Nataša Vučković () is a Serbian politician. She has led Serbia's Center for Democracy Foundation since 1994 and was a Democratic Party (DS) member of the Serbian parliament from 2007 to 2020. She left the DS in September 2020 and is no longer active with any political party.
She has been the president of the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) since May 2024.
Early life, family, and private career Vučković was born in Zagreb, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Croatia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. She graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law in 1990 and began practicing law in 1994. She is also a graduate of the European University Centre (2006) with a focus on European Union law.
Vučković was a founder of Serbia's Center for Democracy Foundation in 1994 and has been its secretary-general since that time.NATAŠA VUČKOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 17 July 2018. In April 2012, she represented the organization in supporting the Dignity at Work for Everyone project, pledging to fight for new jobs in Serbia while adhering to the European Union's standards on the rights of workers."Sinteza - Daily Overview, Top Business Stories, Apr 4, 2012," Emerging Markets Broker Reports Central Eastern Europe, 5 April 2012. She lives in Belgrade.NATASA VUCKOVIC, National Assembly of Serbia, accessed 17 July 2018.
Her father, Slobodan Vučković, was a prominent member of Serbia's opposition in the 1990s and also served in the national assembly."Deca nasledila očeve u poslaničkim klupama", Politika, 6 January 2012, accessed 18 June 2022.
Politician Early years (1990–2007) Vučković joined the DS on its formation in 1990. From 1991 to 1994, she was the DS's secretary of the party presidency and secretary for international cooperation. After a party split in 1996, she joined the breakaway Democratic Centre (DC) under the leadership of Dragoljub Mićunović.
In 2000, the DC joined the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse coalition of parties opposed to the authoritarian rule of Slobodan Milošević. The DOS won the 2000 Yugoslavian general election (which resulted in Milošević's fall from power) and the subsequent 2000 Serbian parliamentary election, and the DC participated afterward in government at both the federal and republic levels. In 2001, Vučković became an advisor on international cooperation to the speaker of the assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. She continued in this role after Yugoslavia was reconstituted as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in early 2003, although her term ended later in the same year.
The Democratic Centre had effected a partial reconciliation with the DS by 2003 and contested that year's parliamentary election on the DS's electoral list. Vučković was given the 189th list position; the DS and its allies won thirty-seven mandates, and she was not included in her party's assembly delegation.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5. ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА - БОРИС ТАДИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024."Podrška neoročenoj vladi", , Glas javnosti, 15 January 2004, accessed 13 March 2024. (From 2000 to 2011, mandates in Serbian parliamentary elections were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be distributed out of numerical order. Vučković could have been assigned a seat despite her low position on the list, though ultimately she was not.)Serbia's Law on the Election of Representatives (2000) stipulated that parliamentary mandates would be awarded to electoral lists (Article 80) that crossed the electoral threshold (Article 81), that mandates would be given to candidates appearing on the relevant lists (Article 83), and that the submitters of the lists were responsible for selecting their parliamentary delegations within ten days of the final results being published (Article 84). See Law on the Election of Representatives, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 35/2000, made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 7 April 2024.
The Democratic Centre merged back into the DS in 2004, and Vučković became a member of the DS's executive board in the same year.NATAŠA VUČKOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 17 July 2018.
Parliamentarian (2007–20) Government supporter (2007–12) Vučković received the fifty-first position on the DS's electoral list in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election. The list won sixty-four seats, and on this occasion she was awarded a mandate.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Демократска странка - Борис Тадић), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024."Spisak poslanika za Skupštinu Srbije", Politika, 13 February 2007, accessed 24 December 2024. The DS formed an unstable coalition government after the election with the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and G17 Plus, and Vučković served as a supporter of the administration. During her first parliamentary term, she was a member of the committee on foreign affairs, the committee on development and international economic relations, and the committee on European integration.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ: ВУЧКОВИЋ, НАТАША], , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 13 March 2025.
