Zdravko Ponoš

He finished a elementary school in Golubić, and later during his youth, he moved to Zagreb, where he finished a secondary technical school and a land forces high school.[2] He decided to continue with the military school, later stating that "it was something completely new and unknown".[1][4] Ponoš enrolled into a technical military academy in Zagreb, where he obtained a degree in electronics engineering in 1986.[5] He finished his postgraduate studies in 1999, at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Belgrade, with a master's degree in Global Navigation Systems.[2][5] He perfected his military skills at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London, and also completed courses in Switzerland and Germany.[1][2][5] He has also completed STANAG 6001, a NATO course.[2]

He has published his work regarding Global Navigation Systems in a notable Japanese magazine, and participated in professional gatherings.[6]

His military career began in 1986.[5] After finishing the military academy in Zagreb, he was offered to stay to work as an assistant, although he rejected the offer, and instead chose to work at the military technical institute in Belgrade.[4] He was stationed in Užice and SAP Kosovo.[4] During that time, Ponoš worked on jamming the TV Tirana television in Kosovo, later stating that "the job was rather futile, but the army did not assign those tasks themselves".[6] He continued to work there until 1988, when he decided to move back to Belgrade in order to work at the Department of Development and Equipment.[1][4] He has described his job as "interesting", and that it was mainly concentrated on intensive contacts with civic institutes and companies.[4] By the 1990s, he had already moved to Serbia, and during the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia, he thought of leaving the country, but ended up staying.[4][6] During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, he and his team worked with various improvisations in order to prevent greater losses, especially in AP Kosovo and Metohija. He described it as "the brightest phase of our work".[4] Following the bombing, Ponoš was awarded the Order of Merit in the Field of Defense and Security by Slobodan Milošević.[7]

Ponoš was promoted to colonel in 2000, and five years later he became a major general.[2] He experienced polarization in the army during the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, and he has also stated that "effective changes did not occur in the army after the 5 October revolution".[6] He worked at the Department until 2002, and shortly after he began working at the defense ministry.[4][6] He has served as an adviser to Boris Tadić while he was the head of the defense ministry.[6] During his time at the defense ministry, he was offered to form a "cooperation department with NATO" which he accepted.[4] He described his time under Tadić as "a successful collaboration".[4] Ponoš remained in that position until 2004, when he was appointed as chief of the directorate.[1] In 2005, he became the deputy chief of the army.[1][6] As deputy chief, he was primarily orientated towards army reform and professionalization, and after the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, he joined the team led by minister Zoran Stanković in order to continue the reforms.[4][8] At that time, he was one of the youngest members of the general staff.[5][8]

U.S Navy Admiral Michael Mullen (left) and Ponoš (right) in 2007

Ponoš was appointed by Tadić, now president of Serbia, as the chief of the General Staff on 13 December 2006.[9] He was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.[9][10] His appointment was described by some academics as "a package for faster access to European integration" due to his status as a pro-Western general.[5][11] As chief of the general staff, he continued his support for army reform and professionalization, and has also stated his support for higher salaries for army officers and for army cooperation with neighboring countries, European Union and NATO.[2][6][12]

During his first week as chief of the general staff, he represented Serbia during the opening of the NATO liaison office in Serbia.[13] Ponoš was in amidst of media attention in April 2007, when some politicians argued that Ponoš should be replaced due to his pro-Western comments.[14] Dragan Šutanovac replaced Stanković as defense minister in May 2007.[15] Four days later, Ponoš traveled to the United States where he met with the US chief of staff.[16] Ponoš commented in October that "the army would not protect war criminals that were convicted by ICTY".[17] Later in December, Ponoš and Šutanovac stayed for several days near administrative lines with Kosovo in order to observe the situation, which they later stated to be "peaceful" and that "destabilization in this part of Serbia is not expected".[18] In October 2008, he met with army representatives of Turkey and Norway.[19][20] A month later, he expressed his support to change the Kumanovo Agreement.[21][22]

