Tomislav Žigmanov () is a Serbian author, community leader, and politician from the country's Croat community. He has led the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV) since 2015 and was Serbia's minister of human and minority rights and social dialogue from 2022 to 2025.
Early life, private career, and community activism Žigmanov was born in the village of Donji Tavankut in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was raised in that community and in nearby Subotica, where he now lives. He is a graduate at the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy and has taught the history of philosophy at the Theological and Catechetical Institute of the Diocese of Subotica.
Žigmanov became politically active during the Yugoslav Wars following the break-up of Yugoslavia. He was a co-founder of the magazine Žig, which he edited from 1996 to 1998, and worked at Radio Subotica from 1998 until 2002.TOMISLAV ŽIGMANOV, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 10 July 2018.
In September 2002, he said that Croat institutions in Vojvodina were operating under "very unfavourable conditions," notwithstanding that relations with the Serbian state had improved significantly since the fall of Slobodan Milošević's government two years later. He added that initiatives from within Vojvodina's Croat community itself were often undertaken "without consensus or agreement.""ZIGMANOV SPEAKS ABOUT CROATIANS IN VOJVODINA," HINA, 9 September 2002.
Žigmanov launched the Croatian language paper Hrvatska riječ in January 2003 at the Vojvodina provincial assembly in a public ceremony attended by several Vojvodina politicians and Croatian delegates. He said on the occasion, "We can now again write about social reality and position of Croats in Vojvodina in a truthful and professional manner and in our own tongue.""VOJVODINA CROAT WEEKLY "CROATIAN WORD" PRESENTED," HINA, 31 January 2003. He welcomed the indictment of Serbian Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Šešelj by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) the following month, saying that he hoped it would provide consolation to those who suffered from the actions of Šešelj and his followers in the 1990s."CROATS IN N. SERBIA APPLAUD WAR CRIMES INDICTMENT AGAINST SESELJ," HINA, 15 February 2003.
In January 2004, Žigmanov appeared on the television program TV divani on Television Novi Sad and, among other things, implicated the parent Radio Television of Serbia network in recent anti-Croat incidents in Vojvodina. The station refused to run this episode of the program, leading to a dispute between the show's producers and station management."Local Serbian TV station refuses to air Croatian-language programme," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 January 2004 (Source: HINA news agency, Zagreb, in English 1625 gmt 26 Jan 04). Later in the year, he co-authored a report on the status of ethnic Croats in Serbia for the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia. The report stated that "Croats in Vojvodina are not sufficiently involved in decision-making processes, and they are poorly represented in public and state administration, notably in the police, the army, the judiciary, customs administration and state-run companies.""HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS - ANTI-CROAT SENTIMENT STILL SPREAD IN SERBIA," HINA, 4 November 2004.
In 2007, Žigmanov won the Zvane Črnja Award for his book Minimum in maximis – zapisi s ruba o nerubnome.
He criticised the entry of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) into Vojvodina's coalition government after the 2008 provincial election, saying that without a "radical renunciation" by SPS leaders of the party's activities in the 1990s its presence would be a "poke in the eye to people who suffered under the Milošević regime.""Analysts slam Serbian Socialists' terms for forming coalition with Democrats," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 June 2008 (Source: Dnevnik, Novi Sad, in Serbian 3 Jun 8, p2).
In January 2009, Žigmanov became the inaugural director of the Institute for the Culture of Vojvodina Croats."Institute for promoting Vojvodina Croats' culture inaugurated in Subotica," HINA, 23 January 2009. He was also appointed in July 2011 as the head of a committee to monitor anti-Croat incidents in the province; he indicated that its mandate would include monitoring hate speech directed against the Catholic Church."Croat National Council in Serbia forms committee to monitor incidents," HINA, 12 July 2011. He later sponsored a comprehensive research project on crimes committed against Vojvodina Croats in the Yugoslav Wars."Project launched on expulsion of Vojvodina Croats in 1990s," HINA, 13 May 2015.
Žigmanov frequently criticised the government of Croatia during these years for paying insufficient attention to the concerns of Croats in Serbia.See for instance "NGOs hold discussion on Serbia's readiness to face its recent past," HINA, 5 February 2008. He welcomed Croatia's accession to the European Union (EU) in 2013, although he criticised the Croatian government's decision not to invite any representatives of Vojvodina's Croat community to the ceremony."Vojvodina Croats congratulate Croatia, unhappy not to be invited to Zagreb," HINA, 27 June 2013.
In January 2014, he was one of three Croat leaders in Vojvodina to meet with Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić for discussions on the status of Croats in the province."Croat minority officials, Serbian president discuss problems encountered by Croat community," HINA, 10 January 2014.
