEP at the 2019 election, despite the lacklustre result of the HDZ.

In June 2019, Šuica was elected as first Vice-President of the European People's Party (EPP) in European Parliament. As of 2013, Šuica was also head of the HDZ delegation in the Parliament.

As an MEP, Šuica twice voted against EP resolutions on gender equality, as well as against on sanctions on Hungary and Poland over their judicial abuses at home. Her track record was raised in view of her appointment in the von der Leyen Commission.[2]

Member of the European Commission

In August 2019, Šuica was nominated as a candidate for European Commissioner from Croatia, and on 10 July 2019 President-elect Ursula von der Leyen assigned her the role of Vice-President designate for Democracy and Demography. She passed the parliamentary hearing on 3 October 2019 and took over her duty as Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography, as of 1 December 2019. Sunčana Glavak replaced her as the MEP.

In April 2020 Šuica called the local Dubrovnik TV, in the programme Glad naroda (Voice of the people) to complain against a previous caller who mentioned the controversy about her income, but she did not detail which information she deemed incorrect. This behaviour was criticised as a undue pressure on the media from a member of the European Commission.[7]

References
  1. European Commission
  2. EU Observer
  3. "Dubravka Suica". WorldMayor.com. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  4. Archive Local Elections 2001, page 5-7
  5. EPP women
  6. European Parliament - Šuica
  7. RTL
Political offices
Preceded by
Neven Mimica		 Croatian European Commissioner
2019–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Vido Bogdanović		 Mayor of Dubrovnik
2001–2009		 Succeeded by
Andro Vlahušić


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