Ponoš and Šutanovac in 2008

A conflict between Ponoš and Šutanovac arose to the public after Ponoš stated in an interview that reforms were stopped by the ministry, and that Šutanovac violated military's autonomy.[23][24] Tadić stated that "the defense system is stable" during an interview.[25] Tadić then decided to side with Šutanovac in this conflict, and he dismissed Ponoš on 30 December, after allegedly violating military rules.[12][24][26][27] Ponoš accepted to step down.[28] Some observers have considered this conflict to be a political move.[29] Ponoš was previously called by conservative politicians to resign due to his reforms and pro-Western views.[30][31]

Under Ponoš, U.S. state of Ohio and Serbia began their military cooperation.[32] Ponoš declassified parts of the transcripts from the sessions of the collegium of the chief of the General Staff revealing that Slobodan Milošević and later, to a lesser extent, Vojislav Koštunica, planned to use the army for political purposes, especially in Montenegro.[33] During his time as chief of the General Staff, the army held highest approval ratings according to the Serbian public.[34] He was succeeded by Miloje Miletić in February 2009.[35]

After his dismissal as chief of the General Staff, Ponoš stayed in the army for another year, although unallocated.[6] Ponoš expressed his notion to become an assistant for Vuk Jeremić's foreign affairs ministry, although Šutanovac stated that "he does not intend to propose his retirement to Tadić" and he suggested Ponoš to resign from his position in the defense ministry.[36] He was retired by president Tadić on 31 December 2009.[37]

His interest into politics developed while he was reading the newspaper Borba,[6] and during his time at the army in the 1990s, he opposed the regime of Slobodan Milošević.[4] He met Boris Tadić during the early 2000s, with whom he had a discussion regarding the army during their first encounter.[6] During the campaign period for the 2008 elections, Ponoš stated that "frequent elections do not negatively affect army reforms".[38]

Shortly after his retirement from military, he became an assistant to Vuk Jeremić, then a foreign affairs minister.[39] Ponoš previously cooperated with Jeremić during the early 2000s while Jeremić served as an advisor to Tadić.[6] In April 2010, he was a part of the delegation that confirmed the friendship with Libya.[40] Ponoš opened a exhibition in June 2011 in order to promote the history of diplomatic relations between France and Serbia.[41] He served that position until the change of government in 2012.[42] He later became the chief of Jeremić's cabinet while he was the president of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly.[‡ 1] During that time, he resided in the New York City.[6] After coming back to Belgrade, Ponoš and Jeremić founded the "Center for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development" (CIRSD).[43] Ponoš held the position of executive director, while Jeremić was elected as president.[44] He later served as senior advisor.[‡ 1][‡ 2]

Ponoš with the leaders of the Alliance for Serbia in 2019

After his career army and diplomatic careers, Ponoš entered politics in 2017, and participated in Jeremić's campaign team during the 2017 presidential election.[6] Jeremić placed fourth, winning 5.65% of the popular vote.[45] Later that year, in October 2017, he participated in the foundation of the People's Party.[46] He was elected as vice-president at the first party conference.[47]

Ponoš supported the formation of a wider coalition for the 2018 Belgrade City Assembly election that would be composed of opposition parties.[48] He appeared on the ballot list, which ended up winning 19% of the popular vote.[49][50] Later that year, he supported the appointment of Milan Mojsilović as chief of the General Staff.[51] He was also one of the main representatives during the protests in 2018 and 2019.[52][53] In July 2019, he stated his opposition to participate in the 2020 parliamentary election, and called for boycott.[54] This move was later adopted by the Alliance for Serbia, of which his party was a part of.[55] He also called for citizens to boycott the parliamentary election.[56] Ponoš was re-elected as vice-president of People's Party in November 2019.[57] Shortly after the signing of the Washington Agreement in September 2020, Ponoš stated that "an occurrence of another Dritan Abazović would be more significant than the agreement".[58] At a party conference in the same month, Ponoš was chosen as the ballot representative for the upcoming Belgrade City Assembly election,[59][60] although Ponoš later rejected the offer.[61] After boycotting the 2020 election, Ponoš announced that "opposition parties will exert pressure to the government in order to hold the future election under fair conditions".[62] In early 2021, he expressed his support for a joint participation in the upcoming general election and for a joint opposition presidential candidate.[63][64] Ponoš was also one of the participants of the inter-party dialogues on electoral conditions that took place during 2021.[65] Ponoš stepped down as vice-president of the People's Party at its party conference in November 2021.[66][67]

