Neven Jurica (born 4 April 1952) is a Croatian politician who worked in Croatian diplomacy between 1992 and 2009. Between February 2008 and September 2009 he was the Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations.

H.E.
Neven Jurica
Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Republic of Croatia
In office
February 2008 – September 2009
Preceded byMirjana Mladineo
Succeeded byRanko Vilović
Personal details
Born (1952-04-04) 4 April 1952 (age 72)[1]

Biography

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Neven Jurica (center), Croatian Minister of Defense Berislav Rončević (right) and Maj. Gen. Gordan Čačić (left) in a meeting with Donald Rumsfeld

Jurica has a degree in comparative literature and philosophy, and a Master of Arts in literary theory from the University of Zagreb. From 1980 to 1989, he worked as a writer and published in excess of 16 books on literary theory and criticism. At the same time, he oversaw a literary forum, "Literary Friday".

In 1990 he was a founding member of the Croatian Democratic Union and served as Political Secretary. Following the first democratic elections in Croatia in 1990, he was elected to the Parliament and served as Chairman of the Human Rights Committee (1990–1992).

Jurica has served as the Croatian Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand between 1992 and December 1995. He was the Ambassador in Bulgaria (1996–1997) and Norway (1998–2000). He was the Croatian Ambassador to the United States of America between 2004 and 2008.

Between 2003 and 2004 he was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Croatian Parliament.

As the Permanent Representative to the UN, he represented Croatia in the United Nations Security Council and served as the President of the council in December 2008.

After being replaced as the Representative to the UN, the Croatian anti-corruption agency USKOK brought charges against Jurica for embezzlement of US$120,000.[2] Jurica has described his finance as "chaotic" and reimbursed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the amount in question, but maintained that the money was not used for personal gain.[3] On 22 April 2010, after a trial at the County Court in Zagreb, Jurica was sentenced to 18 months of prison.[4]

Jurica holds membership in the Croatian Writers' Association and P.E.N. (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists).

He is married with two children.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe, retrieved 2008-09-27
  2. ^ "Uskok prijavio Nevena Juricu za pronevjeru!". Index.hr (in Croatian). 30 November 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Jurica: Galantnost je bitna, ne postoji besplatan ručak". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Jurica osuđen na godinu i pol zatvora i zabranu rada 5 godina". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 22 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
?
0Ambassador of Croatia to Australia0
1992–1995
Succeeded by
Preceded by 0Ambassador of Croatia to Bulgaria0
1996–1997
Succeeded by
Preceded by
?
0Ambassador of Croatia to Norway0
1998–2000
Succeeded by
?
Preceded by
?
0Ambassador of Croatia to the United States0
2005–2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by 0Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations0
2008–2009
Succeeded by