The DS–DSS coalition fell apart in early 2008, and another parliamentary election was called for May of that year. Vučković was given the thirty-second position on the DS's For a European Serbia (ZES) coalition list and was awarded a mandate for a second term when the list won 102 out of 250 seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 ЗА ЕВРОПСКУ СРБИЈУ - БОРИС ТАДИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.R. Ognjanović, "U klupama novi poslanici", Novosti, 10 June 2008, accessed 29 June 2022. The overall results of the election were inconclusive, but For a European Serbia eventually formed a new coalition government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), and Vučković continued to serve with the government's parliamentary majority. In her second term, she was a member of the foreign affairs committee, the European integration committee, and the administrative committee, and a deputy member of the education committee, the committee on constitutional affairs, and the committee on defence and security.НАТАША ВУЧКОВИЋ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 20 May 2022.
Vučković chaired Serbia's parliamentary friendship group with France in this sitting of the assembly and oversaw a meeting of French and Serbian parliamentarians in Belgrade in April 2010. She remarked that the visit was an opportunity for Serbian parliamentarians to review their country's priorities, one of the most important of which was joining the European Union."Serbian, French MPs discuss EU accession, Kosovo, ICTY, bilateral ties," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 12 April 2010 (Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1717gmt 12 Apr 10). She was also a member of Serbia's delegation to the parliamentary assembly of the Francophonie in this period and was a member of the friendship groups with the Netherlands and Spain.НАТАША ВУЧКОВИЋ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 20 May 2022.
Opposition member (2012–20) Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all parliamentary mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order.Law on the Election of Members of the Parliament (2000, as amended 2011) (Articles 88 & 92) made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 6 June 2021. Vučković received the twenty-seventh position on the DS's Choice for a Better Life list in the 2012 parliamentary election and was re-elected when the list won sixty-seven seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 ИЗБОР ЗА БОЉИ ЖИВОТ- БОРИС ТАДИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the Socialist Party formed a new coalition government after the election, and the DS moved into opposition. Vučković chaired the European integration committee in the sitting of the assembly that followed."Poll shows support for Serbia's membership of EU," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 1 September 2013 (Source: Politika website, Belgrade, in Serbian 26 Aug 13). She continued to serve on the foreign affairs committee and was a member of the friendship groups with France, Germany, and the United States of America.НАТАША ВУЧКОВИЋ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 20 May 2022.
After the 2012 election, the DS became divided between supporters of former Serbian president Boris Tadić and Dragan Đilas, who succeeded Tadić as party leader in November 2012. Vučković supported Tadić, and in a bid to ensure party unity she was elected as a vice-president at the conference that chose Đilas as leader."Serbian ex-president said to step down as Democratic Party leader," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 October 2012 (Source: Vecernje novosti website, Belgrade, in Serbian 25 Oct 12)."New leader vows to reform opposition party, draft plan for Serbia's recovery," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 November 2012 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 26 Nov 12). Vučković later supported Dragan Šutanovac's bid for the DS leadership in Belgrade; the rival candidate Balša Božović was chosen instead for the position amid deepening acrimony between the two camps."Serbian paper views 'deep rift' in Democratic Party over Belgrade branch," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 2 June 2013 (Source: Vecernje novosti website, Belgrade, in Serbian 29 May 13). In early 2014, Tadić left the DS to create a breakaway group called the New Democratic Party (NDS), which was later renamed as the Social Democratic Party (SDS). Vučković chose to remain in the DS.
Vučković was promoted to the third position on the DS's list in the 2014 parliamentary election and was re-elected as the list fell to nineteen seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (8 СА ДЕМОКРАТСКОМ СТРАНКОМ ЗА ДЕМОКРАТСКУ СРБИЈУ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. Bojan Pajtić replaced Đilas as party leader later in the year, and Vučković was again chosen as a party vice-president."Serbian opposition party gets new leader," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 2 June 2014 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 0000 gmt 2 Jun 14). During her fourth assembly term, she was a member of the administrative committee and the committee on European integration, a deputy member of the committee on constitutional affairs and legislation, the leader of Serbia's delegation to the assembly of the Francophonie, the leader of Serbia's friendship group with France, and a member of the friendship groups with Italy, Norway, and the United States.НАТАША ВУЧКОВИЋ, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 20 May 2022.