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Zukan Helez

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Zukan Helez
Helez in 2025
Minister of Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office
25 January 2023
Prime MinisterBorjana Krišto
Preceded bySifet Podžić
Federal Minister for Veterans and Disabled Veterans
In office
17 March 2011 – 31 March 2015
Prime MinisterNermin Nikšić
Preceded byZahid Crnkić
Succeeded bySalko Bukvarević
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
6 December 2018 – 25 January 2023
Member of the Federal House of Representatives
In office
2 December 2014 – 27 November 2018
In office
27 February 2001 – 17 March 2011
Personal details
Born (1964-01-01) 1 January 1964 (age 61)
Kupres, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
NationalityBosnian
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Sarajevo (BS)
Military service
Allegiance Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Branch/serviceARBiH
Years of service1991–1993
Battles/warsBosnian War

Zukan Helez (born 1 January 1964) is a Bosnian politician serving as Minister of Defence since 2023. He is also the current vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving alongside Staša Košarac. He was previously a member of the national House of Representatives from 2018 to 2023.

Born in Kupres in 1964, Helez graduated from the University of Sarajevo in 1988. He was part of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. Following the war, he worked as a school teacher. Helez is a member of the Social Democratic Party. He was elected to the Federal House of Representatives in the 2000 parliamentary election, and was then re-elected on multiple occasions. Following the 2010 general election, he was appointed Federal Minister for Veterans and Disabled Veterans in 2011, serving until 2015.

Helez was elected to the national House of Representatives in the 2018 general election, and managed to get re-elected in 2022. He became Minister of Defence in January 2023, after the formation of a new coalition.

Early life and education

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Helez was born on 1 January 1964 in Kupres where he finished elementary school. He attended high school in Bugojno between 1979 and 1983, after which he attended the Faculty of Science and Mathematics in Sarajevo, where he graduated in 1988. After his studies, Helez got a job as a professor in Skender Vakuf. In May 1992, at the beginning of the Bosnian War, he became a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1]

After he was demobilized at the end of the war, Helez started working as a teacher in secondary schools in Donji Vakuf and Bugojno. In Italy, Germany and France, he participated in international seminars in the secondary education reform project in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2]

Political career

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A member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP BiH), Helez was elected vice president of the SDP BiH Cantonal Committee of the Central Bosnia Canton in 2003, and president in 2005. In the 2000 parliamentary election, he was elected to the Federal House of Representatives. He was re-elected in the 2002, 2006 and the 2010 general elections.[1]

Helez served his fourth term in the Federal Parliament until 17 March 2011, when he was appointed Federal Minister for Veterans and Disabled Veterans in the government of Nermin Nikšić. He served as Federal minister until 31 March 2015.[3] In the Federal House of Representatives, he was a member of several working bodies, boards and commissions as vice president and president.[2]

In the 2018 general election, Helez was elected to the national House of Representatives.[4] He was re-elected to the national House of Representatives in the 2022 general election.[5] On 25 January 2023, following the formation of a new Council of Ministers presided over by Borjana Krišto, Helez was appointed as the new Minister of Defence and also as vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers within Krišto's government.[6]

On 23 November 2023, Helez claimed that paramilitary camps backed by Russia were detected in Republika Srpska, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[7] His statement angered top level Bosnian Serb politicians, who said Helez "has no proof" and that he "is spreading lies that aim to cause unrest and fear."[8] On 25 November, the Intelligence-Security Agency informed the Council of Ministers that it had no information about the existence of any military camps or paramilitary formations in the country.[9] Following his claims, Helez gave a witness statement to the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[10]

Controversies

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On 15 October 2014, Helez was sentenced by the Municipal Court in Bugojno to a suspended sentence of eight months in prison for a fight which broke out in a local Bugojno-based cafe in September 2013.[11] In June 2021, he was found guilty by the Bugojno first-instance court and received a six-month sentence for giving a false testimony for an incident that happened some years before.[12] This was overturned in June 2022, with Helez being sentenced to a nine-month suspended sentence.[13]

Personal life

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Helez is married and has three children.[1] Besides his native Bosnian, he speaks English and Russian fluently.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Zukan Helez". javnarasprava.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Ministarstvo za pitanja boraca i invalida odbrambeno-oslobodilačkog rata". fbihvlada.gov.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. ^ E.F. (31 March 2015). "Federacija BiH konačno dobila novu Vladu" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Zastupnici saziv 2018 - 2022". parlament.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  5. ^ S.S. (1 December 2022). "Konstituisan novi saziv: Ovo su imena poslanika Predstavničkog doma Parlamentarne skupštine BiH". Avaz.ba (in Bosnian). Dnevni avaz. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  6. ^ N.V. (25 January 2023). "BiH dobila novo Vijeće ministara, državnu vlast sada čini SNSD, HDZ, SDP, NiP, NS, DNS..." (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  7. ^ M.G. (23 November 2023). "Helez tvrdi da u RS-u postoje ruski paravojni kampovi, Košarac odmah zatražio sastanak s OSA-om" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Russia-backed paramilitary camps detected in Bosnia's Republika Srpska, defence minister says". intellinews.com. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  9. ^ "OSA nema informacije o postojanju vojnih kampova i paravojnih formacija u BiH". faktor.ba (in Bosnian). 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  10. ^ S.Š. (27 November 2023). "Helez danas daje izjavu u Tužilaštvu BiH: Naoružan sam informacijama" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Ministar Zukan Helez osuđen na uvjetnu zbog tuče u kafani" (in Bosnian). radiosarajevo.ba. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  12. ^ D.Be. (16 June 2021). "Zukan Helez osuđen na šest mjeseci zatvora zbog lažnog svjedočenja na sudu" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Zukan Helez osuđen na uvjetnu kaznu zbog davanja lažnog iskaza". vecernji.ba (in Croatian). 2 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Zukan Helez". parlament.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 15 January 2023.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Defence
2023–present 		Incumbent
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