à ½eljka Cvijanovià(; , , ; born 4 March 1967) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th and current Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2022. She previously served as the 9th president of Republika Srpska from 2018 to 2022.
A high-ranking member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, CvijanoviÃÂ was prime minister of Republika Srpska from 2013 to 2018. In the 2018 general election, she was elected president of Republika Srpska, assuming office on 19 November 2018.
In the 2022 general election, CvijanoviÃÂ was elected as the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, becoming the first female member of the Presidency since the end of the Bosnian War. She was sworn in as Presidency member in November 2022.
Cvijanoviàwas born à ½eljka Grabovac in TesliÃÂ, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina on 4 March 1967. Before going into full-time politics, she was an English teacher. Cvijanoviàstarted her studies at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Sarajevo, but finished them at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Banja Luka. She is a professor of English language and literature and also holds a master's degree in diplomatic and consular law from the Banja Luka Law School on "The International and legal status of the EU".
CvijanoviÃÂ worked as a teacher of English and as a senior interpreter and assistant for the European Union Monitoring Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then she was an advisor for European Integration and cooperation with international organizations to the prime minister of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik; as Chief of Cabinet Affairs of the prime minister; and managed the Unit for coordination and European integration.
In the 2010âÂÂ2014 parliamentary term, Cvijanoviàwas an expert-external member of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. On 29 December 2010, she was appointed to the position of minister of economic affairs and regional Cooperation in the Government of Republika Srpska led by prime minister Aleksandar Dà ¾ombiÃÂ. On 28 February 2013, Cvijanoviàwas entrusted by Milorad Dodik as prime minister of Republika Srpska, succeeding Dà ¾ombiÃÂ, with the new government being declared on 12 March in a special session of the National Assembly. As the new prime minister, she became the first woman to serve in that office.
In the 2014 general election, CvijanoviÃÂ stood as a candidate of the incumbent coalition SNSD-DNS-SP for the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She lost against the opposition candidate Mladen IvaniÃÂ (PDP) by a narrow margin, and was later reappointed as prime minister of Republika Srpska in the entity's 15th cabinet.
In the 2018 general election, CvijanoviÃÂ was elected president of Republika Srpska, assuming office on 19 November 2018. On 15 November 2022, CvijanoviÃÂ was succeeded by Dodik as president of Republika Srpska.
On 11 April 2022, CvijanoviÃÂ and Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, were sanctioned by the United Kingdom for attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with British foreign secretary Liz Truss stating that Dodik and CvijanoviÃÂ "are deliberately undermining the hard-won peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Encouraged by Putin [Vladimir Putin], their reckless behavior threatens stability and security across the Western Balkans."
On 1 July 2022, CvijanoviÃÂ announced her candidacy in the Bosnian general election, running again for Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-person Presidency member, representing the Serbs.
In the general election, held on 2 October 2022, she was elected to the Presidency, having obtained 51.65% of the vote and thus becoming the first female member of the Presidency as established after the Bosnian War. The Serb Democratic Party candidate Mirko à  aroviÃÂ, was second with 35.45%.
Cvijanoviàwas sworn in as Presidency member on 16 November 2022, alongside newly elected member Denis BeÃÂiroviàand re-elected member à ½eljko Komà ¡iÃÂ.
Following the 2022 general election, a coalition led by the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the Croatian Democratic Union and the liberal alliance Troika reached an agreement on the formation of a new government, designating Borjana Krià ¡to as the new Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers. The Presidency officially nominated her as chairwoman-designate on 22 December; Cvijanoviàand BeÃÂiroviàvoted for, while Komà ¡iàvoted against.
On 31 July 2023, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Cvijanoviàunder Executive Order 14033 for threatening regional security, peace, cooperation, and undermining the Dayton Agreement related to the Western Balkans. In October 2025, the United States lifted sanctions on SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, allegedly after several close allies of U.S. president Donald Trump pushed for a lifting of the sanctions, including MAGA influencer Laura Loomer and first-term Trump administration officials Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn. Sanctions were also lifted on Dodik's close allies, including Cvijanoviàand fellow high-ranking SNSD members Radovan Vià ¡koviàand Sinià ¡a Karan, as well as National Assembly of Republika Srpska speaker Nenad StevandiÃÂ.
On 9 November 2023, CvijanoviÃÂ met with French President Emmanuel Macron during an official visit to France. They discussed bilateral relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and France, as well as implementing economic reforms.
In January 2024, CvijanoviÃÂ attended the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, during which she said that "the policy of non-alignment has obviously withstood the test of time, and its principles and values are still very much needed by the world today, just like sixty years ago."
In October 2025, following the brokering of the Gaza peace plan and the start of a third ceasefire in the Gaza war, the Bosnian Presidency unanimously decided to nominate Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his "commitment to establishing lasting peace in Gaza" and the Middle East. This marked the first official nomination for the 2026 edition of the award. The nomination came less than two months after CvijanoviÃÂ brought the nomination to the agenda for the first time. In August, however, her proposal was rejected, as it did not contain "proper documentation."
On 15 December 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognised by the European Union as a candidate country for accession following the decision of the European Council, which CvijanoviÃÂ supported.
On 8 February 2024, the Presidency unanimously adopted the decision to start negotiations with Frontex, one of the countryâÂÂs key conditions for opening negotiations with the EU. On 21 March 2024, at a summit in Brussels, all 27 EU leaders, representing the European Council, unanimously agreed to open EU accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Council of Ministers adopted two more European laws. Talks are set to begin following the impeding of more reforms.
à ½eljka is married to Aleksandar CvijanoviÃÂ, and together they have two sons. She is of paternal Bosnian Serb and maternal Bosnian Croat descent.