After the ICTY's decision to temporarily release Vojislav Šešelj on health grounds in 2014, Žigmanov said that Croats in Vojvodina had "justified and understandable reasons to be worried" about the Radical Party leader's sudden return to Serbia. Žigmanov specifically accused Šešelj of having triggered the persecution of Croats in the Srem District in the Yugoslav Wars."Vojvodina Croat reps differently comment on Seselj's release," HINA, 8 November 2014. On another occasion, he said that twenty-five Croats had been killed in the Srem and South Bačka Districts during the Yugoslav Wars and that more than thirty thousand people were expelled or forced to leave their homes, although he added that these crimes took place under state auspices and that Šešelj was not exclusively responsible."Vojvodina Croats unpleasantly surprised with Seselj acquittal," HINA, 31 March 2016.
In March 2015, the mayor of Subotica banned the promotion of two critical books on the origins of the Bunjevci community at city hall on the grounds that their presentation would be political in nature. Žigmanov and fellow Vojvodina Croat leader Slaven Bačić strongly criticised this decision as discriminatory. A report in the Croatian media described Žigmanov and Bačić as speculating that Croats in the city could be forced to wear special badges in the future."Croats banned from promoting scientific books in Subotica city hall," HINA, 4 March 2015.
Politician Early years Žigmanov was the information secretary of Serbia's Croatian National Council in the early 2000s."Local Serbian TV station refuses to air Croatian-language programme," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 January 2004 (Source: HINA news agency, Zagreb, in English 1625 gmt 26 Jan 04)."Serbian TV sues Croatian language programme authors for hate speech," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 11 January 2005 (Source: HRT1 TV, Zagreb, in Croatian 1830 gmt 11 Jan 05). He criticised the governing Democratic Party (DS) for participating in the council's 2010 elections, which he said were intended to be reserved for Croat institutions and organisations."Vojvodina Croat minority wary about regularity of elections for umbrella organisation," HINA, 18 May 2010.
He co-operated with the DSHV for many years before becoming the party's leader, although he was often critical of the party's decisions. He opposed the DSHV's endorsement of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in the 2007 Croatian parliamentary election and said that it would be better for Croats in Serbia if the rival Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed government."Vojvodina Croats congratulate HDZ on election victory," HINA, 26 November 2007. This notwithstanding, he joined with the DSHV in welcoming the election of HDZ candidate Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović as president of Croatia in 2015, on the grounds that she had promised to devote more time to the concerns of Vojvodina Croats."Vojvodina Croats count on Grabar-Kitarovic's support," HINA, 19 January 2015.
Žigmanov was elected without opposition as DSHV president on 30 October 2015. In his acceptance speech, he said that he would fight for reserved seats for Croats in the assemblies of Serbia and Vojvodina, and for Croatian language and literature departments in Serbia's universities."Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Croats elects new president," HINA, 31 October 2015."Ethnic Croats want guaranteed seat in Serbia's parliament," HINA, 15 April 2016. See also "Zigmanov comments on ethnic Serbs' right to allocated seats and posts in Croatia," HINA, 24 May 2017; "DSHV says not giving up on demand for guaranteed seat in Serbian parliament," HINA, 18 March 2018.
First parliamentary term The DSHV contested the 2016 Serbian parliamentary election on the electoral list of the Democratic Party. Going into the campaign, Žigmanov said that the party expected to win one seat in the new parliament."Croat party expects one seat in Serbian parliament, says official," HINA, 9 March 2016. This predication was accurate: Žigmanov received the sixteenth position on the list and was elected when it won exactly sixteen mandates.Избори за народне посланике 2016. године – Изборне листе (2 ЗА ПРАВЕДНУ СРБИЈУ – ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА (НОВА, ДСХВ, ЗЗС)), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its allies won a majority victory, and Žigmanov served in opposition as a member in the Democratic Party's parliamentary group for the term that followed.
In December 2016, Žigmanov said that Serbia should publish 186 textbooks in Croatian at all levels of education to fulfill its educational and cultural requirements to join the European Union; he added that this would be the best way of overturning Croatia's recently imposed blockade on Chapter 26 (Education and Culture) in Serbia's EU entry talks."Vojvodina Croat official says Serbia should publish 186 textbooks in Croatian language," HINA, 14 December 2016. He later welcomed both Serbia's decision to print Croatian textbooks at the primary school level and Croatia's overturning of the block."Serbia admitted problems with Croatian textbooks, says Vojvodina Croat politician," HINA, 23 December 2016. See also "First Croatian section opened in school outside Subotica," HINA, 1 September 2017.