.png)
Zagreb - Miroslav Tuđman, a Member of Parliament from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), prominent scholar, politician, and son of Croatia's first president Franjo Tuđman, died on Sunday at the age of 75.
Tuđman died at Zagreb's Dr. Fran Mihaljević hospital for infectious diseases, where he was treated for complications caused by COVID-19.
He was first elected to the Parliament in 2011 and his decade-long work as an MP was considered as marked by moderation, well-reasoned speeches, expertise and respect for others.
In the current Parliament, he chaired the Parliamentary Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and sat on the Committees on defence, home policy and national security, war veterans and interparliamentary cooperation.
Tuđman was born in 1946 in Belgrade. He graduated in philosophy and sociology at the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences where he also earned his doctoral degree in information and communication sciences.
Parliament Speaker, Prime Minister extend condolences
Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said in his message of condolence that Tuđman was one of the longest-serving members of the Croatian Parliament, elected four times.
"He conducted his duties in a very responsible, honest, and professional way. His speeches were always meticulously prepared, well-reasoned, and elaborate and in delivering them, he always showed respect for all his colleagues, regardless of their political affiliation. As the oldest and one of the most experienced MPs, to many, particularly young colleagues, he served as an example of a man from whom to learn," said Jandroković.
The Parliament Speaker recalled that during and after the 1991-95 Homeland War Tuđman served as the head of the Croatian Intelligence Service, a member of the President's Defence and National Security Council and deputy head of the National Security Office and underlined his contribution to the establishment and development of institutions of the modern Croatian state.
"The son of the first Croatian President Franjo Tuđman and a participant in the Homeland War, Mr. Tuđman gave a contribution to making his father's vision - creation of a free, sovereign, independent and democratic Croatia, its international recognition and territorial integrity and development of its political, social and scientific institutions - become a reality," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in a letter of condolence to the Tuđman family.
In the Parliament, Tuđman represented the party founded by his father and he "contributed greatly to its successes with his prudence, calm and natural authority of a man dedicated to the protection of Croatian national interests," Plenković said.
"He strongly advocated the rights of the Croat people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and preservation of the legacy of Croatia's first president. He was also recognised as an author of research papers in which he analysed, in a well-argumented way, the real causes of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A university professor, publicist, Member of Parliament and one of the founders of the Croatian intelligence system, he left an indelible mark in the more recent history of Croatia with his professional, meticulous and hard political, social and academic work," said Plenković.