Ponoš during a campaign rally in March 2022

Ponoš stated in early November 2021, that he would run for the presidency if "opposition parties unite themselves at all levels".[68] Jeremić stated that he was surprised by this move,[69] and he stated that the candidate should be rather reached by consensus between opposition parties.[70] Sanda Rašković Ivić condemned the attacks that were done by pro-government media and MPs.[71] On 22 January, the Party of Freedom and Justice proposed Ponoš as a joint opposition candidate, while Jeremić stated that his party is ready to back him up.[72][73] Leaders of the coalition held discussions on 28 and 29 January, after which they concluded their support for Ponoš as presidential candidate.[74][75][76][77] On 2 February, Ponoš was presented as the presidential candidate of the United Serbia coalition.[78] His candidacy was confirmed by the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) on 6 March.[79] Beginning in February, Ponoš has announced his advisors who would cooperate with him if he gets elected president.[80][81][82] During his campaign, Ponoš held rallies in cities and towns across Serbia.[83][84] He placed second in the presidential election, after winning 18% of the popular vote.[85] Following his election loss, Ponoš left the People's Party.[86] He had stated that he might continue cooperating with Dragan Đilas.[87]

At least since 2021, Ponoš has been a target of the pro-government media, in which the media has spread misinformation about his career and views.[88][89][90]

Ponoš has described his political views to be a mix of civic and national issues,[99] and has stated his support for constitutionalism,[100][101] and social justice.[102] He has also stated that "civil partnerships should not be called same-sex marriage", and has assessed that "people who live in such a community should receive same rights as everyone else", but he has also emphasized that he is against LGBT adoption.[103] He supports the change of the presidential electoral system, to a system in which the president would be elected in a secret vote by the National Assembly.[104] Ponoš has stated that, if elected president, he would sign a law that would return confiscated pensions, which was done by the Vučić-led government in 2014.[105]

Regarding his views on the army, Ponoš criticized the law on army which was adopted in 2018, and stated that "the law was made to satisfy the interests of arms dealers and brokers".[106] He has also argued that "instead of introducing mandatory conscriptions, they should raise salaries for officers in the army", and has accused the government of abusing the police during electoral campaigns.[107][108] Ponoš has called the military leadership to resist the use of the army for political purposes, and has accused the government of being made up of "incompetent politicians are playing with the defense system".[109][110]

Ponoš is in favor of accession of Serbia to the European Union,[111] and during the 2022 campaign period, Ponoš described himself as a "pro-European candidate".[112] He is also supportive of Serbia's membership in the Partnership for Peace and its cooperation with NATO, but is opposed to Serbia joining the military alliance.[103][113] In 2006, he stated that "the Serbian army should focus on modernization in order to reach the standards of EU and NATO" and that the question regarding NATO should be decided via referendum.[8] In 2017, he stated that Serbia's entry into NATO would be an "irrational and emotionally unacceptable move for generations surviving the trauma of the bombing", and that Serbia should remain militarily neutral.[114] He has accused Aleksandar Vulin of not respecting military neutrality.[115]

He has previously supported the so-called "four pillars" of Serbian foreign policy, in which he also included European integration, Kosovo, and regional cooperation.[116] Ponoš stated his opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022.[91][117]

Ponoš is against the recognition of independence of Kosovo,[lower-alpha 1] claiming that that the recognition of Kosovo is something that "no democratic government in Serbia can accept" and that the solution for this question will not be brought by the people who incited hatred and war. He has also stated that "it is important that things do not go in the wrong situation, and to slowly normalize life and build trust".[6] He has also stated that "Kosovo is a problem that must be solved...so that any solution is in favor of the citizens who live there".[100] He has also expressed his opposition to diplomatic freeze.[118] He has criticized the Serb List, and Vučić's approach towards Kosovo.[99][119]

During an interview in February 2022, Ponoš stated that he once met Ratko Mladić in Knin, and talking about Mladić's involvement in the Srebrenica massacre, Ponoš stated that Mladić's troops "committed brutal crimes" and that "he [Mladić] was responsible for those crimes, but the whole generation or the whole nation should not be responsible for that".[120] He has also stated that he supports the Srebrenica Declaration, which was adopted by the National Assembly in 2010.[121][122] Ponoš was criticized by the pro-government media in Serbia over his comments.[123]

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):